Five days is enough for Carthage, El Jem, Kairouan and the Sahara — but only if two of those days are spent moving south. The workable shape is one day around Tunis, then a three- or four-day circuit into the desert and back, rather than trying to base yourself on the coast and make day trips. Tunis to Douz alone is about 426 km each way.
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The workable shape is one day around Tunis, then a loop south and back rather than a base on the coast with day trips. Two of the five days are long drives; both are broken by stops that are worth having.
The medina, Carthage and the village on the cliff, all within twenty kilometres. A full day without hurrying.
South by the motorway, with the amphitheatre at El Jem as the break, then the underground houses of Matmata and on to the edge of the dunes. The longest day: Tunis to Douz alone is about 426 km in a straight line.
Camels at Douz in the morning light, then across the Chott el Jerid causeway to the oasis at Tozeur.
Chebika and Tamerza first, while it is cool; then north by the three temples of Sbeitla to Kairouan for the night.
The Great Mosque and the Aghlabid basins in the morning, then Thuburbo Majus, close to the motorway, on the way back to Tunis or Hammamet.
The ksour and ridge villages around Tataouine, Djerba, Cap Bon, and the north coast at Bizerte and Tabarka. If the Star Wars sets matter more than Sbeitla and Kairouan, swap them into day 4 and leave the return to a straight run north. Everything cut here is in the longer plans: seven days adds the Roman interior properly, and how many days you need sets the trade-offs side by side.
Circuits are priced per vehicle, not per person. Two sensible ways to cover five days: a day around Tunis (day trips start at €74) followed by the 4-day southern circuit at €648; or the 6-day Grand Tour at €942, which folds the Roman north into the same booking and adds a day. Neither price depends on how many of you are in the car, up to the size of the vehicle.
All 11 circuits, with prices →
Enough for the highlights of the north and a proper look at the Sahara, yes. Not enough for Djerba, Tabarka and the far south as well.
Not if you want the desert. The distances make a single base impractical; the south needs at least one overnight closer to it.
October to April if the itinerary includes the Sahara. The deep south regularly passes 45°C between May and September.
Tunis–Carthage if you start with the capital, as this plan does. Enfidha and Monastir suit a start on the coast, and fixed transfer fares are published for all three airports.
Yes. Hammamet is about an hour from Tunis, so day 1 is a comfortable day trip out and back, and the loop south can leave from Hammamet directly on day 2.
Days 2 and 4 are long, and it is a highlights trip rather than a slow one. Seven days gives each region a proper stop; five gives you the shape of the country and a real night or two in the desert.
Distances are straight-line, measured between the coordinates on our map of the sites; road distances are longer. Prices are per vehicle and come from the same database the 33 tours and 1,392 transfer fares.
