Tunisia

Goodie

Goodie

Goodie

Soldato
Joined
5 Dec 2003
Posts
5,008
Just wondering if anyones been to Tunisia on holiday before and if so how did you find it?

Booked up to go with the missus in July for 10 nights in Port el Kantaoui. Looking forward to it but its not the normal sort of place that we would go to so im just interested in finding out some people perceptions of the place if possible :)
 
Hey,

I went there a few years ago with my girl. We stayed at a four star in Port el Kantaoui.

Tunisia is terrific. We had a great time, some real good days and nights out.

Definitely take a trek to the Sahara mate. Still got my sand bottled here.

Only thing some people might not like is the constant haggling at markets, but you get used to it probably.

In July it should be very hot. Can only give you my experience on the place but I'd go back anytime, I loved the place.
 
Last edited:
Port El Kantaoui is lovely, which Hotel are you staing at!?

Everything appears 5 star but dont let the journey from the airport to the resort put you off. Every building looks unfinished, and they are, for a reason, unfinished houses in Tunisia avoid 'council tax' if you like, so the owners leave the metal rods sticking out of their roofs!

July will be HOT, take plenty of cotton clothes and sun cream. Is your mrs Blonde? my other half was and you 'can' experience gawping, staring, etc. However, El Kantaoui is resorty enough to not be too bad. Its when you go on the excusrions (like to the Medinas, etc) that you'll get people hassling. Its not unpleasant, but it can be intimidating, you and your Mrs just need to be firm. They may try to grab her arm to show her something she might need to buy, you just need to be polite and say your ok thankyou.

Also, if you speak French, it goes a long way as this is their primary (alternative) language, they speak this as much as Arabic.

The hotels are fantastic, and as I said, give you a real 5 star sense. So enjoy it...

Excursions to look out for - Do the desert thing, (not the one where you stay overnight, as its pointless paying for a hotel room otherwise, and some people can be badly ill).

Roman ruins is good, and a visit to the medina. Also, do the casino if you can, thats a really good experience.

Make sure your up to speed on jabs, etc (Malaria, and stuff)

Hope this helps
 
I was there for my holiday about 5 years ago at el Kantaoui. It was ok but not my best holiday. This was partly because we didn’t go in season.
It was a bit overcast and we got all the sandy Moroccan wind and I had 3 days of food poisoning.
The Port itself is lovely when the weathers good. They do some nice orange juice and pancake things.
Probably the highlight of the holiday was going out in landcruiser convoy to the desert areas. It was interesting seeing the funny houses where they shot a majority of scenes from star wars. Family partially planned it to entertain my scuba diving hobby for myself but frankly I new more than the dive leaders so don’t attempt this as I found them plain dangerous.
Your welcome to check out the bazaar as well as you’ll find that’s not too far off but make sure you have a map of the city, wandering into some of the areas feels a little dangerous especially how westerners are regarded now (I’m pretty sure I went just before 9/11.
Also I’ll let you know as I have some flatmates coming back this afternoon from there after a weeks long holiday so they can give me some more up-to-date feedback which I’ll pass it on.
 
I went last April to a hotel called Abou Sofiane in Port El Kantaoui and I would definitely go back. The entertainment team were fantastic but a bit overbearing at times, the food was excellent, the people were amazingly friendly. Most of the hotels are next to the beach and me and the youngest daughter went on everything - para gliding, skiiing, quad bikes etc. Stepping out of Port El Kantaoui got me a bit scared because that place has been set up for tourists and they love the British. We went to Sousse one day and lasted 2 hours because I felt my family with two teenage daughters were under threat. I've got loads of photos and anything you want to know just ask away.

My big major problem was finding somewhere within reach that showed English football. Wherever I go on holiday the first thing I do is found out all the local bars and what time the matches are on. The hotel staff were no help and taxi drivers would drop you anywhere. We were told of the Irish Bar nearer to Sousse but we lasted 10 minutes because the area looked so rough. However, I went on one of my runs and decided to run up a road that divides the golf course and up there on the left was a complex of bars and one being the English Bar which suited all my needs and run by a Cockerney laydee.
 
Last edited:
Went two years ago to somplace an hours bus ride from the airport or so. It was all expeneses payed and very cheap if I remember corectly. Wonderful hotel as well, shame I dont remember what it was called. :(
 
Tunisia is a truely awful place, well where I went (Hammamet) was.

Try morocco, thats much better and miles cheaper!
 
Brilliant, sounds nice, I'll definatly look into the Sahara trip, the lady in the travel agents did mention it to us when we booked. The Hotel is the Royal Kenz , a nice looking 4 star pretty close to the beach.

Just a few questions then :) What are prices like for things over there? such as meals etc and in the town are there many restaurants to eat out at night? Around the town are the majority of individuals able to speak english or could there be some difficulties there? and finally are there a few bars about just to have a quiet drink in at night?

As you can guess I really arent too sure of what to expect of the place :p
 
Just be careful if your girlfriend has light coloured hair the guys over there are very fond of it and you may get hassled. Some hotels will offer you bodyguard depending on where you stay.
 
Hammamet is a complete dive, and if you go an an excusrion you'll always chuckle to yourself that someone even paid to stay there!

Prices are varied, it was pre 9/11 when I want, although things we still a little heated at the time. Unfortunately, El Kantaoui is Tourist, and it knows it, so prices are inflated compared to the same products elsewhere. The port is lovely, neat little shops. I bought a genuine Nike cap from one of the shops, dont be afraid to barter/haggle. He wanted £50 for it, I got him down to £10 in the end!
 
Blackstar said:
Just be careful if your girlfriend has light coloured hair the guys over there are very fond of it and you may get hassled. Some hotels will offer you bodyguard depending on where you stay.
Click to expand...

This doesnt apply to El Kantaoui in my experience
 
My mums been a few times and loved it there, her hotel had armed guards at night which sounded a bit scary but she said it was great.
 
My aunt and uncle went there for their honeymoon last year and ended up coming home a week early. They both really hated it to begin with then once they both took ill they jumped on the next plane home. This is very unusual for them as they travel A LOT and usually enjoy most of the places they go to.
 
TBH i found the whole place to be a dump. We stayed in a 5 star between sousee and El Kantouie and the hotal was fantastic etc but venture outside and be prepared for anything. Beggars EVERYWHERE and aggressive ones too... you have to tip for just about everything, which is fine at first but soon you find your money running out. The tours can be excellent or total rubbish with deathtrap coaches, and you wont find out which untill u are underway.

The scenery is nice and the places to visit are excellent its the people that make the place a nightmare. Everyone is geared up to hassle tourists untill they get some money, and i mean EVERYONE. For example we went on a tour that included a museum that had statues and roman relics etc. We had to pay to get in ( fair enough ) but literally every room some bloke had his hand out for a tip... and they spit through their teeth if they dont get one. Half of the rooms had like 4 or 5 guys in them!. Some rooms were "closed to the public" but for a tip you could quickly be let in. ( yeah right!).
I just fealt like the whole holiday was a 2 week trip to rip-off blackpool with nicer scenery. Oh and this was an offical govenment run museum so it wasnt just some dodgy back street thing. Its as if its official policy to hire thugs and con artists to staff ( OVERSTAFF) these places.
All the men were leering at my GF the whole time... to the point where she didnt want to leave the hotel room. Several guys offered to give me £500 us dollars to sleep with her.... etc etc.
Some people will say that i should just have said no and walked away. We tried... this just seemed to make them more aggresive and the tour guides dont seem to really care much.
Give me Greece anytime, the people are fantastic and the whole experiance is much nicer.

Avoid if you can help it.
 
Last edited:
AtreuS said:
TBH i found the whole place to be a dump.
Click to expand...

Me too.

I went as a kid. The only 2 places to visit are the Sahara Desert and Matmata. Once you've seen one grain of sand then it gets a bit boring! :p

The place also stunk to high heaven and the locals apparently couldn't keep their hands to themselves.

Not recommended.
 
Goodie said:
Oh dear, this isnt looking too promasing. 10 days sitting on a lilo in the pool it is then :p
Click to expand...
If your hotel is nice and has a private beach its like paradise. Just when you leave the protection of the hotel it gets downhill. Of course i can only speak for my own personal experiance and maybe different parts of the country are nicer, up the coast etc.

Oh we also went on a trip to the capitol city <Tunis>. This was interesting and the people much more cosmopolitan, but you do feel like people stare at you a lot. There are lots of leather shops there and if u want a bargain you will find one.

Seeing as you are in port el kantoui i think you will be fine. Just have one trip out and see how you find it.
 
Last edited:
The Royal Kenz is a nice hotel mate, used to be Thomson Gold so it's pretty much kids-free as well.

dmpoole, keep an eye out for the Abou Sofianne in the future, it's one of our "Core" properties so gets discounted at a higher rate than other hotels (same applies to the Kenz) because we have a large room commitment in them.
 
Goodie said:
Oh dear, this isnt looking too promasing. 10 days sitting on a lilo in the pool it is then :p
Click to expand...

You'll have no problems with Port El Kantaoui.
My 18 year old daughter went with us in April and went back twice with friends last year and is seriously considering getting a job out there (but only in Kantaoui).
I know where your hotel is and when you come out turn left and thats the nice area. Turn right and it gets a bit rougher but still safe.
If you turn left from your hotel you will come to a roundabout and if you go right up the bank those bars are up there about 10 mins walk.
There are loads of bars in the Port itself and most people talk English. You do get hassled by sellers but just say no.
I even felt safe walking from the Port to my hotel at midnight but anywhere out of Port El Kantaoui and I'd want bodyguards.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/d.poole410/tunisia/

I've put several pictures here for you to look at.
Theres a view from The English Bar which shows the Hotel Riviera, if I'm correct your hotel is somewhere to the left of it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom