Since the terrorist attack on the Bardo Museum in 2015, the tourism to Tunisia declined, so while the majority of travelers chose Morocco to immerse in the Oriental atmosphere, Tunisia stays much less crowded. In fact, not crowded at all – we had the Medina of Tunis all to ourselves (almost)!

First thing first, avoid Medina on Fridays and Sundays: on these days, the majority of souks and restaurants will be closed.

The main entrance to Medina is Bab El-Bahr (the sea gate), better known as Porte de France, and the moment you pass through, you get to a completely different world, whose contrast is highlighted by the New Town of Tunis that we had visited the day before (more details in the post about our itinerary in Tunisia. It is hard to imagine, that this is the true heart of the city, these are not stage setting or anything, but real streets with real shops for real people. And there are 110 000 of them living in the Medina of Tunis, which is one tenth of the total population of the city!

Even if the structure and areas borders of Tunis Medina look chaotic, we were surprised to discover that it had in fact, very logical division according to the social status of its inhabitants. Still, for a tourist it’s impossible to find one’s way in this maze. To make things even worse, the navigation apps hardly capture any connection at all, so don’t count too much on them either. For that reason, we downloaded the map of Medina on Maps.me and put the marks on all the points we wanted to see for to get at least some idea about our movements inside the town. Despite the poor connection, it was still very helpful and the suggested points by Google and Maps.me can also give some nice ideas about the places one should pass by. You will find the map with our points at the end of this post).

Unfortunately, since the tourism decline, many sights were closed, some of them being temporary shut for the renovation without any realistic date of reopening. And, of course, the biggest source of frustration is the fact that the gorgeous Mosques are not accessible to Non-Muslims (and there are more than 20 of them only in Medina!) as well as their splendid courts .

Otherwise, just let yourself go. Follow your instincts while exploring these winding streets, try entering some of the Dar, enjoy those magnificent vibrant doors, often yellow as this color is considered by Coran as the sacred one, with nailed ornaments supposed to ward off evil. And all this under suspicious eyes of the cats hoards.

Just like the living areas of Medina, the souks are organized according to their level of prestige – starting with bookshops close to the Main Mosque and finishing with leather tanners gradually passing through the souks selling perfumes and essential oils, babouche slippers – traditional Arabic footwear, as well as cheicha – the omnipresent Tunisian hat, and jewelry. So much jewelry, so I allowed myself to be tempted.

The further you go from the main street Jamâa-ez-Zitouna, no matter how colorful and appealing in might look, the better quality and price you get. If you are lucky with your wanderings, you’ll actually get to see the workshops where the artisans are making their craft objects just before your eyes. Some of the souks are located outdoors, some of them – under the vaults of passages, don’t hesitate to dive in and turn following your intuition if the navigator proves useless.

Café Panorama – 27 Souk Trok

Not only this is a perfect chance to see the court of Zitouna Mosque, but it is also a great spot for a mint tea break with a gorgeous view over Medina – nothing could ever be better, especially after tiresome and intense day of walking. Loved by tourists and locals, the prices therefore stay adequate.

Also, while you are still there, climb to the terrace of the little museum/shop Ed-Dar for more views over the old town and just in front of Café Panorama. Go inside the souvenir boutique, which lets its visitors visiting its terrace too. The view is quite similar, but you are likely to be alone and with beautiful mosaics arch as a bonus.

Walking Tea Man – Anywhere

While you stroll on the streets of the Medina of Tunis, you will 100% meet a guy, who has for us at least already became a legend, as we see him literally on every blog post about Tunis, video (watch it!!), photo collection or whatever. So when he found us, we felt as if we met a true superstar. He serves a mint tea, the price is left to your judgement and then you leave your cup on the street, which he will pick later. Make sure you don’t leave the Medina before drinking his tea!

Avoid going to Medina on Fridays and Sundays.

Don’t buy anything on Jamâa-ez-Zitouna street – the risk to get the Made in China is very strong.

Don’t hesitate to ask people for directions. The locals are very helpful and don’t ask asking anything in return – take that, stereotypes!

Download an offline map of the town and don’t forget to indicate the spots you want to see.

Bargain. It sounds obvious, but you can really bring the price up to four times down from its initial number. We hate it and always feel guilty and clumsy, but that’s the way it works.

Don’t forget that you can open the map with all the details in a full screen by clicking on the “full screen” button. All the points are illustrated with the photos.

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