Anyone been to Tunis? La Goulette?

[bjm1068]

If anyone has docked in La Goulette or has been to Tunis, would you please post a review. We will be there on Oct. 7, 2004. Thanks, Brenda

[loerie]

Hi,took the princess shuttle in to Tunis - purpose was to shop and we did- loved the Souk,found it to be the best in North Africa and the Middle -East.This was in Nov 2003 Have a great time!

[TedC]

We were there several years ago and took a ship excursion that covered the almost non-existant ruins of Carthage, a museum with some great Roman mosaics, and, of course, Tunis, including a carpet factory.

 

Very interesting place but the Tunisian stamp on our passports caused a lot of trouble in airports. "Who do you know there, correspond with anyone there," etc.

 

Finally, after explaining we were there for only a day on a cruise, a security person at Heathrow put a UK arrival stamp over it and that ended years of questioning.

[bjm1068]

Thanks, loerie and Ted, for your responses. I'm wondering how the political situation will effect this port of call. Loerie, did you notice any bad vibes in November?

[loerie]

Hi no bad vibes what so ever andpaid in$ did not want their own currency Ton of Europeans roaming around-just got some glares when we videod the men smoking hookahs,Im march we were in Oman and Egypt and all the venddors wanted our $MY husband took a video of me wearing a glamorous arabic outfit I had just bought- the male vendor himself did ny "veil"draping and said now I was worth500 camels!so a good time was had byall

[TMAA]

We were on a one-week Costa cruise in April 2004 which included Tunisia. We bought the package tour for the day. A MUST SEE is the Bardo Museum in Tunis with many, many Roman Mosaics for the second century. We also saw some of the Carthage ruins, which is worthwhile. The country seemed more modern than Morocco and the clothing more up-to-date. All the shop keepers in the Souk were very friendly and most spoke English. It's a great place to visit!

[budddawn]

Hi TMAA;

If you had to choose, which one was better, the ruins of Carthage or the Bardo ???

[TMAA]

Definitely choose the Bardo Museum over Carthage. Carthage appeared to be spread out and we saw only part of it on our one-day tour. If you have any free time, take a cab ride with a driver who speaks English and have hime take you to Carthage, which isn't that far away, after you're seen the Bardo Museum.

[Captain Canuck]

We did that one a few years ago. Like to avoid ship tours so we asked around. nobody seemed to be going out on their own. not even crew. I knew millions of Brits go to Tunisia every year so I figured it was ok. We got off the ship and walked into the town. had to wait for the bank to open to get some local currency. at that time and probably still there are currency restrictions that don't allow you to take currency out of the country. do not change much as you don't want to have to mess with it when leaving. there is a train that runs into Tunis. we took the train in and walked to the souk. when we got off the train we had to walk under an underpass to get to the main station. a little bit confusing but a woman in the full head to toe burka saw us looking around a bit and showed us the way. wanted to give her one of the Canadian flag pins I always carry but did not know if either or both of us would be stoned for it. the souk was interesting but as I was wearing shorts nobody would wait on me. ended up spending our few dollars back in town prior to boarding the ship on a cannister set with arabic writing. interesting time and not stressful. have a good time

[Billybob62]

Has anyone recently been to Tunis? Is this a port that can be done on one's own? How far is the port from the city and what is like to get from the port to the city? Any recommendations as to what to do for a day? Thanks for any help.:) :)

[Andee]

We were there in November, 2005. When we got off the ship, we negotiated with a cab driver to take us to the medina (we did a self-guided walking tour, went to some small museums and the Grand Mosque, did a little shopping), to the Bardo Museum (fabulous) and on a drive around the city. He told us not to pay him until he took us back to the ship. For a six hour day, the cost was $50 for four of us.

[Billybob62]

Andee: Thanks. Sounds like a good way to do the city.

[porkies2]

My husband and I will be in Tunis docking at La Goulette( Eurodam) Saturday April 30. We would like to join couples on an all day trip to the souks and other sites. Helena

[Captain Canuck]

with the stuff going on in tunisia I would seriously look at staying on the ship or at least doing a ships tour..they will have lots more info than will be available to you

[salboz]

We were in Tunis last Spring before the outbreak of the trouble. Was one of our favorite stops. You can ride camels as soon as you get off the ship. It was fun and the camels seemed to be well cared for. Do not go into the souk without a guide. You will get lost. Even the guides get a bit mixed up at times. It is a fantastic shopping mecca, especially for the unusual items. Also enjoyed the mosaic museum. Used a private guide so there were only 6 of us which allowed us to control the amount of time we spent at each stop. Ran about 100 euros each for all day tour.