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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

Talk to me about Tunisia

17 replies

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 04/06/2012 17:10

Am considering an all inclusive holiday for either October or feb half term but have never done a package before.

Has anyone got any recommendations or tips? We normally go for villas but can't make the flights work at all so am considering a package at about 450-500 each. Is it worth it though?

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melliebobs · 04/06/2012 17:19

Me and dh went to Sousse in Oct 2008. Fantastic. Lovely weather, the hotel we were at was right on the edge of the centre so could walk into town to explore the soukes and there are lots of nice coffee shops etc and its just traditional and not at all commercialised and it was about 20min walk there or a bit longer along the beach. Lots of good trips too. You can do a Sahara trip but we went on one that went to some temples in kauran (sp?) the amphitheatre in el jem where they filmed gladiator and hammamet. Sousse is about 10 mins from port el kantoui. I'm sure it's lovely for a holiday but me and dh really didn't like it. It's soulless just a load of hotels etc and nothing else. Just a 'dead' resort

Original poster

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 04/06/2012 17:22

Thanks melliebobs did you go AI? Was there a lot of hassle or not? I can cope with Marrakech amounts but not Luxor iyswim

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Emandlu · 04/06/2012 17:28

The only place we got any hassle was in the markets, but I found that if you wore sunglasses and didn't make eye contact it was a lot easier.

I really enjoyed our holiday there a few years ago and would love to go back again.

melliebobs · 04/06/2012 17:29

We went half board but in that heat I didn't always want a lunch and if we did we went into Sousse and tried some of the street food or stuff at the cafes

With the shopping the 'shopping centres' are controlled by the government so the prices are fixed so no hassle/haggling. In the soukes it's a different matter but it's all part of the experience. So long as your polite and just say no or just give them some kind of response rather than just ignore them they leave you to it!

hermioneweasley · 04/06/2012 17:31

I hated tunisia - dirty and poor. I would go to Egypt instead

justonemorethread · 04/06/2012 17:32

Can't write much but feel compelled to add Tunisia is great for a family holiday! Nowhere near the chaos of marrakesh. Just check location of hotel, so you can easily get taxi in to town and maybe make sure you're not near a building site, as they were still developing loads when I went. It is fantastic value for money there in hotels!

RandomEuro · 04/06/2012 17:32

DH and I went a few years ago, stayed in a 5 star all inclusive in Sousse also iirc, though may well have been Port el Kantoui itself. We went to the travel agency and said "book us anywhere you have for next week that is hot"....live and learn have not made that mistake again.

Hotel was nice enough, AI was fine - food was poor to average apart from the cakes/pastries as pastry chefs were all French trained.

Had never previously visited NA so was unprepared for the millions of flies, everywhere you went. Really it was too much. Lots to see and do as mellie above has said, if you dont mind hours on a bus in the heat, some of it well worth it though. There wasnt really much hassle, went to a medina on the City one day and a few people on the bus had a little bit of hassle but if you keep your wits about you you will be fine.

Trying not to be too negative about it (incase you have already booked it), but will say it is the worst holiday I/we have ever been on and would not recommend it to anyone.

Original poster

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 04/06/2012 17:32

So it's more of a Marrakech then, that's fine.

Did you use any kids clubs at all? Another thing we have never done but might do for an hour or two.

What was the beach like? Sorry for all the questions.

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bronze · 04/06/2012 17:33

Matmata if you're star wars fan

Original poster

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 04/06/2012 17:35

Ugh it's so tricky isn't it.

I have vowed never to go back to egypt after being sexually assaulted there so that's not an option. The flights to the canaries are too much for those weeks even though the villas are good value. We have been to Madeira a few times and cape verde is too expensive. What else is left?

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boredandrestless · 04/06/2012 17:35

We are going in August and reviews are very mixed I have found. I suppose it depends what you want from your holiday.

melliebobs · 04/06/2012 17:46

Didn't use kids clubs as was just me and dh. The beach at our hotel was lovely. Clean. Free loungers and shade things. We tipped the guy on the beach first day we were there. Only £1-2 and got us sunbirds in a good spot every day. Only problem was if you were on the beach really close to the sea u sometimes get a bit of hassle from people selling stuff. Again we found if you don't ignore them but play along with the game a bit they leave you alone

ClaireBunting · 04/06/2012 17:50

We went there last year. It was good. We don't usually do package holidays but it worked out well.

My advice would be to go for a 4 resort if you can. We were in a 3 and the food was much the same each day.

We stayed in Port en Kataoui (sp) which was a good area - mix of beach and Tunisian culture.

Original poster

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 04/06/2012 18:02

Yes we would definitely want at least a half decent hotel and some tunisian culture. Has anyone hired a car and a driver and got out to see some Roman stuff? We did this in Morocco and it worked really well as we didn't have to subject a coach load of people to our dc.

In feb it won't really be warm enough for lazing by the pool but it will be cool enough for sightseeing hopefully.

DS would love the star wars set.

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ContinentalKat · 04/06/2012 18:16

I wouldn't go there, tbh, but I am slightly paranoid... "most visits trouble free" is definitely not trouble free enough for me.

www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/tunisia

Original poster

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 04/06/2012 18:23

I am slightly concerned about the political situation/possibility of terrorism but the advice for the US is pretty scary when you look at the FCO site.

Sigh. Maybe I will try harder to make the canaries work.

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ByTheSea · 04/06/2012 18:43

We (DH and DC 15, 12, 9) were in Yasmine Hammamet in April at the Diar Lemdina. Yasmine Hammamet is just a giant tourist resort but it is not far from Hammamet and Tunis. I had never been to Tunisia or AI before. We had a lovely time although only about half the days were warm enough in my opinion for sunbathing and swimming although the beach was very nice. I still came back with a good tan. The staff were amazingly friendly and warm and the food was a lot better than expected - quite nice really. We did some lovely outings - quad biking, camel riding, Carthage and Tunis (we got a driver to take us so we could take our time everywhere all day). You will get approached a lot in the medinas but just say no politely and walk on.

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