All About Tunisia.
The definitive English-language traveler’s guide — twenty-seven chapters, 156,000 words, written and verified by Tunisians who actually live here.
The Tunisia you won’t find in a brochure.
Seven years ago, we started Carthage Magazine because the English-language world’s image of Tunisia stopped at Carthage and beach resorts. There is a country between those things — the Tunisia of olive harvests, Roman backroads, language and food and faith — and most of it was being described by people who flew in for ten days, ate at the hotel, and went home.
This book is the version we wish someone had given us the first time we tried to explain Tunisia to a friend. Twenty-seven chapters. One hundred and fifty-six thousand words. Five hundred and seventy-two pages. Every chapter written or verified by Tunisians who live here.
We’ve included the things the brochures leave out. The taxi fare you should be paying from the airport. Which Roman ruins are as complete as anywhere in the Mediterranean and almost empty. The regional dishes nobody outside Sfax has heard of. What changes during Ramadan and what doesn’t.
We’ve also said the things the brochures won’t. Where to be careful. How to recognize the moment when “tea with the family” becomes a hard sell at a carpet shop. What it’s actually like to be a woman travelling alone here.
A whole country, actually covered.
Most English-language guides to Tunisia stop at the coast. This one crosses the Atlas, the Sahel, the Sahara — and gives you the cultural keys to make sense of all of it.
Every UNESCO inscription, covered in detail.
Nine World Heritage Sites and two Intangible Cultural Heritage inscriptions — written about with the seriousness they deserve.
Twenty-seven chapters across four parts.
Practical chapters to read before you fly. Cultural chapters to understand the country you’re in. Regional chapters when you’re deciding where to go. Thematic trails when you want a journey with a thread.
Nine regions, one country.
Tunisia is small on the map and large in variety. Each regional chapter is a self-contained guide — what to see, where to sleep, how to get there, what to skip, what to know.
Tunis & Greater Tunis
Cap Bon Peninsula
The North Coast
The Northwest
The Sahel
Sfax & the Kerkennah Islands
The Centre
Djerba & the South-East
The Sahara
Five journeys, five threads.
For travelers who want a trip with a story rather than a checklist — the guide ends with five curated trails, each crossing several regions.
The Roman Trail
Five sites that together tell the story of Roman Africa — from imperial Carthage to provincial Dougga.
The Islamic Trail
From the Great Mosque of Kairouan to the Sufi shrines of the south — Tunisia as a centre of Islamic civilisation.
The Star Wars Trail
Tatooine was Tataouine. Four locations where the original films were shot — and where to find them today.
The Food Trail
Regional specialities province by province — where to find the dishes that don’t leave the towns they come from.
The Hiking Trail
From the cork-oak forests of Aïn Draham to the cliffs of Cap Bon to a guided traverse of the dunes.
What this guide does, and what it doesn’t.
The first thing most travel books do is overpromise. We’d rather you know what kind of book this is before you buy it.
What it covers
- Every region, every UNESCO site, in honest detail.
- The practical mechanics — visas, taxis, money, SIM cards, ATMs.
- The cultural context that turns sightseeing into understanding.
- The Tunisia foreigners rarely see, written by people who do.
- Walking routes, real prices, the unwritten rules.
What it isn’t
- A hotel review aggregator. We don’t rank the resort buffets.
- A “top ten” brochure. Tunisia is more interesting than a list.
- A romance about the country. We say the difficult things too.
- An academic history. The history chapter is one chapter long.
- A language course — for that, see our phrasebook.
Written by an editorial staff, verified by Tunisians.
Not the work of one outsider. The work of a magazine that has been documenting this country in English since 2019.
With contributions from
- Saber Ben Hassen Founder, Carthage Magazine · Language & capital
- Amira Ben Harcha Food writer · Cuisine & food trail
- Oumaima Saoudi Cultural writer · Crafts & etiquette
- Tayssir Ben Hassen Travel writer · The Sahel & Cap Bon
- Ghassen Fartoun Historian · History & Roman trail
- Zied Karray Photographer & researcher · The Sahara
- Majdi Zhioua Practical research · Transport & logistics
Bring Tunisia home.
Before you buy.
Three books, one country.
The guide tells you where to go and what you’re looking at. The phrasebook gives you the language to talk to the people you meet. The cookbook is what you’ll want to cook when you get home. Together, they’re the project.
All About Tunisia
by the Carthage Magazine editorial staff
The comprehensive English-language guide — 572 pages, 27 chapters, every region and every UNESCO inscription.
$24.99Speak Like a Local
by Saber Ben Hassen
Tunisian Arabic for travelers, with audio recorded in Tunis by a native speaker — 200+ phrases, 13 chapters.
$14.99 See the phrasebook →The Authentic Tunisian Cookbook
by Rahma Rekik & Amira Ben Harcha
Sixty traditional recipes from the heart of North Africa — from the harissa of Tunis to the saffron rice of Djerba.
$9.99 See the cookbook →Get all three — the Carthage Magazine bundle.
Travel guide, phrasebook, and cookbook — the full three-book project at a meaningful discount.
Carthage Magazine
Tunisia’s first and largest premier English-speaking general-interest publication. Carthage Magazine uncovers the country’s rich culture, innovative spirit, and vibrant civil society — redefining the conversation about Tunisia and the wider MENA region.