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trips to Tunisia
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• Don’t miss the country’s leading site of interest: founded by the Phoenicians in 814 BC, Carthage thrived as a maritime centre and later became the third-largest city in the Roman Empire before being destroyed by the Arabs in AD 692.
• Bizerte has been a major port since Phoenician times when it was known as Hippo Zarytus. Under French rule in the late 19th century, it became a naval base and has remained Tunisia's biggest military centre ever since. At the heart of the town is the picturesque Vieux Port (Old Port), surrounded by shops and cafes and usually dotted with dozens of multi-coloured fishing boats. The Kasbah dates mainly from the 17th century. Within its walls is a mini-town of narrow, winding alleys.
• Known as the Garden of Tunisia, the Cap Bon peninsula combines sleepy villages, rolling green fields and vineyards with the biggest and most cosmopolitan resort in the country.
• El Haouaria is best-known for its annual June falconry festival. On the outskirts of the village, opposite the island of Zembra, is a spectacular series of Roman caves. Nearby, Les Grottes des Chauves-Souris are home to thousands of bats.
• Monastir's most impressive landmark is the golden-domed Bourguiba Mosque - final resting place of the founder of modern-day Tunisia and its first president, Habib Bourguiba. The town's Ribat supposedly dates from the eighth century but it has been restored so many times that little of the original structure is left.
• Within the medina at Kairouan, there are more than 50 mosques, the Great Mosque of Sidi Oqba being the star attraction. Originally constructed in AD 671, the existing building was built by the Aghlabids in AD 863.
• For Tunisia’s best preserved Roman ruins, take an excursion to Dougga, which enjoys a lofty setting 96km (60 miles) southwest of Tunis. Formerly known as Thugga under the Numidian King Massinissa in the second century BC, under Roman rule, Dougga had a population of up to 10,000.
• Some 8km (5 miles) north of Kelibia are the remarkable remains of Kerkouane, a Punic town. Destroyed in 236 BC, it was unearthed in 1952 and is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
• Spend a day in Sousse, Tunisia's third-largest city, 8km (5 miles) south of Port El Kantaoui. Sousse was one of the Phoenicians' great coastal cities but it fell to Arab invaders in the seventh century. In AD 790, the foundations of a new city were laid and several remnants of that time still remain, including the Great Mosque and its Ribat - one of a chain of fortresses which stretched along the Mediterranean coast.
77A Wigmore Street, London W1U 1QF, UK
Tel: (020) 7224 5561 or 5598 (press).
Website: www.cometotunisia.co.uk
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Inscrita en el R.M. de Madrid Tomo 15.973, F. 206, Sec. 8, Hoja M-270179 . C.I.F. B82826991 Gran Vía, 22 Dcdo. 4º Madrid, 28013 Spain.
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Inscrita en el R.M. de Madrid Tomo 15.973, F. 206, Sec. 8, Hoja M-270179 . C.I.F. B82826991 Gran Vía, 22 Dcdo. 4º Madrid, 28013 Spain.
Tel. (+34) 913 605 670 Fax: (+34) 902 196 339