Rhapsody Shore & Land Excursions > Tunisia - Tunis > Ancient Carthage & Sidi Bou Said

Ancient Carthage & Sidi Bou Said

Situated in the outskirts of the city of Tunis on the gulf bearing the city’s name, Carthage is reached within minutes on a well-maintained paved road.

Founded by Elissa Dido a Phoenician princess in the 8th century B.C on the hill of Byrsa, Carthage grew to become Rome’s archrival. For a thousand years Phoenicians were the masters of the Mediterranean, their large number of warships and merchant vessels sheltering in the town’s port. Who hasn’t heard of Hannibal and his elephants and the city that dared challenge the might of Rome? Alas, such an act unleashed an unprecedented violence from the Romans who razed and burned Carthage to the ground covering the land with salt to ensure its barrenness. They returned building a new Carthage on its ruins making the city the administrative capital for Africa, resplended with temples, great buildings, theatres, villas and baths.

Today, declared a national monument, Carthage abounds in Punic and Roman vestiges. Visit the site and see the Punic ports and Roman ruins. The Antoinine thermal baths are one of the largest built under the Roman empire with an amazing cooling room featuring 47 meters long and 15 meters high. The Roman theatre is still used today during the summer festival of Carthage. See the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre, the Punic ruins of temples, monuments and columns among them the sanctuary of the goddess Tophet with hundreds of funeral steles believed to be a children’s cemetery. Continue to Sidi Bou Said, a Moorish village with a beautiful architecture in blue and white, perched on a hill overlooking the bay below. Its narrow lanes are full of artisans’ shops selling hand painted pottery, carpets, clothing and many other colorful souvenirs.

 

Special Notes:
Comfortable clothing and walking shoes recommended. A considerable amount of walking is involved on mostly flat and partially uneven ground within the ruins of Carthage.

Not wheelchair accessible.

Participants must be able to walk and stand relatively long periods of time.

Comfort stops available at site and Sidi Bou Said.

Tour sequence may vary however all features and inclusions will remain unchanged.

 

Tour Timings:

Tours begin at times suitable for the ship's arrival in port. The breakdown of the excursions is as follows:
00hr00 -> Depart from Tunis Port

00hr00 -> 00hr20 Driving to Carthage
00hr20 -> 02hr20 Visiting Carthage
02hr20 -> 02hr35 Driving to Sidi Bou Said
02hr35 -> 04hr00 Visiting Sidi Bou said with free time for souvenir shopping

04hr00 -> 04hr30 Driving to the port

 

 

< Ancient Carthage & its Museum

The Bardo & Ancient Carthage >