Tunisia: “Star Wars on the Planet Tatooine”

Start the day at Tunis’s famed Bardo Museum, where a world-class collection of brilliantly executed Roman mosaics and sculptures is displayed. Next, move on to the thronging souqs and grand monuments inside Tunis’s walled medina for an immersion into North Africa. This afternoon, visit the ruins of ancient Carthage. There will also be an opportunity to see the former Hôtel du Lac’s exterior, which may have inspired the Sandcrawler in the Star Wars movies.

Morning flight to Djerba. In the afternoon, visit locations associated with Star Wars. In Ajim see Mos Eisley cantina and the old mosque used as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s hermitage in the original 1977 movie, Episode IV – A New Hope. End the day at Sidi Jemour, where you will see the filming location for Anchorhead’s Tosche Station (Tatooine) and also witness the sunset.

Begin your morning sightseeing with a walking tour of Djerba’s lively capital, Houmt Souk. Then visit El Ghriba synagogue as well as the nearby town of Erriadh where, thanks to a 2014 street art initiative known as Djerbahood, a large percentage of the whitewashed walls have been adorned with imaginative murals and other forms of eye-catching street art. The afternoon is at leisure.

Leave Djerba today for the small town of Tataouine, with stops en route. First visit the extensively fortified ghorfas (grain storing vaults) of Ksar Hadada, which, along with Ksar Ouled Soltane (see below), was used to represent the slave quarters of Mos Espa in Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Continue to the atmospheric ruined Berber villages of Chenini and Douiret, both of which have stunning locations. Later, there will be the opportunity to briefly discover Tataouine’s relaxed marketplace before visiting what is arguably the best example of Berber ghorfas in the region at Ksar Ouled Soltane.

Continuing through Berber countryside, the first stop today will be Ksar Medenine, which was the third and final granary used as a backdrop for the slave quarter of Mos Espa. Next, see the curious troglodytic houses in the village of Matmata, which are known locally as haouch hafera. One, in particular, the Sidi Driss Hotel, will be of special interest to Star Wars fans as it was used as the interior of the Lars family homestead and is often dubbed ‘Luke Skywalker’s home’. Visit the picturesque hilltop Berber village of Tamezret before spending the night in an authentic underground troglodytic house.

This morning, drive across Africa’s largest salt lake, the Chott el Djerid, to the oasis of Tozeur. En route, stop at the magnificent Sidi Bouhlel Canyon. The canyon was the location for the Jundland Wastes in the Star Wars films and was nicknamed ‘Star Wars Canyon’ by George Lucas’s film crew. Later, after arriving in Tozeur, there will be a walking tour of the city’s old town, known as the Ouled Hadef Quarter. Complete the day with a relaxing horse-drawn cart ride through Tozeur’s extensive palmeraie, which is one of the largest of its kind in all of Tunisia.

Heading out of Tozeur today and focusing on locations associated with the Star Wars franchise, first head to see the igloo-shaped Lars family homestead near the oasis town of Nefta. Next, spend time in Nefta itself before visiting the impressive Star Wars film set of Mos Espa. Nearby, the Yardangs of the Chott el Gharsa are a series of protruding fossilised dunes that were the backdrop for several memorable Star Wars scenes, while Ong Jemel, an enormous rock said to resemble the neck of a camel, was used as the location for the famous pod-racing scene in Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Compete this rewarding day on a nearby dune to watch the sun set over the Sahara,

The day is at leisure until your afternoon/evening flight back to Tunis. This morning, there is the opportunity to take a cooking class (supplement applies). Learn how to make traditional Tunisian and Berber dishes before sitting down to enjoy the end results over lunch. On arrival in Tunis, you will be met by a Corinthian Travel representative and transferred to your hotel.

A private transfer will take you from your hotel to Tunis International Airport, where you will check in for your onward flight.