7 days in Tunisia
A seven day carless route on the shared taxi network, with the north and south split stated honestly.
Last updated . Louage fares float with fuel prices and routes reshuffle at the stations; museum hours in Tunis have shifted repeatedly. Check your government's travel advice for the far south and borders, which carries zones of its own.
Tunisia's transport secret is parked in rows at the edge of every city: white vans with a red stripe, 8 seats, leaving for the next town the moment the last seat sells. The louage has no timetable and needs none: on the busy corridors one fills every few minutes, the fare is small and fixed, and the network reaches everywhere this route goes. Build the week on it and the country arranges itself: the capital's trio of medina, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said, then a southern loop through the holy city, the colosseum and the coast.
How many days do you need in Tunisia?
7 days: 3 in and around Tunis, then 4 looping Kairouan, El Jem and Sousse before returning north.
The Saharan south around Tozeur is real and separate: add at least 3 days for it, with a long travel day or internal flight each way. Squeezing it into a week shortchanges both halves.
How do louages actually work?
Turn up at the station, name your destination, take a seat, and go when all 8 fill, which on main routes means minutes; Tunis to Sousse runs about 2 hours.
Fares are fixed and posted or asked openly; pay the driver. Quieter routes fill slower, so travel mornings. Sit anywhere but the middle of the back row and the system is close to pleasant.
Is one night enough for Kairouan?
Yes: recent travellers agree 1 night covers the Great Mosque, the medina and the basins, with the evening being the point, after the day trips leave.
Islam's fourth holiest city deserves better than a coach stop, and gets it at dusk when the medina returns to its residents. Two nights only if slow mornings are the holiday.
Is Tunisia safe for this route?
The tourist north and coast that all 7 days of this route use carry standard advice; the elevated cautions in current guidance sit at the far south and the border zones, none of which this itinerary touches.
That is today's map and it moves: read your government's advisory before booking and again before flying, especially if adding the deep Sahara.
The plan at a glance
- Days
- 1 to 2
- Where
- Tunis: medina and Bardo
- Getting there
- Arrival, then the light metro
- Days
- 3
- Where
- Carthage and Sidi Bou Said
- Getting there
- The TGM suburban train
- Days
- 4
- Where
- Kairouan, sleeping over
- Getting there
- Louage, about 2.5 hours
- Days
- 5
- Where
- El Jem, then Sousse
- Getting there
- Two louage hops
- Days
- 6
- Where
- Sousse medina and the port
- Getting there
- On foot
- Days
- 7
- Where
- Back to Tunis and out
- Getting there
- Louage or the train, about 2 hours
| Days | Where | Getting there |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Tunis: medina and Bardo | Arrival, then the light metro |
| 3 | Carthage and Sidi Bou Said | The TGM suburban train |
| 4 | Kairouan, sleeping over | Louage, about 2.5 hours |
| 5 | El Jem, then Sousse | Two louage hops |
| 6 | Sousse medina and the port | On foot |
| 7 | Back to Tunis and out | Louage or the train, about 2 hours |
The route at a glance
9 mapped stops · 7 days
Live route map
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Route stops
Follow the numbered order through each day.
Day 1: The Tunis medina
- 1Bab el Bhar to the Zitouna mosque · about 3 hours
- ·The deeper medina · about 2.5 hours
Day 2: The Bardo
- 2Bardo National Museum · about 3 hours
- 3The ville nouvelle · about 2 hours
Day 3: Carthage and Sidi Bou Said
- 4Carthage · about 3.5 hours
- 5Sidi Bou Said · about 3 hours
Day 4: Kairouan
- ·Tunis to Kairouan by louage · about 3 hours door to door
- 6The Great Mosque and the medina · about 3.5 hours
Day 5: El Jem, then the coast
- 7El Jem amphitheatre · about 2.5 hours
- 8On to Sousse · about 90 minutes
Day 6: Sousse
- 9The ribat and the medina · about 3 hours
- ·Boujaffar beach · about 2 hours
Day 7: North, and out
- ·Sousse to Tunis, then the airport · about 3 hours door to door
Day 1: The Tunis medina
A UNESCO old city that still works for a living, entered through its French built front door.
- On foot
- About 6 km on foot
Morning
Bab el Bhar to the Zitouna mosqueabout 3 hours
In through the sea gate, up the covered souks to the great mosque at the medina's heart. The vaulted perfume and chechia souks nearest Zitouna are the oldest and best.
Afternoon
The deeper medinaabout 2.5 hours
Palaces turned museums and carpet houses with rooftop views for the price of polite interest. Getting mildly lost is the intended experience; the medina is compact enough to always fall out of an edge.
Day 2: The Bardo
The world's great Roman mosaic collection, in a beylical palace that competes with its own exhibits.
- On foot
- About 4 km on foot
Morning
Bardo National Museumabout 3 hours
Floor after floor of mosaics lifted from Tunisia's Roman cities, including the famous Virgil. Three unhurried hours; the palace ceilings up top repay a neck ache.
Afternoon
The ville nouvelleabout 2 hours
Avenue Habib Bourguiba's colonial theatre and cafes, the cathedral, and the pastry stops between: the French century in one promenade.
Day 3: Carthage and Sidi Bou Said
The scattered ruins of Rome's great rival, then the blue and white cliff village, on one suburban rail line.
- On foot
- About 7 km between TGM stops
Morning
Carthageabout 3.5 hours
The Antonine baths by the sea, the Byrsa hill museum and the Punic ports, spread across a genteel suburb. One combined ticket, several TGM stations, comfortable in a morning.
Afternoon
Sidi Bou Saidabout 3 hours
Blue doors, white walls, and the Cafe des Delices view over the gulf. Touristy and deservedly so; stay for the light going gold on the marina.
Day 4: Kairouan
The first louage day, inland to the fourth holiest city in Islam, staying for the evening the day trippers miss.
- On foot
- About 5 km on foot
- Book before you go
- A dar in the medina, for the courtyard breakfast
Morning
Tunis to Kairouan by louageabout 3 hours door to door
About 2.5 hours from Moncef Bey station once the van fills. Morning departures fill fastest; the drill is name the city, take the seat, hold the small notes ready.
Afternoon
The Great Mosque and the medinaabout 3.5 hours
The 9th century courtyard and its recycled Roman columns, the Aghlabid basins, and Bir Barrouta's blindfolded camel. The combined monument ticket covers the set.
Day 5: El Jem, then the coast
A colosseum to rival Rome's, standing alone over a market town, then the louage on to Sousse.
- On foot
- About 4 km plus two louage hops
Morning
El Jem amphitheatreabout 2.5 hours
Third largest in the Roman world and far more intact than most, with the underground galleries open to walk. The scale against the low town is the photograph everyone leaves with.
Afternoon
On to Sousseabout 90 minutes
About 1 hour more by louage, into the coast's working resort city and its walled medina by the port.
Day 6: Sousse
Ribat towers, a kasbah museum and an honest beach afternoon: the coast doing all its jobs at once.
- On foot
- About 5 km on foot
Morning
The ribat and the medinaabout 3 hours
Climb the watchtower of the 8th century fortress monastery, then work the medina downhill, quieter and saltier than the capital's.
Afternoon
Boujaffar beachabout 2 hours
City sand a stroll from the walls. Not a postcard cove and not trying to be; it is where Sousse itself swims, which is the point.
Day 7: North, and out
The 2 hour run back to the capital by louage or train, with margin built for a van that fills slowly.
- On foot
- About 2 km
Morning
Sousse to Tunis, then the airportabout 3 hours door to door
Louage from the northern station or the mainline train, each about 2 hours. Leave the morning for it: the one louage rule is that the network runs on patience you have not budgeted.
The options below are separate choices rather than a package. Read how RoamWeek chooses and orders suggestions before using any of them.
Book the separate parts
Book the parts that need booking
The louage cannot be booked, which is its charm. The flight, the medina dars and the odd guided morning can.
You book each service directly with its supplier. These separate bookings do not form a RoamWeek package.
- Flights
Carthage airport sits 20 minutes from the medina, and this route starts and ends there by design.
Search on Aviasales
- Stays
The converted courtyard houses inside the old walls are the country's best sleep, and each city on this route has a short supply of the good ones.
Search on Booking.com
- Activities
Carthage's scattered sites reward a guide who can rebuild the city between the fragments, and a first morning medina walk pays forward for the whole week.
Search on GetYourGuide
What is worth the time, and what is not
Worth your time
- A night in Kairouan over a day trip. The holy city empties of coaches by late afternoon and returns to itself, which is the version worth crossing the country for.
- The Bardo before any ruin. Seeing the mosaics first furnishes every empty Roman floor you stand on afterwards.
- Learning the louage on day 4. One successful hop converts the whole network from intimidating to obvious, and the country opens accordingly.
Skip it
- A hire car for this exact route. Every leg is a busy louage corridor or a suburban train; the car adds parking, medina edges and cost to a week that runs fine on 8 shared seats.
- The Sahara as a day trip from the coast. The distances make it a dawn to midnight coach marathon with an hour of dunes in the middle.
- Sousse's resort strip as the main event. The package hotels north of town are their own sealed economy; the city's actual life is inside the walls and around the port.
Why this order
Tunis anchors the first act because the capital's trio needs no intercity travel at all: medina on foot, Bardo by metro, Carthage by suburban train, a gentle school in how the country moves before the first louage. Kairouan starts the loop because the inland leg is best taken fresh, and sleeping there buys the evening that is the city's real gift. El Jem works as a hinge, luggage in the amphitheatre's shadow for 2 hours, because the coast lies conveniently beyond it. Sousse closes the loop where the beach can absorb whatever energy is left, 2 easy hours from the airport run home.
Book the trip
Start with Tunisia, dates and travellers
Compare the travel services first, then use the itinerary below to plan each day.
- Flights
Choose your airports, travel dates and passenger count.
Search flights - Hotels
Search stays near the places in this route.
Search Booking.com - Activities
Check tours and tickets for the stops you want to keep.
Find activities
You book each service directly with its supplier. These separate bookings do not form a RoamWeek package.
Read next
- 8 days in Egypt
North Africa's other great ancient itinerary, eastward along the same sea.
- 5 days in Malta
The island neighbour, 45 minutes of flight from Tunis and a natural pairing.
What we checked
- Discover Tunisia, national tourism office read 31 August 2026
- UK government travel advice, Tunisia read 31 August 2026
- Bardo National Museum read 31 August 2026
Why this page exists. This is the only RoamWeek route built on the louage system: 8 seat shared taxis that leave when full, cost a few dinars between cities, and make a Tunisian circuit possible with no hire car and no timetable beyond patience.