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Central Tunisia
Includes four of the most popular package-resorts as well as Tunisia’s holiest city. Also known as The Sahel, Central Tunisia is a rich agricultural area with hundreds of thousands of olive trees.
PORT EL KANTAOUI: A hugely successful purpose-built resort constructed around a picturesque marina fringed with shops and restaurants. It opened in 1979 and has been expanding ever since.
Its hotels resemble giant, whitewashed palaces and are set in gardens awash with bougainvillaea.
Most holiday-makers love the resort because of its familiarity and security. Critics point to its lack of authenticity.
Port El Kantaoui offers a 27-hole golf course – aimed more at casual players than golf fanatics.
SOUSSE: Tunisia’s third largest city, Sousse lies 8km (5 miles) south of Port El Kantaoui and could not be more different. It is packed with atmosphere and hundreds of years of history. Very much a working city, it has a thriving port and busy fishing harbour which is best viewed early in the morning when the previous night’s catch is being unloaded from a flotilla of small boats.
Still emerging as a holiday centre, a string of hotels has been built fronting the city’s elegant corniche.
Sousse was one of the Phoenicians’ great coastal cities but it fell to Arab invaders in the seventh century. In AD 790, the foundations of a new city were laid and several remnants of that time still remain including the Great Mosque and its Ribat – one of a chain of fortresses which stretched along the Mediterranean coast. Both are located within Sousse’s bustling medina where a cluster of souks sell everything from food and clothes to perfume and jewellery.
The Kasbah Museum houses an impressive collection of third- and fourth-century mosaics. It also offers commanding views over the city.
MONASTIR: Like Port El Kantaoui, Monastir is another largely purpose-built tourist town of pristine streets and lavish landscaping. It has an attractive marina and an old fishing port. Most of Monastir’s tourist hotels are situated 5-6km (3-4 miles) west of the town centre at Skanes close to Monastir-Skanes Airport – Tunisia’s main international gateway for charter flights.
Monastir's most impressive landmark is the golden-domed Bourguiba Mosque – the final resting place of the founder of modern-day Tunisia and its first president, Habib Bourguiba.
The town’s Ribat supposedly dates from the eighth century but it has been restored so many times that little of the original structure is left.
MAHDIA: Mahdia is one of Tunisia’s newest tourist towns which has been expanding rapidly since the creation of a tourist zone 5km (3 miles) west of the town centre. It is where the best beaches can be found.
While Mahdia struggles to cling to its old way of life which revolved around weaving and a thriving fishing port, nearly every shop and stall in the medina is now geared towards tourism.
The Great Mosque may look ancient but it was only built in the 1960s as a replica of the 1000-year-old original.
KAIROUAN: Easily visited on a day trip from Port El Kantaoui, Sousse, Monastir or Mahdia, Kairouan is the most sacred city in Tunisia and Islam’s fourth most important centre after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.
Within its medina, there are more than 50 mosques, the Great Mosque of Sidi Oqba being the star attraction. Originally constructed in AD 671, the existing building was built by the Aghlabids in AD 863. Sadly, non-Muslims are barred from entering the prayer hall with its 400 marble pillars and one of the world’s oldest pulpits with 250 carved-wood panels.
Rather incongruously, as well as being a spiritual centre, Kairouan is also a frenetic market town and the epicentre of Tunisia’s cut-throat carpet-making industry.
KERKENNAH: A small group of islands situated off the coast of Sfax, Tunisia’s second city which is rarely visited by holidaymakers.
There are two main inhabited islands, Chergui and Gharbi which are joined by a causeway.
Regular ferry services operate between Sfax and Kerkennah. The travel time is just less than an hour.
Kerkennah makes a pleasant day trip or for those seeking to get away from it all; it is also worth considering staying several days.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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