Tunis and The Bardo

Tunis is one of the great historic cities of North Africa and offers visitors an exciting mix of winding medieval souqs, attractive tree-lined boulevards, fine dining, and the magnificent mosaics of the world-class Bardo Museum.

Tunis is an attractive capital city and has two distinctive parts: the French colonial part and the medina. Tunis’s old walled town (medina) is one of North Africa’s finest and is a joy to discover on foot. Its busy thronging souqs immerse the visitor in medieval Tunisia. Various goods ranging from gold, leather, carpets, perfumes, and household goods are available in an intoxicating oriental atmosphere. Fine Arab architecture sets the stage with notable monuments, including the great Zitouna Mosque with its distinctive square minaret and fine re-used Byzantine columns; the lavishly sculpted 18th-century Torbet el Bey – the mausoleum of the Hussenite rulers of Tunisia; the Dar Hussein Museum of Islamic Art which occupies a grand palace; and the many attractive madrassas and hammams. Outside the walls is the new town of Tunis, laid out by the French in the 19th century, with beautiful tree-lined boulevards and fine colonial buildings.

Tunis’ Bardo Museum is one of the great highlights of Tunisia, offering a world-class collection of brilliantly executed Roman mosaics collected from sites across the country; beautiful sculptures in bronze and marble dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD; a paleo-Christian section; and Islamic collection. It is generally accepted that the Bardo Museum is the finest in North Africa.