Anyone been to Tunisia?? Talk to me....

[deanogtv]

Considering an weeks chill by the pool in the sun nect month, just me the missus and the little one.
Prices for Tunisa, specifically Hummamet seem half decent.

Whats it like on the whole??? I've heard mixed stories. I've heard its a bit gross, dirty and a little unfreindly.

The hotel I'm looking at looks pretty decent and is a major chain hotel

Any suggestions would help

[SwanJack]

To quote my wife's grandfather who was there in the War

'What do you want to go there for, it's just sand and camel st'.

He was right, it was the worst holiday ever, the only saving grace being a trip to El Jem.

[deanogtv]

Dubai it is then

[sneijder]

It's cheap for a reason, and not because it's an undiscovered gem.

[Druid]

My worst holiday too!

[whirligig]

Been once would never return - dirty, poor food, lots of people pestering you.

[Ultuous]

Not been in a long time, but if you just want a break relaxing by a pool I'd say go for it...

I like to 'do stuff' on holiday so it doesn't appeal (as you do get hassled/ it is dirty outside of the hotel complexes), but in terms of VFM you won't get many hotels elsewhere giving comparative luxury on a budget!

[Starfighter]

Tunis is a regular for me but not a place I would choose.

The hart of the city is busy but stuffed with government buildings so best avoided at the moment. The hotels are OK, what I would call 10 feet hotels as in it all looks fine from 10 feet away. I have never managed to get to the Carthage ruins. Overall I would say that there are better places to visit.

[milner993]

I visited Tunisia once and I wouldn’t return I stayed in sousse the weather is great but sadly the place and the people are not my girlfriend has been back since with her mum hoping to see if things have changed and NO it's still the same.
If you just want to stay on one of the resorts you might be ok.
But I guess everyone has different expectations when travelling to a different country

[Engineer1]

It's fine for a lazy hot weather holiday, all inclusive and you are fine provided the hotel is good and the food and drink are international.

[magic360]

I went there a few years ago and would never go back. You are better off in morocco.

[Zod]

Went once. It was st. Tunis is mildly interesting, but the resorts are awful.

[FiF]

Tunis was interesting, as was Carthage. However as for the rest of it. Go elsewhere. Seriously just don't go there.

[zcacogp]

Tunisia is asked about on here fairly regularly. Do a search, the answer is always the same. (In short: potentially nice country, utterly ruined by the people there.)


Oli.

[Bill]

Well, I'm going to go against the grain and say that I love Tunisia...

But I have got beyond the resorts, and the markets surrounding them, and my wife dresses for the conditions ie long sleeves, covered legs etc because around the resorts they're generally lecherous tts.

The roman ruins are pretty good, El Jem particularly although it's one of the busier ones, the Ksours are spectacular, there are great sections of desert and salt plain, troglodyte caves (where Star Wars was filmed), Sfax has the most unspoilt medina I've been to, including in Iran and Libya because there are fewer tourists...

Also knowing how to say "no thank you" in Arabic really helps

[Devilstreak]

We're going In Sept, everyone keeps saying how bad it is. But the hotel won best hotel 2012, so it can't be THAT bad can it?

Im looking at it as another country ticked off the bucket list tbh. If it is terrible, at least it wasn't a fortune.

P.s. is your Mrs blonde? I've heard the atmosphere towards blondes is like turkey, I might try and sell my mrs when im there

[NormalWisdom]

I really enjoyed it too - Port El Kantoui was where we stayed (Haria Palace hotel if I remember rightly). Decent hotel, lido next door, 10 minutes walk to the beach, 20 minutes taxi to Sousse. Got out and about including trip to Sahara and El Jem.

Found the locals to be extremely pleasant and the taxi drivers were really helpful - Probably helped that I speak fluent French.....

[GT03ROB]

I spent several months working in Sfax. I liked the place. Nice & quiet compared to the tourist resorts. Good restaurants, no hassle from the locals.

Tourist resorts are largely the same the world over, frequently tacky, normally rip-offs, low quality hotels, Tunisia is no different in that respect.

[zcacogp]

Devilstreak said:

... Is your Mrs blonde? I've heard the atmosphere towards blondes is like turkey, I might try and sell my mrs when im there

Off Topic, but that't not always the case. We went to Morocco last year with two friends of the wife's; one of them a comely blonde and the other an Indian girl. We tried as hard as we could to sell the blonde girl to the locals but failed miserably - they were far more interested in the Indian lass!


Oli.

[shaun442k]

I've been twice- Sousse last summer and Port El Kantaoui a few years back.

I liked Port El Kantaoui, the hotel was nice and the beach was great.
Sousse last year was not so nice. We stayed in the top hotel according to tripadvisor. It was incredibly dated, the staff were rude and the food not so good. Speaking to people from other hotels and having a nose around said hotels suggests that the whole area is similar.
I got a few taxi rides and they seem nice enough people. The tourist areas are horrible though- full of rude and pushy locals. To top it off we had a monsoon like storm for our final couple of days- right in the middle of summer. So you can't even rely on the weather. There are quite a few empty, crumbling old hotels there that have turned into rubbish tips now.

Trips are very cheap though- diving, watersports etc are pennies almost.

I probably won't be going back, though El Jem is worth a visit if you are there.
Egypt is much better in comparison, and similar price.

Edited by shaun442k on Tuesday 21st May 11:30