Tunisia Activities

While Tunisia is not a country charged with fun packed entertainment centres for children but it still has a modest selection of attractions that younger visitors will find fun and interesting. Families looking for a day away from the beach will find various activities on offer in Yasmine Hammamet while Port El Kantaoui is another good place to head for a fun-packed day out.

Blue Ice
Situated in Yasmine Hammamet, the Blue Ice complex is a three-floor facility featuring a selection of interests that are excellent for keeping the kids occupied for an afternoon. A games room offers several hours of fun while numerous restaurants and an ice cream parlour provide dining and refreshment options. The centre’s main attraction is the ice rink which is hailed as the first in the country and is capable of accommodating up to 100 skaters per session. Lessons are available for beginners and also for intermediates looking to improve their style. When night falls, the rink becomes a disco where the kids can skate to all the latest sounds.

Carthageland
Carthageland, located in Yasmine Hammamet, is a theme park that offers visitors the chance to learn something of the country’s fascinating history. The park covers the Carthaginian period as well as the Romans, Berbers, Muslims and present day. Various rides and themed indoor sections let you relive significant events such as the Punic Wars and the conquering of Rome over the Alps as well as taking you on a trip through Africa and giving you the chance to experience the Turkish pirates.

Acqua Palace 
Located in Port El Kantaoui, the Acqua Palace is another attraction that is aimed at all members of the family and indeed has something to offer everyone from young children to OAPs. For the hardy, there are various adrenaline-charged water activities such as water slides, water rings, the toboggan drops and the Crazy River Ride while for those who prefer things a little more sedate, there’s a Jacuzzi plus a number of pools where you can relax at the side or take a dip when things get a little too hot. For small children, there’s a water castle with two mini water slides plus a dry area with water-free attractions such as rope swings and see-saws among others. Several bars and restaurants on site take care of food and drink requirements.

Oasis Parc 
Also located in Port El Kantaoui, Oasis Parc will keep adults interested with its botanical garden while the kids will be fascinated by the numerous animal species living in the zoo section. In the garden, visitors can check out a variety of unusual plant species that can’t be found in the UK or many other European countries. For those with an interest in complimentary or alternative medicine, there are over 25,000 plants known or purported to have healing properties of some description. The various colourful exotic birds in the zoo will be of particular interest to young visitors.

Friguia Park
The first park of this nature to be established in North Africa, Friguia Park can be found between Hammamet and Sousse and is the ideal location for a day of family entertainment. The park is home to over a hundred animals living in replicas of their natural environments and includes various mammals and reptiles such as camels, gazelles, antelopes, donkeys, ostriches, lions, flamingos and crocodiles. A special program conducted by the park sees over 25 endangered African species living in protected conditions to prepare them for their eventual return to the wild.

If dining out is a significant part of the whole holiday experience for you, then, you should not pass up on the chance to try some of the national cuisine or the indeed the unique local variations that you might find in the resort or village where you are staying.

Much of today’s Tunisian cuisine takes its influences from Mediterranean sources; chiefly France, Spain and Italy, but it also combines traditional long-established Tunisian recipes with a variety of Jewish ones. Meals invariably feature olives in some form plus unleavened bread and a spicy sauce known as harissa. Couscous is the national dish and features heavily in many recipes. It is eaten much in the same way that Asians eat rice or the British eat potatoes or bread, as an accompaniment for meat, fish or vegetables. Agneau à la gargoulette is another popular traditional dish that sees tender lamb cooked in a stew in clay pots over a charcoal fire. Fish, in various forms, also features heavily although grilling is a favourite way for it to be cooked. If you’re not an especially adventurous eater, then you will find plenty of restaurants serving spaghetti as well as a variety of other international dishes.

Eating out can be a simple and cheap affair or an elaborate expensive one, depending on your schedule, budget and choice of restaurant. If you are looking for mainly international cuisine, you will find that Tunisia has its fair share of takeaway joints offering considerably more interesting dishes than just burgers or pizza. Chicken kebabs are a favourite and vendors can be found across the country selling these popular creations for as little as two dinars per kebab. If you would much rather sit down in a restaurant and enjoy and excellent meal with some fine wine, you will find that most of the country’s popular resorts, especially in the capital Tunis, have respectable restaurants where you can enjoy a three course meal of a very high standard. The reputable hotels are often home to some of the best restaurants as they can afford to pay top-notch chefs.

Meal times in Tunisia are very much social events, a chance for family and friends to sit down and catch up on each other’s lives. If you get the chance to visit the home of a Tunisian family for a meal then you’ll undoubtedly get a real taste for both the local food and culture. Food is prepared in generous amounts and placed in large bowls in the centre of the table or the floor while everybody sits around with their own bowl and spoon and helps themselves. Fresh fish, meats, vegetables and fruit feature heavily and of course couscous is almost always on the menu.

Tunisia is a shopper’s paradise and the ideal place for fans of ethnic wares and locally made handicrafts. Unique jewellery, clothing, pipes, candles, silk products and ceramics are available everywhere from quaint markets to reputable shopping outlets.

If you are visiting the capital city, Tunis then the Medina (old city) is a good place to head for these traditional Tunisian products. Beware though, haggling is the name of the game at the market stalls here and if you want to get a good price for your intended purchase, then you really do have to play the game. The fist price a vendor gives you will be massively over-inflated and as a general rule you should offer about 30 per cent of that price and work up until you reach a price that you are both happy with. It also pays to try a few different places for the same item as you may find prices differ significantly from vendor to vendor. You might even find shops with fixed prices offering the same goods cheaper than the market sellers. The Central Market, again in the capital, is a good place to buy food products especially unusual items that would make good gifts for friends and family back home. Markets like Central however can be found in most of the major tourist areas.

Tunis City’ is the capital’s recently opened shopping centre. It is hailed as the biggest shopping centre of its kind in the country. Besides a 12,000 square metre supermarket, the centre features 80 brand-name outlets, eight fast-food restaurants, a giant food-court with space for 600 diners and a leisure centre with play facilities for children. If you’re looking for branded products such as designer clothing or electrical goods then Tunis City is undoubtedly the place to head for. A branch of Carrefour can also be found in Tunis and like other hypermarkets belonging to the chain, it sells pretty much everything from food items and cosmetics to household and electrical goods.

Shopping hours change depending on the season. Throughout the summer months, shops are generally open Monday to Saturday, 07:30 to 13:30 and 15:00 to 19:00 whereas throughout the winter, they are open 09:00 to 12:00 and 15:00 to 19:00.