Day 9 – Bizerte, Tunis | Nine Days in Tunisia

With a lot of must-visit sights in Tunis already completed on the second day, I was determined to visit the northernmost city on the African continent – Bizerte.

There are five trains daily from Tunis running to Bizerte, but some of them don’t run on weekends and holidays, so make sure to check the timings of the trains. And then are the louages starting from Tunis Marine station. Either transportation takes about 1.5 hours to reach Bizerte.

The bus and train stations in Bizerte are on the southern side of the canal. And most of the sights to see are across the bridge on the northern side. You can take a taxi to the gorgeous Old Port for TND 3.

With it’s multicolored boats squiggling in the water, and cafes lined up along the promenade, the Old Port is perfect for an enchanting stroll. On the northern side of the port stand the 10m-high fortified walls of the kasbah. Constructed in the Ottoman period, the kasbah encloses tranquil residential streets.

From the Kasbah, it’s a 20 minute uphill walk to the Spanish Fort that overlooks the medina from the north. All that remains are the two wall sections and one citadel, but the views overlooking the amphitheater and the city are stunning.

After spending about 2 hours in Bizerte, I took the taxi to the louage station on the south side of the canal, and back to Tunis by lunch time to see one of the best sights in the capital city – Bardo Museum.

From the Tunis Kasbah, you can take a taxi to the Bardo neighborhood for TND 3, or walk 4km to the museum. I prefer walking in cities because it gives me a sense of the local culture and sights that I may not see with a public transportation commute.

The museum is dominated by the superb mosaics that adorned the Roman Africa’s villas.

A walk back to the medina and a dinner later, I went to bed early to catch the 6:45am flight to Paris.

Note: All values in USD, unless otherwise mentioned, are approximate and based on the exchange rate at the time of publishing. Each cost is for one adult. The exchange rate at the time of publishing is assumed to be USD 1 = TND 1.60.