6 Best Sights in Tunisia

Founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC, Carthage became the capital of the Punic Empire. Birthplace of the legendary warrior Hannibal, it was a center of maritime trade and once had a massive 200-boat navy and a mercantile fleet. Carthage clashed with the Roman Empire in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC in the Punic Wars, which resulted in the total destruction of Phoenician Carthage in 146 BC. The massive, man-made Punic ports can still be seen, though many of the structures that remain date from the Roman era. Remains of elements of the ancient city lie on Byrsa Hill, which also offers excellent views across the Gulf of Tunis. The Tophet, a graveyard filled with carved headstones, stood next to the temples of Baal Hamon and Tanit. Here, according to the Romans, the Carthaginians regularly sacrificed children to their gods. Modern scholars are now casting doubt on the Roman tales of regular child sacrifice, suggesting that animal sacrifices were the norm, though it's certain that in dark times children were indeed put to death to please the deities. At the end of the 1st century BC Rome founded a "new" Carthage on the site, and that new city became the capital of Roman Africa. It was an impressive city as witnessed by the remains of the Baths of Antonius Pius, where the "cool room" alone measured 154 feet in length and 50 feet in height. The large Amphitheater has been fully renovated and is still used for concerts during the summer arts and music festival.

The heart of the city is a walled Medina (Old Town), packed with Islamic palaces, mosques, and souks (markets), including the Souk des Orfevres (for gold) and the Souk de la Laine (for linen or cloth). If you need a break, visit Café M'Rabat for tea or coffee—the interior is more than 200 years old—and don’t miss the Ez Zitouna Mosque (Mosque of the Olive Tree).

These cross-country excursions to small Berber villages allow you to enjoy the untamed countryside around Tunis and to explore the unique lifestyle of the rural Berber peoples, a once nomadic, indigenous people who settled across North Africa before the arrival of the Phoenicians.

Perched on the cliffs overlooking Tunis Bay, Sidi Bou Said couldn't be more of a contrast with urban Tunis. The village, named after Abou Said ibn Khalef ibn Yahia Ettamini el Beji, a Christian saint who fell in love with a Berber Princess and changed his name and religion, is a maze of cobbled alleyways and tiny squares flanked by whitewashed cottages decorated with vivid blue paintwork. Discovered by the artistic community of Tunisia, the streets play host to a wealth of galleries, along with crafts shops interspersed with small Arab cafés selling mint tea. Down by the harbor, a modern marina attracts a wealthy local clientele.

The Bardo Museum, a former palace complex built in the 15th century, is now the foremost museum of antiquities in the country. It offers an archaeological journey through Tunisian history, with excellent collections from each main era from the prehistoric to the Islamic, but is most renowned for its collection of exceptional Phoenician and Roman era artifacts. The best archaeological remains from Carthage and other Phoenician settlements are on display here, with fine monumental statuary and exceptional funerary stelae and masks. But a magnificent collection of Roman mosaics is the pride of the museum. Excavated from sites across the country, they display an amazing level of detail. The Sousse Room has "The Triumph of Neptune," one the largest ancient mosaics in existence, while the El Jem room has a flowing "Nine Muses."

The National Museum of Carthage has a small collection of artifacts (notably mosaics and statues) excavated from the site, though the best are found at the Bardo Museum in Tunis.