9 days - Tour starts weekly on Saturday in Tunis

We'll take you through Carthage, desert oases, curious troglodyte dwellings, Islamic splendors, a Roman amphitheater, a medieval synagogue, and unspoiled beaches. You'll appreciate the breathtaking beauty of a land that has drawn wanderers over the centuries

DAY 1 - TUNIS - Saturday (D)
Our local staff will meet you upon arrival at Tunis Carthage International Airport. You'll be assisted with the formalities, and escorted to the fine Hotel El Hana International in Tunis or "Palm Beach" Hotel in Hammamet or similar. There will be time to relax and recuperate from your journey, and enjoy the excellent facilities. If you wish, you can adventure into the center of Tunis to start your exploration of the winding alleys of the souk, filled with treasures of beaten brass and basketry and carpets, and merchants who will welcome you with traditional mint tea. Dinner will be at your hotel.

DAY 2 - CHARTAGE, SIDI BOU SAID - Sunday (200 Kilometers) (BLD)
we'll marvel at the ruins of Carthage, a true metropolis of the ancient world, as evidenced by its theater, circus, baths, port installations, and extensive urban plan. We'll lunch at a fine local restaurant, then speed forward in time to the middle ages, as we visit the picture-perfect Moorish village of Sidi Bou Said. With its whitewashed walls and narrow laneways, it's the perfect setting as we stop for traditional mint tea. Back in Tunis, we'll stop at the Bardo Museum, to view the most extensive Roman mosaics in the world. We'll then head for the Medina, the old quarter of the city, with its warrens of shops filled with wares ranging from humdrum to exotic. Hotel El Hana International in Tunis or "Palm Beach" Hotel in Hammamet or similar

DAY 3 - HAMMAMET, SOUSSE, EL DJEM, SFAX , GABES - 400 Kilometers- Monday (BLD)
After breakfast, we'll set off to explore! Hammamet, a cosmopolitan port where sun-worshippers from all over happily coexist with fishermen and traditional ways. We'll stop at the port of El Kantaoui, and then proceed back into time to venerable Sousse, once the Phoenician City called Hadrumatum. We'll stroll through the medina, the old quarter, cooled by sea breezes, and visit the museum as well as the Ribat, a stronghold of the warriors of Islam, and visit the Roman catacombs and. Our next stop is El Jem, which boasts a Roman coliseum very similar to the famous one in Rome. Lunch will be served at " Palm Beach Jawhra Club" in Sousse or "Donia" in Sfax. Our busy day continues with a drive to the coastal city of Gabes, a Roman outpost of old and a traditional market center where, for centuries, goods from across the sea and across the desert have changed hands. We'll visit the oasis, where palm groves and gardens flourish. Accommodation : in Gabes : Hotel "Oasis " or " Chems" .

DAY 4 - GABES, DJERBA (250 Kilometers) - Tuesday (BLD)
Today we cross to Djerba, an island where Ulysses once encountered the legendary Lotus-Eaters. Explore the old quarters, including the synagogue of Hara Sghira, Hara Kebira with its modern Jewish community, and Guellala, with its craft stalls, and to see the waterfront and fishing fleet, and the lively town of Houmt Souk. After a lunch stop, we'll either return to our hotel on the Island of Djerba : "Palm Beach " or similar or cross back to the mainland and overnight in Gabes at hotel Oasis or Chems. Dinner at the hotel.

DAY 5 - MATMATA, KEBILI, DOUZ - ( 300 Kilometers) - Wednesday (BLD)
Our route takes us through terrain of increasingly sparse grasses and shrubs, into the desert to Matmata. We'll stop to look in on a community of miniature underground houses, where the earliest settlers sheltered from the extremes of the desert above -- as do the Berbers of today. We'll enjoy a full day of desert adventure, we'll visit the village of Kebili, largest of a cluster of oases, islands of life in a harsh landscape, then proceed to Douz, fabled as the Gateway to the Sahara. There, a special treats waits, the opportunity to sample a caravan trek! This close encounter with a camel is entirely at your option! Hotel : "Oasis" in Kebili, or "Palmyre" in Tozeur.

DAY 6 - TOZEUR - (280 Kilometers) - Thursday (BLD)
We set off across the Chott El Djerid, a great dry salt lake, for Tozeur. Here, we'll wonder at the ancient irrigation works .We'll learn more about oases today . Despite the dryness of its surface, great aquifers underlie the Sahara. Where they spill their riches out in springs, they create the green havens of Tunisia's oases. We'll see a dramatic example, as we explore the irrigated fields around Tozeur and motor overland to the great mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza ( in 4 wheel drive) . We'll return to Tozeur late afternoon, after which you're free until dinner. You can choose to enjoy the unique desert resort comforts at your hotel. Or, you might decide to wander the streets of Tozeur, look in on daily life, admire the classic North African houses built around patios on terraces above a river fed by springs, and shop for baskets and capes of camel hair.

DAY 7 - TOZEUR, GAFSA, SBEITLA, KAIROUAN, TUNIS - Friday (BLD)
We'll delve more into Tunisia's rich and varied past today, as we motor overland through pleasant, rolling coastal lands. At Gafsa, we'll see the Roman pools of Capsa, the ancient crossroads between desert oases and the cultivated coastal lands. We'll wonder at the Roman ruins of Sbeitla , Suffetula, as well as the great mosque. Later in the day, we'll reach Kairouan, an ancient, holy, and vibrant city noted for its historic mosques and centers of learning. Lunch at a local restaurant.

Kairouan also is noted for its souk, and the crafting of carpets and leather goods. Of course, there will be time to check out these wares, before we depart to Tunis, or Hammamat where a night's rest and dinner await us once again at the Hotel El Hana in Tunis or "Palm Beach" in Hammamet or simila.

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DAY 8 -At Leisure- Saturday (B)
Full day at leisure or relax on the beach .

RATES per person in US$:

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