3-Day Private Trip of El Djem, Douz, & Kairouan

Trip Details 

Day 1: Hammamet – Kairouan – Gafsa – Tozeur

At the scheduled time, we'll pick you up from your hotel in Hammamet to leave the Mediterranean coast behind and head inland into Tunisia. After a 1.5-hour drive, we'll arrive in Kairouan, a holy city of Islam and one of the major spiritual centers of the Maghreb.

During a 1.5-hour tour, 1.5 hours visit the Great Mosque of Kairouan, one of the oldest in the Islamic world, and the Aghlabid Basins, a masterpiece of medieval hydraulic engineering designed to store and distribute water in a semi-arid environment.

We'll continue to Gafsa, an ancient Roman city situated in a natural oasis. There, we’ll have lunch at the Gafsa Palace Hotel, featuring a menu of salad, soup, brik, and either a cutlet or chicken. Bon appétit!

In the afternoon, we’ll continue to Tozeur, an oasis in the heart of the Sahara, which we’ll reach after about a 4-hour drive. We’ll check into a hotel, and in the evening, we’ll enjoy a buffet dinner. A perfect way to end the day!

Day 2: Tozeur – Chebika – Tamerza – Mides – Ong Jemel – Douz

We’ll start the day with breakfast, including coffee, milk, eggs, bread, cheese, and juices. Energized for the adventure, we’ll head southwest to Chebika, where we’ll spend about 1 hour exploring this mountain oasis with its springs and waterfalls.

Next, we’ll continue to Tamerza, where we’ll spend 30 minutes exploring the oasis before heading to the Mides Canyons, a gorge carved out by water erosion. Cameras ready?

Afterwards, we’ll embark on a 1-hour drive through the desert to reach Ong Jemel, known as a Star Wars filming location. Here we’ll spend 2 hours exploring its rock formations and movie-themed installations.

We’ll return to Tozeur for lunch, featuring a traditional menu of soup, salad, brik, couscous, and fresh fruit, accompanied by mint tea. With this delicious meal still on our minds, we’ll head to Douz. Did you know it’s known as the gateway to the Sahara Desert? We’ll arrive after a 2.5-hour drive, and along the way, we’ll cross Chott el Djerid, the vast salt lake where heat and salt create almost surreal landscapes.

In Douz, we’ll stay at a camp in the middle of the desert. Here, we’ll enjoy a traditional dinner of gargoulette (meat slow-cooked in a clay pot), sand bread, and fruit. The evening will end around the campfire to the beat of Berber drums.

Day 3: Douz – Matmata – El Djem – Hammamet

Good morning! Once we’re ready, we’ll have breakfast at the camp and set off for Matmata, where we’ll arrive after about 1.5 hours.

This unique location is famous for its troglodyte dwellings, carved into limestone rock and arranged around circular courtyards. We’ll learn all about their bioclimatic architecture, designed to maintain stable temperatures throughout the year.

Of course, we’ll visit one of these inhabited homes to experience firsthand the Berber way of life and how they’ve adapted to an arid environment. Next, we’ll head to the Sidi Idriss Hotel, the filming location for the Star Wars saga. There, we’ll stop for a couscous lunch, served with soup, salad, seasonal fruit, and mint tea, a meal that epitomizes the cuisine and hospitality of southern Tunisia.

The day will conclude with a visit to the El Djem Amphitheater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in the 3rd century, this colossal structure could seat over 35,000 spectators and is the third-largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire, surpassed only by the Colosseum in Rome and the one in Capua.

Finally, we'll begin the return journey to Hammamet, which will take about 2 hours. We'll arrive at your accommodation between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm.

Accommodation Info

This activity includes 2 nights at the following accommodations:

• First night at the Ksar Rouge Hotel in Tozeur (4*). The prices listed are per person in a double or triple room.
• Second night at a camp in the Douz Desert. The tents have electricity for charging devices and feature a shared bathroom facility with toilets and showers.

Under no circumstances will you have to share the haimas with strangers. We offer single, double, triple, and family tents. If a single-person reservation is made, a single supplement will apply, as will a supplement if anyone in the group wishes to sleep in a single haima or room.

Children ages 2 to 12 must share a room with their parents or guardians and will sleep on an extra bed.

Why Book a Private Tour?

By booking a private tour, you will have an exclusive English-speaking guide. This means you will enjoy a very special experience in a private group with only your partner, family, or friends.