We decided to go to Tunisia after a couple of painful, unsuccessful attempts to get a Schengen visa appointment. We didn’t need a visa to go there, and we really needed a holiday to unwind. It was our first time in Tunisia, and it was completely different from what we expected. An underrated country, with lovely, energetic and friendly people, amazing food, lovely beaches and an incredible history!
We spent two nights in Hammamet, in a lovely hotel, took a short trip to the El Jem Amphitheatre, and then spent two nights in Tunis, with a short trip to Sidi Bou Said. It was a packed trip, and trust me, September is not the best month to go there unless you want to spend all your time in the hotel. The heat is brutal, and you can’t fully enjoy the place. Though, it was a fascinating experience for me, with lots of memories to take home.
Day one: Hammamet
On a very hot September day, we arrived at Hammamet airport. Tunisia is very much a cash-based country, which means you have to pay for almost everything in cash, but you can’t bring Tunisian dinars into or take them out of the country. So, the first thing to do at the airport is get some cash, have a chat with the drivers to negotiate a better price, and then head off to your lovely hotel. Don’t let the dry landscape along the road scare you. Once you get to Hammamet and reach the seaside, you’ll be fine!
Our hotel was adults-only, and if, like us, you prefer a quiet, lovely place without children, this would be a great choice. We got there early, and the staff were friendly. Although their English wasn’t as good as their French and Arabic, they were very helpful.
I couldn’t get enough of their fresh lemonade. I’m not exaggerating; it was the best lemonade I’ve ever had! After the greetings, they let us use the pool facilities, and we had the most delicious food at the restaurant by the sea.
If you ever go to Tunisia, make sure to try Tunisian Mechouia salad. The recipe might vary slightly from one restaurant to another, but it’s basically a mix of grilled vegetables, mainly tomatoes, peppers and sometimes aubergine, seasoned with olive oil and traditional spices, and topped with tuna, olives and boiled egg. So simple, but so delicious!
I also immediately fell in love with their harissa sauce. I tried some when I got back to London, but it was nothing like theirs.
I’m not done with food and drink yet! If someone asks me what reminds me most of Tunisia, alongside all the other lovely things, I’d say their mint tea. The waiter kindly brought me a cup, and when we wanted to pay, he refused and said it was their treat, which was such a lovely gesture. It tastes like no other mint tea, so yummy!
After checking into our lovely sea-view room, we decided to go into the city for dinner. I’d heard loads of comments about being careful what to wear in Tunisia because the majority of the population is Muslim. I’d only packed trousers and long skirts, but seeing lovely young women wearing beautiful summer clothes in that heat made me decide to ignore all the online noise for my next trip to a new place! I think, next time I’ll try to find a local person and get some advice from them instead!
Hammamet was a lively city. It’s not a fancy place, but it’s lovely, warm and full of life. I’d done some research to find a nice restaurant and visited the highly recommended one which we didn’t really like. Eventually, we found a nice restaurant - Rooh El Medinah - where the food and service were so good that we went back the following night too! If you like shisha, it’s also a good choice, as the shisha was great, and of course, it came with a lovely mint tea.
One of the things I loved about Hammamet was the smell of wild jasmine everywhere. When I was a child, we used to visit my uncle’s dad’s house in another city during the summer. They had wild jasmine growing in their garden, and my aunt used to pick some every morning and put it on the breakfast table. To this day, the scent of jasmine makes me feel young, hopeful and happy. So you can imagine how happy I was to find it in Tunisia! You could pick some yourself, or a street seller would offer you a little necklace made of wild jasmine, and I certainly wouldn’t say no to that!
And the best part was that you could see cats everywhere, even in restaurants! What could be better than that?
Day 2: Hammamet and El Jem
Day 2 started with a lovely breakfast and some sunbathing by the pool. In the afternoon, we took a two-hour drive to El Jem to visit the amphitheatre: a 3rd-century Roman amphitheatre located in the town of El Jem.
We booked a private tour guide, who was actually our driver. He mainly gave us some incorrect information and myths about El Jem. Then he started talking about Iran, and when he mentioned that he didn’t care how many people had been killed by the government the previous year, along with some other unnecessary opinions, it became quite painful. At some point, I stopped listening to him and wished I could change cars, which wasn’t possible.
One disturbing thing was that there was no bottled water available anywhere, and you could only buy it in restaurants or hotels. Considering the scorching heat, it was very difficult to cope!
But when we finally got to El Jem, I thought it was all worth it. It was a beautiful, well-maintained amphitheatre. People who know me know how much I love the classics and historical places. And, as my friend says, I love ruins and dust, lol. For me, it was a magical experience.
We went back to the city in the evening, had a lovely dinner at the same restaurant, and then visited another highly rated café, Sidi Bouhdid, for tea and shisha. It turned out to be more hype than quality! I tried pine nuts with my tea for the first time and later learnt that some people add them to their mint tea, which is a traditional Tunisian drink. We then returned to our hotel, ready to head to Tunis the next day.
If you’re planning a trip to Tunisia like ours, I’d suggest spending a few more days at the hotel, getting some proper rest, and then moving on to another city. I feel I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have, and maybe that’s just another excuse to go back there again!
And this was part one of our trip to Tunisia. We’ll share the second one shortly ☺️
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