Tunisia compresses Mediterranean, ancient and Saharan worlds into a small, easy country. The north strings together turquoise coasts, the white-and-blue cliff village of Sidi Bou Said and the layered ruins of Carthage. Inland lie walled medinas, Roman cities and the holy town of Kairouan. Head south and the land turns to date oases, troglodyte villages and the dunes around Tozeur and Douz, gateway to the Sahara. Mild winters, warm seas and a deep mosaic of Punic, Roman…
George Lucas filmed Tatooine in southern Tunisia — the name comes from the real town of Tataouine — and the Mos Espa sets still stand near Tozeur.
The El Jem amphitheatre, almost as vast as the Colosseum, held 35,000 spectators in the 3rd century.
Sidi Bou Said at sunrise, the Tunis medina in the afternoon. An eSIM helps: Bolt in Tunis, offline maps for the desert south and Google reviews for the medina's best tables.