Tunis is a pleasant base around which to plan your stay in Tunisia, whether it be for a long weekend, ten days or more. The city centre is compact and cosmopolitan with leafy boulevards, chic restaurants and street cafés.

Only in the ancient Medina is there a gear-change from cosmopolitan to indigenous culture. The medina is the historical and cultural heart of modern Tunis and a great place to get a feel for life in the city. Built during the 7th century AD, it lost its status as Tunis Central when the French took over and raised their ville nouvelle around the turn of the 20th century.

The souq with its pottery, silverware, tooled leather and carpets is the heart of the Medina but there are, of course, more profound attractions in this medieval walled citadel such as the Zitouna Mosque, the ornate Dar Ben Abdullah, the mansion of a well-heeled 18thcentury merchant. But much of the pleasure of the medina is just to wander between sunlight and shadow, glimpsing courtyard fountains and decorative doorways.

Other sites in and around Tunis are the Bardo Museum whose Roman mosaics, the most colourful in existence, will astonish; Carthage, near Gammarth, famous as the city of Queen Dido, is largely in ruins but vestiges of the Roman settlement which superseded it are still visible; and the enchanting district of Sidi Bou Said, .

The site not to miss is Dougga, two hours' drive from Tunis, a Roman town in a remarkable state of preservation in a delightful country setting. Two other sites, Thuburbo Majus and Bulla Regia, one-hour and two-hour drives respectively from the capital, are also exceptional.

Tunis now has a wonderful range of acommodation choices some of which are listed below: