Tunisia has ten UNESCO World Heritage properties, and nine of them can currently be visited. The tenth, Ichkeul National Park, is closed to the public. The newest is Sidi Bou Saïd, inscribed in July 2026 — recent enough that most published lists still say nine or fewer. Our tours reach 9 of them.
Last updated
Three of them are cities you can walk into, four are ruins, one is an island, one is a wetland and one is a village. In the order most visitors meet them:
The ten fall into four groups by geography, and the groups are far apart:
It takes about a fortnight, because nothing shortens it: the nine run from Cap Bon in the north to Djerba in the south-east, and the road between them is the trip. The circuit that stands in all nine is the 15-day Complete Tunisia tour (stop by stop in the 15-day guide). Shorter circuits reach fewer, and which ones is worth choosing deliberately: the 8-day tour and the 7-day tour both cover the heart of the list.
UNESCO status follows a nomination, not a ranking, and several of the places worth the drive are not inscribed. Bulla Regia has villas whose living rooms are built underground, with the mosaic floors still in place. Sbeitla has three temples side by side where other sites have one. Zaghouan has the Roman water temple where the aqueduct to Carthage began. Thuburbo Majus and Uthina are close to Tunis and often empty. In the south, the Chott el Jerid, the ksour around Tataouine and the underground houses of Matmata are among the strongest things in the country and none is inscribed. A list of ten is a good backbone for a trip and a poor description of it.
| Site | Can you visit it? | Tours that go |
|---|---|---|
| El Jem Amphitheatre | Yes | 12 |
| Kairouan | Yes | 12 |
| Sidi Bou Saïd | Yes | 11 |
| Carthage | Yes | 10 |
| Tunis Medina | Yes | 10 |
| Dougga | Yes | 8 |
| Kerkouane | Yes | 4 |
| Medina of Sousse | Yes | 3 |
| Djerba | Yes | 2 |
| Ichkeul National Park | No — closed to visitors | — |
Ten inscribed properties. Sidi Bou Saïd was added in July 2026, at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee. Ichkeul National Park is closed to visitors, so nine is the most any itinerary can honestly reach.
All 22 day trips, with prices →
Ten inscribed properties as of 2026. Sidi Bou Said was added in July 2026 at the 48th session, which is why many older articles say eight or nine.
Nine of the ten, yes. Ichkeul National Park is closed to visitors, so no itinerary can honestly include it. Reaching the other nine takes about a fortnight, because they run from Kerkouane on Cap Bon to Djerba in the far south.
El Jem draws the strongest reaction: it is the third-largest Roman amphitheatre still standing and you can walk the arena floor and the tunnels beneath it. Dougga is the more complete Roman town, and Kerkouane is the only Punic settlement Rome never built over.
Carthage. Tunis airport is named after it and sits a few kilometres away, and the Antonine Baths on the shore are the site most people see first. Sidi Bou Said and the Tunis medina are within about twenty minutes of it.
Greater Tunis alone takes a day. The north and centre — Tunis, Carthage, Kerkouane, Dougga, Kairouan, Sousse and El Jem — take about a week at a comfortable pace. Adding Djerba to reach all nine takes a fortnight.
Some are. Dougga, Carthage and El Jem are inscribed. Bulla Regia, Sbeitla, Thuburbo Majus, Uthina and Zaghouan are not, but they are among the best of the country’s Roman sites and are often less crowded.
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.
