Punic and Roman Sites Tour

Day1: Tunis airport – Tunis (HTL Tunisia Palace) Arrive at Tunis. Check-in t Hotel Tunisia Palace 4*, the rest of the day/evening is at your leisure. Explore the area, seafront, shops, bars and restaurants or visit the nearby Medina.

Day2: Tunis – Bardo – Carthage – Sidi Bou Said – Tunis (HTL Tunisia Palace) We will begin by visiting Carthage a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded by a Phoenician princess in 814 BC, it became the capital of the great Carthaginian Empire. There will be visits to the Byrsa Hill with its vestiges of Carthaginian and Roman ruins, the spectacular naval port and the antonine thermal bath complex of the Carthaginians.
Next we continue to the Tophet, where urns containing the ashes of human sacrifice to receive the blessing of Carthaginean gods. Departure to visit the picturesque Andalusian village Sidi Bou Said. It is a delightful place for a leisurely stroll through its winding cobbled streets. Its trademark white walls, contrasting sky blue doors and ornate window grids make for wonderful photography. After lunch, continue to visit the Bardo Museum. This is Tunisia’s National Museum and the repository of the country’s rich archaeological collections, Housed in an 19th century Beylical palace, it was the first museum to be founded in Africa. Departure to the medina, Tunis’s historic heart, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you will stroll through the winding Medina’s streets, with its souk (door-to-door shops selling all types of local curiosities) one of the world’s great marketplaces and retrace its remarkable wealthy past. Return to your hotel of stay.

Day3: Tunis – Dougga – Bulla Regia – Tunis (HTL Tunisia Palace) We stop first at Bulla Regia where uniquely in the Roman world the local elite chose to live underground! We will visit a number of fine private houses, most of which have marvelous mosaics still in situ, and then to Thugga for Lunch. After lunch we visit the best preserved Roman site in Tunisia. We see temples, Roman villas, Roman baths, a theatre, a Punic mausoleum, and triumphal arches. Back to Tunisia palace in tunis, dinner and overnight.

Day 4 The Punic site o kerkouane (HTL Tunisia Palace) Drive east to the fertile Cap Bon peninsula and the Punic settlement at Kerkouane. This was destroyed during the 2nd Punic War, and not overbuilt, so provides a rare glimpse of life in North Africa before the Romans. Continue to Nabeul to see the newly redisplayed museum, which has some fine mosaics. Return to your hotel, dinner andovenight.