At the top of Africa, nestled snugly in between Libya and Algeria, is a small country by the name of Tunisia.
Known by the locals as Tunis, this is a place of sparkling beaches, friendly locals, history you can get lost in and olive orchards as far as the eye can see.
Whether you are a luxe traveller or an adventurer, or any mix of the two, Tunisia will have something for you.
The north of Tunisia is gently caressed by the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Grand hotels in Hammamet, Sousse and Jerba provide a perfect mix of French luxury and Tunisian nonchalance for the European tourists that pack the resorts in spring and summer.
Resorts are where you go to relax, but if you want an adventure – if you want to experience everything that an exotic, magical country like Tunisia has to offer – you go off the beaten track.
You explore. You wander through markets, meet a jeweller whose English isn’t as good as his Arabic, German, Italian or French.
You haggle for cashmere scarves and get that wonderful sense of euphoria when you order a delicious meal in a foreign language. You stumble upon tiny museums and wander through mazes of white walls punctuated with blue doors and deep green climbers. You pass up a beer with your tour group to wander alone on the beach and dip your feet in the Mediterranean for the very first time.
Travel south from the capital and the rolling brown hills are dotted with olive trees bare from that autumn’s picking.
If you look closely you still might be able to see the odd stepladder bearing the last of the olive pickers, perhaps even the mistress of the orchard in her brown headscarf, throwing the last of the season’s olives down on to a dirty white blanket to be collected by her strapping companion.
See photos from Ashleigh's trip here.
There is nary a car in sight, except within the towns that have grown around the ancient ruins dotting Tunisia’s north.
The little town of El-Jem surrounds an enormous colosseum, the most complete one outside of Rome.
We explored all around it, touching the walls that the gladiators touched, congregating where they prayed and photographing where they fought from where their sponsors sat. There wasn’t a soul inside except for us. 
The highly controlled and crowded atmosphere of the Colosseum in Rome will surely be a letdown after that excursion into history.
Keep travelling south. By now you’re sick of the bus, but you’ve barely driven far enough to go from one end of Victoria, Australia to the other.
By now the hills are flatter, the olive trees gone. In their place are the palm groves where the famous Tunisian dates are grown and, eventually, gentle sand dunes as far as the eye can see.
There’s a little town called Douz that calls itself the gateway into the Sahara. Here the locals are a little less used to tourists and a little more conservative, but no less welcoming.
There's little more luscious than wandering around the streets of a tiny desert town in a long skirt and scarf, buying trinkets and taking photographs of everything that captures your eye.
All over Tunisia, I found myself taking photograph after photograph of the beautiful Tunisian architecture. The minaret of the local mosque soars above the squat, square, whitewashed houses, a beautifully decorated reminder of the Islamic faith most Tunisians aspire to follow.
Doorways are seldom square and never boring: bright Mediterranean blues, sparkling yellows and bold reds form solid colour backgrounds to the artworks that Tunisians create with brass nails.
In Douz there is a desert festival every year; I was lucky enough to attend once. Crowds of people hustle between stalls selling every trinket that m
ight catch a visitor’s eye. Café tables spill onto the street in the hope of attracting every passer-by; in the town hall there is a poetry contest.
I’m not sure anymore if it’s my memory or my imagination, but Arabic poetry is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. The language is soothing and rhythmic, undulating, whispering and shouting by turns as the poet commands. I am taken away.
This is what poetry in English lacks – poetry is not to be read, but to be listened to. I understand that now.
Tunisia before its revolution was a country both exotic and familiar; every part of her is as exciting and mysterious as the next, yet the presence of the colonial French is never too far away.
From luxuriating on the northern beaches to adventuring into the Sahara on the back of a camel, Tunisia has something to offer every luscious traveller.
See Ashleigh's photos here.
Author’s note: Many countries have travel restrictions on Tunisia due to the civil unrest that occurred in December 2010-January 2011. Please check with your consulate before travelling.
Tunisia fact file
| Capital |
Tunis |
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| Border countries |
Libya, Algeria |
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| Currency |
Tunisian dinaar (TND) |
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| Official languages |
Arabic, French |
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| Population |
10.5 million |
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| Main crops |
olives, grain, tomatoes, stone and citrus fruits, dates, almonds |
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| Independence |
from France, March 20, 1956 |
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| Filming location of |
Monty Python's Life of Brian, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars I, II, III and IV |
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| Unmissable attractions |
Sahara, Sidi Bou Said, Jerba, Bardot Museum, Lake Ichkeul |
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For more travel tips and information, visit Tunisia's page on the Lonely Planet website. |
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You might also like the following photo galleries:
o Islamic/Moorish inspiration
o Headscarf chic
o Out of Africa
o The English Patient
o Inspired by the British Empire
o British Empire style - fashion inspiration
o British Empire style - decor inspiration
