The Antonine Baths at Carthage with the Gulf of Tunis behind
Day trip 3 × UNESCO 4.9★ 500+

La Goulette Shore Excursion: Carthage, Sidi Bou Saïd & Medina

A private shore day built around your ship’s clock: your driver meets you at La Goulette, takes you to Carthage, Sidi Bou Saïd and the Tunis medina, and has you back on the quay with margin to spare — guaranteed.

Duration
6 hours
Departure
La Goulette (port)
Group
up to 4 people
Transport
Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver
Private
Yes — your group only, never shared
Sites
3
Guide
Optional — licensed guide €60 per group
Best months
All year
Driver speaks
French, English, Italian, German, Arabic
Back on board
Guaranteed — at the quay 60 min before all-aboard, in writing
Larger groups
Minibus (9–20) or coach (21–50+), quoted on request
Main destinations
Carthage · Sidi Bou Saïd · Tunis Medina

What is this tour?

La Goulette Shore Excursion: Carthage, Sidi Bou Saïd & Medina: 6 hours from La Goulette (port), 3 places, with a car and driver for your group only — from €112 per vehicle for up to 4 travellers.

Cruise calls at Tunis are short, and the queue for ship excursions eats them. This is the private alternative: your driver meets you at La Goulette with your name on a sign, and the day is built backwards from your all-aboard time — Carthage’s baths and ports, the blue-and-white lanes of Sidi Bou Saïd, the UNESCO medina of Tunis, and lunch where you choose.

The price is per vehicle, not per person, so a family pays a fraction of the per-head ship rate. If your ship is delayed, we adjust; and the return to the quay before all-aboard is guaranteed, with margin.

What you see

  • Carthage — the Punic capital Rome destroyed and rebuilt — baths, ports and villas above the sea
  • Sidi Bou Saïd — a clifftop village of blue doors and whitewashed walls above the Gulf of Tunis
  • Tunis Medina — a UNESCO-listed maze of souks, mosques and palaces, still trading as it has for centuries

Where we meet at the port

Port regulations at La Goulette allow only licensed guides to meet passengers inside the terminal area. So the day can start in one of two ways, and you choose when you book.

With a licensed guide

Your guide meets you at the terminal exit with a name board, walks you to the car and stays with you for the day. Add the guide option when you book.

With your driver only

Your driver waits with your name on a board in front of Restaurant La Victoire, a landmark on the seafront avenue about 200 m outside the port gate.

Open the meeting point in Google Maps →

Either way the day is planned backwards from your all-aboard time, and you are back at the quay with margin.

Our back-on-board guarantee, in writing

A ship waits for its own excursions, not for a private car — that is the one worry every cruise passenger has, so we answer it in writing. The promises below are printed on your confirmation e-mail and on your voucher, next to your all-aboard time.

  1. You give us your ship’s all-aboard time when you book. The whole day is planned backwards from it, and it is printed on your confirmation and your voucher.
  2. We return you to the quay at least 60 minutes before all-aboard. The last stop is shortened or dropped before that margin is touched.
  3. We track your ship. If it docks late, your driver waits and the day shortens from the end — the price does not change.
  4. Nothing on the route is far from the port: Carthage 8 km, Sidi Bou Saïd 11 km, the medina 15 km — twenty minutes back to the quay from anywhere on the itinerary.
  5. If you miss your ship because of us, we take you to your next port of call at our expense. The guarantee exists so that you do not have to take our word for it.

The guarantee applies to shore excursions booked with us from La Goulette, with the all-aboard time given at booking. If the ship changes that time, tell your driver and the day is re-planned around it.

The day, hour by hour

  1. 09:30
    The port of La Goulette The day starts when you step off the ship, not at a fixed hour, and it is planned backwards from your all-aboard time.
    • With the licensed-guide option: your guide meets you at the terminal exit with a name board and walks you to the car
    • With your driver only: he waits with your name on a board in front of Restaurant La Victoire, about 200 m outside the port gate on the seafront avenue
    • Either way you tell us your all-aboard time when you book
    Why two options? Port regulations allow only licensed guides to meet passengers inside the terminal area.
  2. 10:00
    Carthage Fifteen minutes from the port. First, while the site is quiet and the air is still cool.
    • Antonine Baths — Roman engineering at full scale, right against the sea
    • The Punic ports — the shape of Hannibal’s harbour, still readable
    • Byrsa Hill — the panorama that pulls the whole site together
    Carthage is six sites spread over several kilometres; a car is what makes three of them fit before lunch.
    Carthage
  3. 11:45
    Sidi Bou Saïd A short climb from Carthage to the blue-and-white village on the cliff.
    • The quiet upper lanes first, away from the main street
    • A terrace over the Gulf of Tunis
    • Coffee or a bambalouni at the top, if you like
    Late morning is when the light on the white walls is best and the coaches have not yet arrived.
    Sidi Bou Saïd
  4. 12:45
    Lunch Where you choose; your driver knows the tables that are good and quick.
    • A seafront restaurant in La Marsa
    • A terrace in Sidi Bou Saïd
    • Grilled fish, couscous or a lighter plate — your call
    Not included in the price, so you are never steered to a fixed menu.
  5. 14:00
    Medina of Tunis Into the capital when the old city is fully awake.
    • Souks organised by trade — perfume, textiles, chechias, metalwork
    • The lanes around the Zitouna Mosque
    • Courtyards and workshops behind ordinary doors
    Twenty minutes back to the port from here, which is the margin the afternoon is built on.
    Medina of Tunis
  6. 15:30
    Back at the quay Returned with margin before all-aboard: an hour before is our rule, more if you prefer.
    • Your driver drops you at the port gate; with a guide, you are walked back to the terminal
    • If the ship’s schedule moves, the day moves with it

Included

  • Private air-conditioned vehicle, your group only
  • Driver speaking French, English, Italian, German and Arabic
  • Meeting at the port of La Goulette and return to the quay
  • Day planned backwards from your all-aboard time
  • Fuel, tolls and parking
  • Fixed price agreed up front, no deposit

Not included

  • Site entrance fees
  • Lunch and drinks
  • Licensed guide (optional)
  • Personal spending and tips

Who this tour suits

A good fit for

  • Travellers who would rather not share a coach with thirty strangers
  • Short stays and cruise calls — out and back the same day
  • Families and small groups up to 4 in one vehicle, at your own pace
  • Anyone who does not want to rent a car or drive in Tunisian traffic

Probably not for you if

  • You cannot manage uneven ground — ruins and medinas mean stone, steps and slopes
  • You are looking for the cheapest seat on a shared bus rather than a private car

Best time to visit

Best months
April to June and September to October — mild, long days, sites uncrowded
Also good
November to March — cooler and green, occasional rain, very few visitors
Hardest months
Late July and August — hot and at its busiest along the coast

We run this tour year-round. In summer we start early so the walking is done before the heat, and in winter we simply start an hour later.

Common questions

Is this tour private?

Yes. The vehicle is yours alone — no other travellers are added, and there is no pick-up round of other hotels before the day starts. The price is for the vehicle, not per seat.

How much does it cost per person?

The price is €112 for the whole vehicle, which carries up to 4 people. For a full group that works out at about €28 each; for two people it is half the total between you.

Where does it start?

At the port of La Goulette. With the licensed-guide option your guide meets you at the terminal exit with a name board. With a driver only, he waits with your name on a board in front of Restaurant La Victoire, about 200 m outside the port gate on the seafront avenue, because port regulations allow only licensed guides inside the terminal area. The map is under “Where we meet at the port” on this page.

When is the best time of year for this trip?

All year. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable, but nothing on this route depends on the season.

Can you take a group of 10, 20 or 50?

Yes. Up to eight travel in one minivan; nine or ten in two vehicles with the same driver team; from eleven we put you in a minibus (up to 20) or a coach (up to 50, more on request), with a driver-guide who knows the sites. The price stays per vehicle and is quoted personally — send us the number and the date and you have the figure within the hour.

Optional extras

  • Licensed guide (full day) 60 EUR
  • Lunch in Sidi Bou Saïd or La Marsa 12 EUR

Places on this trip

Carthage
Carthage UNESCO

The Punic capital Rome destroyed and rebuilt — baths, ports and villas above the sea

Grand Tunis
Sidi Bou Saïd
Sidi Bou Saïd UNESCO

A clifftop village of blue doors and whitewashed walls above the Gulf of Tunis

Grand Tunis
Tunis Medina
Tunis Medina UNESCO

A UNESCO-listed maze of souks, mosques and palaces, still trading as it has for centuries

Grand Tunis

Who runs this tour

Operator
Private Tunisia
Based in
Hammamet, Tunisia — pick-up across the Tunis, Hammamet and Sousse areas
What we operate
Private tours, airport transfers and tailor-made circuits with our own drivers
Driver languages
Français, English, Italiano, Deutsch, العربية
Payment
No deposit and no card online — you pay the driver on the day, cash or card (card +4.7%)
Cancellation
Free up to 24 hours before departure, from your own booking page
Contact
+216 27 555 330 · contact@privatetunisia.com

Two things worth reading before you book: Operator price · no commission — why direct costs less → No shopping stops, no surprise payments, you are the only pick-up — our nine promises →

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