The Roman Ruins of Tunisia with Toldinstone

Welcome to Tunisia. Touch down at Tunis-Carthage International Airport and make your own way to the joining hotel in the heart of the capital, where details on pre-booking transfers, ubers, and taxis will be shared ahead of departure. Use the afternoon to shake off the flight, wander the surrounding streets, and get a first feel for a city where Roman ruins, Ottoman palaces, and bustling cafés sit side by side.

As evening rolls in, the group gathers for a Welcome Dinner at a traditional local restaurant, where mezze platters, slow-cooked tagines, and harissa-laced classics set the tone for the week ahead. It’s the perfect chance to meet your fellow travelers and Garrett before the deep dive into antiquity begins tomorrow.

🏨 Accommodation

• Carlton Hotel or Similar, Tunis

🍽️ Included Meals

• Welcome Dinner

✅ Activities

• Welcome Dinner at a Traditional Local Restaurant, Tunis

💸 Local Tourist Taxes

When traveling through Tunisia, hotels charge a small mandatory tourist tax. This fee is not included in your trip payment and must be settled directly with the hotel in local currency at check-in or check-out. Rates are typically per person, per night, and vary by hotel star rating. See the destination guide(s) linked in the Important Notes section for more information.

Today is a full immersion into the layered history that makes Tunis unmissable. The morning belongs to the Bardo Museum, housed in a stunning Beylical palace and home to one of the world’s most prestigious collections of Roman mosaics. With Garrett guiding you through the highlights, you’ll see how everyday Roman life, mythology, and seafaring scenes were preserved in extraordinary detail on the floors of villas across the province.

In the afternoon, head out to the Carthage archaeological park to walk the bones of a civilization that once rivaled Rome itself. Explore the Tophet, the haunting sacred precinct linked to Phoenician ritual, the Antonine Baths spilling toward the Mediterranean, and Byrsa Hill for sweeping views over the ancient harbor. By the time you return to Tunis, you’ll already feel the scale of what’s still to come.

🏨 Accommodation

• Carlton Hotel or Similar, Tunis

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Guided Visit to the Bardo Museum, Tunis
• Carthage Archaeological Park Tour
• Visit to the Tophet, Carthage
• Visit to the Antonine Baths, Carthage
• Visit to Byrsa Hill, Carthage

Today we head inland to check out two of Tunisia’s most spectacular Roman sites in a single day. First stop is Dougga, widely considered the country’s most magnificent Roman site, where a remarkably preserved theater, capitol, and forum sprawl across a hillside with panoramic views over the surrounding plains. With Garrett unpacking the layers of Numidian and Roman occupation, the ruins come alive in a way no signage ever could.

Continue on to Bulla Regia, famous for its ingenious “underground” villas. Roman residents here escaped the brutal summer heat by building entire lower floors below ground, complete with mosaic floors that still glow in their original positions. The day ends with a scenic drive up into the mountain town of Le Kef, your base for the next two nights.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Les Pins or Similar, Le Kef

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Guided Tour of Dougga
• Visit to the Underground Villas of Bulla Regia
• Scenic Drive to Le Kef

Begin the morning at Chemtou, famous in antiquity for its unique yellow marble that paved emperors’ floors and lined imperial monuments across the empire. The site also holds deep Numidian roots, and the on-site museum brings together the quarry, royal mausoleum, and pre-Roman heritage in one of Tunisia’s most underrated stops.

Return to Le Kef in the afternoon to explore at a slower pace. Wander the Kasbah, an Ottoman-era fortress with commanding views over the Tell Atlas, then thread through the old streets where Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic eras layer into a single hillside town. Free time at the end of the day rewards anyone willing to linger over a mint tea and watch the light shift over the mountains.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Les Pins or Similar, Le Kef

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Guided Visit to Chemtou and the Marble Quarries
• Exploration of the Kasbah of Le Kef
• Walking Tour of the Old Streets of Le Kef
• Suggestion: Linger at a Local Café for Mint Tea and Mountain Views

Today is a comprehensive day on the road through Tunisia’s lesser-visited interior. First stop is Makhtar, a Roman and Numidian site rich in temples, triumphal arches, and forum ruins, where Garrett’s commentary turns scattered stones into a vivid picture of frontier life. From there, push on to Haïdra to walk among one of the most extensive Byzantine ruins in North Africa, with churches, basilicas, and fortresses still rising out of the windswept plain.

Given the depth and distance of the day, the group overnights in Sbeitla itself, putting tomorrow’s headline ruins right on your doorstep. Settle into the hotel as the light softens over the surrounding olive groves and rest up for one of the trip’s biggest days.

🏨 Accommodation

• Byzacene Hotel or Similar, Sbeitla

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Guided Visit to the Roman and Numidian Site of Makhtar
• Exploration of the Byzantine Ruins of Haïdra

Start the morning at the Roman temples of Sbeitla, a striking trio of capitolium temples standing remarkably intact against the open sky. From here, the day pivots from Roman antiquity to Islamic heritage as you head to Kairouan, one of the holiest cities in the Islamic world. Visit the Great Mosque of Kairouan, a masterpiece of Islamic architecture and a historic center of learning, then wander the labyrinthine Medina alive with carpet shops, perfumeries, and the scent of fresh makroudh.

In the afternoon, brace for the trip’s most jaw-dropping arena moment: the Amphitheatre of El Jem, one of the largest and best-preserved Roman amphitheaters in existence. Climb the tiers, walk the underground passages, and picture the crowds that once packed its sandstone walls. From there, continue on to the coast and settle into Sousse for the night.

🏨 Accommodation

• Medina Hotel or Similar, Sousse

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Guided Tour of the Roman Temples of Sbeitla
• Visit to the Great Mosque of Kairouan
• Walking Tour of the Kairouan Medina
• Guided Visit to the Amphitheatre of El Jem

Spend the morning exploring Sousse, where the Medina and the Ribat offer a beautifully preserved glimpse of medieval Islamic North Africa. Climb the Ribat’s watchtower for sweeping views over the Mediterranean and the white-and-blue rooftops below, then weave through the souks at your own pace.

Set out for Tunis with a stop at Zaghouan to visit the Temple of Water, a Roman nymphaeum once part of the great aqueduct that supplied ancient Carthage. Arrive back into the capital in time to freshen up before gathering for the Farewell Dinner, where the group raises a glass to a week of Roman ruins, Byzantine churches, mosaics, and mosques.

🏨 Accommodation

• Carlton Hotel or Similar, Tunis

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Farewell Dinner

✅ Activities

• Walking Tour of the Sousse Medina
• Visit to the Ribat of Sousse
• Visit to the Temple of Water, Zaghouan
• Farewell Dinner in Tunis

Your Tunisian adventure draws to a close over one last breakfast at the hotel. Make your way to Tunis-Carthage International Airport at a time that suits your onward flight, with further information on transfer options shared closer to departure.

You’ll leave with a head full of mosaics, marble, minarets, and the unmistakable feeling that you’ve just explored one of the Mediterranean’s most rewarding and underrated corners. Until next time, Tunisia.

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast