Tunisia with 1yo baby

[Momaofthree]

We're travelling to Tunisia in the Easter half term for 10 days. This will be the first time taking our 1 year old abroad. We're staying all-inclusive.

Any advice on what to expect in Tunisia would be great please

Our all inclusive was really good quality but if you're in one of the big resorts expected to get hassled if you leave. We did one trip by train and as we got off in a small town there were only locals and they were very friendly.

If you want to go sightseeing I'd recommend a precooked tour. We did one to the Sahara which was OK for the experience but the hotel was poor . We did get to see where they filmed the Mos Eisley cantina , the highlight of DS' life of that point and the look on the bright side of life hillside.

We visited Tunica over three years ago, so things may have changed. We travelled with TUI. The hotel was spotless, the TUI Rep was on site every day (and he was very helpful and knowledgeable) and the weather was fantastic.

My tips would be to be

1. The food in the hotel was great, however be careful eating food outside the hotels (at least three individuals in our hotel were very ill from eating food from local markets)
2. Go on organised trips (rather than trying to do it yourself) - as people such as Taxi drivers may try to scam you, or harass you. We went on a number of TUI experiences all of which were good value for money.
3. In terms of clothing, it is a Muslim Country so consider what you are wearing and dress appropriately outside the hotel (depending on what you are doing).
4. All Hotel and Museum staff seemed to understand very good English and were very helpful. There is a tipping culture, so budget accordingly.
5. Take precautions to keep your belongings and yourself safe, particularly when you are outside the hotel.

Had a really good experience. What part are you going to? We self catered so ate out locally every day and had no problem. People getting ill I suspect is more not being used to particular spices and getting diarrhoea as a result. We used public transport with no bother and also hotel arranged us a private driver for day trips. People in souqs are very pushy but if you ignore it you'll be fine.

Sorry to derail the thread, but would you be able to tell me any more about your trip? My husband and I are thinking of going, and we always travel independently but the foreign office advice for Tunisia is quite alarming. Where did you fly to and where and how did you travel while you were there? Thank you 😊

We used to live there! The independent travel scene is not as well developed as in some countries but there are some beautiful homestays and small hotels around. Driving (outside of Tunis) is straightforward and there is a good train and bus networ (well trains a bit less but they go up and down the coast). You can also sort private transfers quite cheaply. There's a new Bradt travel guide it's worth getting. I wouldn't go in high summer- the heat is punishing- but May is really nice, or October.

Where were you thinking of going? Some of the roman sites are stunning, and practically deserted. Tunisians are in general pretty friendly and helpful.

(You can only really fly to hammanmet or Tunis. Tunis has some things going for it but I'd be tempted to go straight for hammanmet for easier access to coast and desert).

October half term or the week after Christmas, perhaps. Istanbul and Jordan were lovely in December.