Tunisia Tour

We had a wonderful time in Tunisia and enjoyed the destination immensely. Following are some notes on our journey, which we hope will be helpful.

Guide

Mohamed Nour was exceptional. Knowledgeable, personable, patient and flexible. He had a great sense of humour, was easy to get along with and very generous in sharing his knowledge of the country and its culture. He showed continued care and concern for us. Mohamed made our trip and we cannot speak too highly of him.

Hotels

• Dar el Jeid and Villa Bleu excellent, great choice on both properties. Good idea to have our last night at Sidi Bou Said, which was beautiful.
• Dar el Ellisa in El Kas was 3 star at best but we do understand that there is nothing better available. The home cooked food and service were outstanding.
• La Kasbah Kairouan was acceptable, again we understand it is the best available.
• L’Auberge Matamata – accommodation was very interesting and boutique, beautifully finished.Food was very good and probably the best wine list on the tour. Strongly suggest guests are advised to carry an overnight bag as the access is poor with lots of steps and it was impossible to carry our suitcases up – especially as the hosts would not assist with luggage. Definitely not for older clientele or anyone with mobility issues.

• Radisson and Movenpick were both good. Recommend including only breakfast as there was a choice of restaurants in the hotels and we would have preferred not to be limited to the dinner buffet every night.

Itinerary

The itinerary was well designed to give us a good view of diverse parts of the country. It was our decision to exclude the desert and perhaps this contributed to an over-emphasis on Roman sites. We worked with our guide to change some of the touring and this worked well.

There were a few long drives which we felt were taxing on Mohamed as he was both guiding and driving. This caused us some concern although he made no complaint at all.

We were also a little disappointed that several lunches were in mass market tourist restaurants. Mohamed explained that he was concerned about hygiene in smaller restaurants, which we understand.

I hope these notes will be helpful and that they will be taken as constructive. We are very appreciative of your assistance in planning our holiday and in taking good care of our arrangements. As mentioned, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tunisia and will be ambassadors for the destination.