Travel Preparations

My boyfriend and I got vaccinated against hepatitis A and rabies as a precaution. Of course, everyone has to decide for themselves at this point. It’s best to talk to your family doctor about your planned trip and get advice. Your luggage should definitely include a headlamp for the night, a Palestinian scarf for the desert, sunscreen, travel medicine (for fever, stomach upsets, etc.), mosquito repellent, an air compressor for the desert, and, of course, camera equipment for great memories.

Our Arrival & Accommodation

There are two ways to get to Tunisia. By plane, you can fly to Tunis, Monastir, or Djerba, for example. The national airline, Tunis Air, flies from all major European cities, as do Lufthansa, British Airways, and Air France. If you want to enter by car, you have to take the ferry to Tunis from Marseille, Genoa, Palermo, or Civitavecchia (check connections here).

The most convenient, but also the most expensive, departure is from Genoa in the northern part of Italy. For us, the ferry departed from Civitavecchia near Rome. The crossing to the country’s capital, Tunis, takes approximately 19 hours. It’s best to book early, as ferry tickets are unfortunately not cheap, and from experience, we recommend booking a cabin for the crossing.

Our accommodation was the roof tent of our Land Rover Discovery 2, which allowed us to decide every day where we wanted to wake up the next morning. We also stayed at campsites, which are also highly recommended. Tunisia also offers many affordable hotels and rooms on Airbnb*.

Our road trip through Tunisia

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The beautiful small town of Jendouba

Our road trip through Tunisia could finally begin. Due to a car breakdown, we spent the first few nights unplanned in the north of Tunisia. Here in Jendouba, our travel companion also has family. Jendouba is a beautiful little town about 1.5 hours from Tunis, with truly warm people who were delighted to welcome us! Here, we were able to get to know the country’s traditions well. We were invited to dinner in the evening and were served traditional couscous and green tea. As is customary, the dishes in Tunisia are quite spicy.

In the north of Tunisia in Tabarka

I can highly recommend the town of Tabarka. Even as you approach, you have a wonderful view of the sea. I was truly impressed by this view, as well as the town itself. Beautiful old buildings await you here, and further up, a castle with a magnificent view of the
Mediterranean Sea. Considering that we hadn’t planned to visit the north of Tunisia, we were very grateful for the cultural experience and wonderful memories. We’re still in contact with a few of the residents.

The first signs warning us about crossing dromedaries finally appeared, and it wasn’t long before we spotted the first ones! There are a lot of dromedaries roaming around in Tunisia, mostly in herds. You shouldn’t get too close, as there are usually young ones among them.

Nefta & Tozeur in the South of Tunisia

Our first stop in the south of the country was in Nefta / Tozeur, right next to the huge Chott el Djerid salt lake. We spent our first night there, surrounded by sand. It was truly wonderful to pitch our tent in the middle of the sand in the evening and watch the sunset with appropriate music playing in the background. When the moon rose on the horizon, the moment couldn’t have been more beautiful. You can book a tour to the salt lake here*.

Nefta is also known for the Star Wars set, which we, of course, also visited. There’s no entrance fee for these sets; they’re freely accessible. It’s naturally a small tourist area where locals want to earn money for dromedary photos, etc., so situations like these can be a bit uncomfortable.

Douz – The Gateway to the Sahara

We continued on to Douz, an oasis town that is also known as the “Gateway to the Sahara”. In Douz, we stayed at the “Camping Desert Club” campsite. This is practically the most popular and well-known campsite for those who like to spend time on the sand. The site is surrounded by palm trees with clean restrooms, as well as a laundry room. The campsite owner, Sophie, was really welcoming and was very happy to welcome us. Shopping facilities were within a 5-10 minute walk of the campsite.

Off to the Sahara Desert

Normally, you shouldn’t just drive into the Sahara Desert without a guide (book a tour to the Sahara here*). After we took the adventure into our own hands and didn’t have any money for a Guide and were traveling with two vehicles, we set off on our own. It is highly recommended to drive into the desert with a second vehicle, as it can quickly happen that you get stuck deep in the sand and need help.

Our destination for the day was the Tembaine in the middle of the Sahara, a large mountain with a beautiful view. As newcomers to the desert, the tour to the Tembaine was great for getting used to the sand. The Tembaine was my absolute highlight of our tour through Tunisia. In the evening, a local nomad came to us and baked us fresh bread around a cozy campfire. All the people we have met so far in Tunisia
were quite hospitable and helpful.

Hot springs in Ksar Ghilane

The next morning, we headed towards Ksar Ghilane. Since we could only navigate using GPS, we simply set off from Tembaine. That was quite an adventure! After a very long and exhausting day in the dunes and a few attempts to dig the car out of the sand, we found a place to sleep somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t even have reception, and that was a good thing. It was just the two of us, all alone in the desert. Were we afraid of getting lost? No, we didn’t.

We finally reached the Ksar Ghilane campsite. Ksar Ghilane is known for its wonderful hot springs (book a tour here*). After all that sand, it was very pleasant to relax there for two days. This place is very touristy, and they also offer quad tours* and
dromedary rides. Near the hot springs, there is a restaurant, a café, and a souvenir shop.

Due to the current situation, there is still a severe lack of tourists; we were practically the only ones there. Furthermore, most of the places we explored cost us very little money. The campsite costs were very reasonable. We paid less than €10 per person per night. After the hot springs, we slowly made our way back to Douz, where our journey began.

Conclusion of our road trip

During our road trip, there were few unpleasant situations. In tourist areas, it can happen that locals try to sell you something for money. Having to “fob off” these locals can be quite unpleasant. Fortunately, since we avoided cities as much as possible, this happened very rarely. Driving by car, you pass several checkpoints where the military will happily stop you and ask where you’re going, if you have a place to sleep, etc. Driving alone through the desert is frowned upon.

I rate Tunisia as a safe travel destination. You should be cautious but also have a great deal of trust in people. You can usually trust your gut feeling if a situation seems strange. Being too afraid is unfounded, as we got to know Tunisia as a welcoming country with extremely friendly people!

Whether Tunisia is a travel destination for everyone depends on how you like to travel. The country is probably less suitable for a backpacker than for someone who likes to Want to explore everything in your car? For us, the country was definitely worth seeing, and we’re already looking forward to returning sometime. Because we’re pretty sure of one thing: There’s still so much more to see and discover!