Most of what makes Tunisia worth the trip sits between the cities, not in them: a ruin with mosaic floors on a hillside, a palm oasis at the end of a mountain road, a salt lake you cross with mirages on both sides. Trains and buses link the big towns well enough, but they skip these places, and organised tours reach them on someone else’s schedule.
This route covers roughly 1,000 km, from Tunis-Carthage airport in the north to Djerba-Zarzis airport in the south-east, so you never have to double back to return the car. Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons. In summer the heat in the south makes the middle days harder than they look on a map.
The route
Day 1: Carthage and Sidi Bou Said. Don’t drive far on arrival day. The ruins of Carthage and the blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said are a short drive north-east of the capital. Park at the foot of Sidi Bou Said and walk up, because the lanes near the top fill quickly at weekends. Leave the car outside the Tunis medina altogether, since its streets weren’t laid out for bumpers. Sleep in Tunis or the northern suburbs.
Day 2: Tunis to Kairouan. About 160 km, roughly two hours on good roads. Kairouan is often ranked the fourth holiest city in Sunni Islam. Its Great Mosque and the old Aghlabid water basins reward an unhurried afternoon.
Day 3: Kairouan to Tozeur. This is the long driving day: around 300 km via Gafsa, four to five hours with stops. Leave early, fill the tank in Gafsa, and aim to reach Tozeur with enough light left to walk through the palm groves.
Day 4: the mountain oases. Chebika, Tamerza and Mides sit in the hills near the Algerian border and make a full day out and back from Tozeur. Chebika and Tamerza are oases at the foot of the rock, and Mides looks over a canyon. Take water and some cash for the small stalls.
Day 5: across the chott to Matmata. Cross Chott el-Jérid at sunrise if you can. The road runs straight over the salt flat, the light is low, and the heat hasn’t yet started to blur the horizon. Roadside stalls sell desert roses, the rosette-shaped gypsum crystals that form in the salt. Continue to Douz, where the dunes begin, then on to Matmata, about 220 km in total. Families there have lived for generations in houses dug down into the soft rock around open pits.
Day 6: Matmata to Djerba. Head east and then south to the causeway at El Kantara, the old Roman link between the island and the mainland. Arrive in time for an evening in Houmt Souk.
Day 7: Djerba. Spend the morning at Houmt Souk’s market or among the potters’ villages inland, then return the car at Djerba-Zarzis airport, about 9 km from town.
Renting one-way
The catch with a route like this is the return. One-way rentals can be hard to arrange or carry a surcharge. Rencaro, a Tunisian booking network that works with partner rental agencies, allows a different return location on rentals of seven days or longer, and states that any one-way fee is already included in the total price shown.
Some details are worth knowing before you book:
- It is not a rental company itself. It finds a price across its partner agencies and assigns one, and you sign the contract with that agency, which hands over the keys.
- Nothing is charged online at booking. The rental and the security deposit are paid at the agency when you collect the car.
- The main driver must be at least 29, which is higher than many travellers expect. Other agencies may set different limits, so check before you plan around it.
- A valid national licence plus a passport or national ID is required. If your licence isn’t in the Latin alphabet, bring an international permit as well.
- At the time of writing, small manual petrol cars started around 90 dinars a day. Automatics are scarcer than manuals in Tunisia, so book those earlier.
- Boot space varies a lot. Listings range from about 255 litres on the smallest hatchbacks to over 500 on some saloons, and above 400 litres two large suitcases and cabin bags fit without trouble.
Checks before you drive away
- Walk around the car with your phone. Film every panel, the wheels and the windscreen, and get any existing damage written on the contract.
- Look at the spare wheel and the jack, and run the air conditioning for a minute. You will want it south of Gafsa.
- Ask what the price excludes. On Rencaro, fuel, the deposit and the insurance excess sit outside the displayed total. The deposit comes back when you return the car, and the excess only applies if there is damage.
- Note the fuel level on the contract, so there is nothing to argue about at drop-off.
Road notes
Police checkpoints are common on roads between towns, so keep your licence, ID and rental papers within reach. Speed checks are frequent too. Outside the cities, avoid driving after dark if you can, because pedestrians, animals and unlit vehicles are all real hazards on unlit stretches. In the south, fuel stops thin out, so top up whenever the tank is half full rather than waiting for the warning light. Roundabouts can feel improvised, so approach them slowly and let the locals show you how it’s done.
