The Embassy of Tunisia and Visit Maghreb, a Tunisia-based DMC held a special ‘meet and greet’ session with the travel trade and media in New Delhi recently. Boujdaria Jamel, Deputy Chief of Mission, First Counsellor, Embassy of Tunisia and Anouar Hachemane, Co-Founder, showcased the tourism potential that Maghreb and Tunisia offers. Informing about the flight connections to Tunisia, they informed that Tunisia is Visa free for Indian Travelers. Tunisia is Mediterranean bliss, it is a historic splendor and offers a gentle lifestyle.
It may be but a slim wedge of North Africa’s vast horizontal expanse, but Tunisia has enough history and diverse natural beauty to pack a country many times its size. With a balmy, sand-fringed Mediterranean coast, scented with jasmine and sea breezes, and where the fish on your plate is always fresh, Tunisia is prime territory for a straightforward sun-sand-and-sea holiday. But beyond the beaches, it’s a thrilling, underrated destination where distinct cultures and incredible extremes of landscape – forested coastlines along the coast, Saharan sand seas in the south – can be explored in just a few days.
3 DESTINATIONS ( Tunisia, Morocco and Alteria) offer MULTIPLE ITINERARIES – IMMERSION INTO A UNIQUE BLEND OF EXPERIENCES which include visit to the IMPERIAL CITIES, OCEAN AND SEA, SAHARA ESCAPADE, RICH HERITAGE, WEDDING DESTINATION, HONEYMOON, SPA & WELL BEING, CULINARY INDULGENCE, SHOPPING, FAMILY FUN and RELAXING RETREATS.
Some of the interesting places to visit in Tunisia are
Cap Bon is Tunisia’s tourism hot spot, pointing its crooked thumb towards Sicily, only 150km away. It has long had close links with Europe – geologists speculate that the land masses were once joined, split by the rising Mediterranean 30,000 years ago. Crowded with citrus trees and vineyards, the region is famous for its wine.
The Jerid is the narrow strip of land between the region’s two major salt lakes, the Chott El Jerid and the Chott El Gharsa. It has long been one of the most important agricultural districts in Tunisia and the oases around here are famous for their high-quality dates. The harvest is in October, which is a good time to visit the area.
Djerba – Though a small island, Djerba contains the ingredients of most people’s idea of the ideal holiday vacation: soft, sandy beaches; warm Mediterranean waters; a warren of shops selling every imaginable handicraft; a maze of cobblestone streets and a history of ethnic and religious diversity more pronounced than in the rest of the country.
Hammamet – With a soft curve of sandy beach, densely blue Mediterranean, little Noddy trains and all-inclusive hotels, Hammamet (‘the baths’ in Arabic) is Tunisia’s biggest resort.
Tozeur makes an excellent base for longer forays into the surrounding area, including the mesmerising Chott El Jerid, Tunisia’s largest salt lake, and the mountain oases to the north. Bounded on one side by an enormous palmeraie and with the desolate snow-white expanse of salt on the other, the town feels at once far-flung and urban and lively.
Tabarka, a quiet coastal town with a tough old Genoese fort watching over a long curve of white sand, is locally known as ‘music town’, thanks to the music festivals that take place here. In July, the renowned jazz festival segues into the sounds of raï (Algerian protest pop fusion), then Latin and world beats.
Maghrebi, Mediterranean and European: Tunis is at once complex, hybrid and cosmopolitan. Following the revolution of 2011, Tunis has begun to move out of the shadows, showing its North African neighbours that it has all the right ingredients to jump back on the traveller’s to-do list. Emerging from a dictatorship and previous security issues, Tunis is finding its feet and its voice, proving to tourists that it is the safe, friendly city many know it to be.
Tunisia’s laid-back capital has two distinct urban-planning personalities. The new city, created by French colonials in the 19th century, is an orderly European grid, with wrought-iron balconies, cafes and patisseries bordering the palm-lined boulevards. Passing through Port de France, leave the European side behind and enter the labyrinth of the medina, dotted with old palaces and antique shops.
However urban Tunis might feel compared with the rest of the country, you are never far from the beach. The suburbs stretch endlessly out along deep-blue seafronts, an eclectic mix of Carthaginian ruins, stunning villas, beach bars and fishing ports. These areas surrounding the city centre are some of Tunis’ crown jewels and where in summer everyone walks in search of a breeze.
Sousse is Tunisia’s third biggest city and its enduring popularity as a tourist destination is somewhat baffling: loud, brash and an odd mix of traditional and mass-tourism architecture,
Itinerary can be booked from 6 nights 7 days to about 15 days.
