:: Attractions : Central Tunisia

Central Tunisia is a rich agricultural area with hundreds of thousands of olive trees. The region
includes four of the most popular package-resorts as well as Tunisia’s holiest city. It is also known as The Sahel.

PORT EL KANTAOUI: 
The resort opened in 1979 and has been expanding ever since. It is a hugely successful purpose-built resort constructed around a picturesque marina fringed with shops and restaurants. It has a chain of hotels and they resemble giant, whitewashed palaces and are set in gardens abounding with bougainvillea.

Port El Kantaoui offers a 27-hole golf course, home to the Tunisian Open and the PGA Seniors Tour.

Tourists love the resort because of its familiarity and security.

SOUSSE: 
Even though very close to Port El Kantaoui (just 8 km-5 miles south), Sousse the third largest city in Tunisia is an entirely different country, so to say. It is packed with an atmosphere that is redolent of hundreds of years of history. 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. Both are located within Sousse’s bustling medina where a cluster of souks sells everything from food and clothes to perfume and jewellery.

Very much a working city, it has a thriving port and busy fishing harbor, which is best viewed early in the morning when the previous night’s catch is being unloaded from a flotilla of small boats.
 The Kasbah Museum houses an impressive collection of third- and fourth-century mosaics. It also offers commanding views over the city.

MAHDIA: 
Mahdia is one of Tunisia’s newest tourist towns, which has been expanding rapidly since the creation of a tourist zone 5 km (3 miles) west of the town centre.  The town is endowed with the best beaches in the country.
While Mahdia struggles to cling to its old way of life, which revolved around weaving and a thriving fishing port, nearly every shop and stall in the medina is now geared towards tourism.
The Great Mosque may look ancient but it was only built in the 1960s as a replica of the 1000-year-old original

MONASTIR: 
Like Port El Kantaoui, Monastir is another largely purpose-built tourist town of pristine streets and lavish landscaping. It has an attractive marina and an old fishing port. Most of Monastir’s tourist hotels are situated 5-6km (3-4 miles) west of the town centre at Skanes close to Monastir-Skanes Airport – Tunisia’s main international gateway for charter flights.
 The golden-domed Bourguiba Mosque – the final resting place of the founder of modern-day Tunisia and its first president, Habib Bourguiba, is Monastir’s most impressive landmark.
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.
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KAIROUAN: 
Kairouan is the most sacred city in Tunisia and Islam’s fourth most important centre after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It is easily visited on a day trip from Port El Kantaoui, Sousse, Monastir or Mahdia. The Great Mosque of Sidi Oqba is the star attraction among the 50 odd mosques within its medina. The original construction was in AD671. But it was later renovated and reconstructed in AD 863 by the Aghliabids. The prayer hall has 400 marble pillars and one of the world’s oldest pulpits with 250 carved-wood panels. Unfortunately non-Muslims are barred from entering the hall.

Despite being a spiritual centre, Kairouan is also a busy market town and the epicenter of Tunisia’s cutthroat carpet-making industry.

KERKENNAH: 
A small group of islands situated off the coast of Sfax, is Tunisia’s second city. There are two main inhabited islands, Chergui and Gharbi, which are joined by a causeway. Sadly enough the city is not much of a favorite with holidaymakers.
Regular ferry services operate between Sfax and Kerkennah. The travel time is just less than an hour. Kerkennah makes a pleasant day trip, and for those seeking to get away from it all it is also worth considering staying several days.