Always on the lookout for a little adventure I happened to be browsing EasyJet a few months ago when I noticed a route from Luton, our local airport to Hammamet, Tunisia. Perfect for Chris and I to break up cold and grey English January with a short trip to somewhere a little more exotic!
Having spent two weeks on a family holiday in Sousse, Tunisia in August 2002 this wasn’t my first visit to the country. However 22 years later this was to be a different city and different time of the year and would give me the opportunity to explore a little more of this small north African country.
Similar to the resort of Sousse (about an hours’ drive south), the coast to the south of Hammamet consists of mile upon mile of golden sandy beach framing the edge of the gently lapping waters of the Mediterranean. This, together with its warm summers and mild winters, attracts many holidaymakers especially from France, Italy and the UK. This area is known as the ‘Tunisian Riviera’.
Throughout our 35 minute journey from Enfidha-Hammamet airport we had a chatty taxi driver who explained the Tunisian language is a mix of French, Italian and Arabic. He mentioned ‘Yaishek’ is the all encompassing word for please, thank you and thank you very much.
There are two main sections of Hammamet, these being Hammamet the original old city and the much newer Yasmine Hammamet. Taxis are very cheap and the standard fare for the 15 minute drive between the two is only 15 Tunisian Dinars (about £4).
Hammamet
About 40 miles south of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, the historical town of Hammamet dates back to the early settlers of the 1st century. The name ‘Hammamet’ means ‘bathing places’ in Arabic.
The old city walls were built in the 13th century for protection and the medina was later built in the 15th century. From the early Romans, Hammamet has been under Spanish then Turkish and then French rule.
We had arrived by taxi and were dropped off just outside the historic walls. After a short walk on the outside of the wall we found an entrance in and walked through the quiet but pretty cobbled streets of Hammamet Medina.
We noticed many of the white walled blue trimmed houses of the medina had painted images or sometimes a plaque of a fish. We later learned that this is a Tunisian symbol meaning ‘fruitfulness and luck’.
We also saw many large ornate doors as we found our way through the maze like medina. Often they are blue but are also painted in other colours.
The Great Mosque of Hammamet was completed in the 15th century and renovated in the 1970s.
We paid 8 dinars (£2) each to enter the Kasbah Fortress which was built in the 9th century. Once we had walked through the shady courtyard and climbed the stairs to the top of the wall we had great views of the city and the sea.
The thick walls surround the Fortress and the Medina.
From the visit to the fort we stopped for an espresso in the pleasant cafe next to the mermaid statue where we had a table in the sun overlooking the sea.
The Mermaids of Hammamet statue can be found outside the city walls next to the fortress.
The wide pedestrian promenade is lined with restaurants.
As lunchtime approached, looking for a snack we came across the restaurant Berber which looked promising with its attractive decor and smart well kept appearance.
We were not disappointed and I had an excellent vegetable burrito and a pineapple smoothie as we sat upstairs in the open air second floor restaurant area. The friendly service was top notch too.
Yasmine Hammamet
We were staying in Yasmine Hammamet a modern resort south of the old city of Hammamet. Yasmine Hammamet was developed in the 1990’s and modelled on Port El Kantaoui which is further south, near Sousse. (I spent an evening having a meal in the attractive Port El Kantaoui marina in 2002).
Named after the jasmine flower, 30 years ago Yasmine Hammamet didn’t exist and was just a barren strip of land.
With holidaymakers in mind Yasmine Hammamet has a colourful and modern purpose built reproduction of an Arab medina which is bustling with shops, eateries and even a cinema.
On the walls outside the front of the medina can be found a memorial wall with stone carvings showing the history and independence of Tunisia.
Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956.
As to be expected there are many shops found inside the medina walls which sell all manner of souvenirs. The vendors did try to entice you inside with their “special price today” line but generally they were not too pushy.
Both in Hammamet and Yasmine Hammamet we often had locals approach us saying “I am the chef or the waiter at your hotel” in order try to start a dialogue with us… hmmmm… not very convincing and we soon got wise to this minor little scam.
An abundance of shisha bars can be found in and around Yasmine Hammamet medina. Shisha (also known as hookah) contains large amounts of nicotine and other toxins and apparently one hour of shisha inhaling is equal to smoking 100 cigarettes 😳
We came across a British pub style restaurant called the Rovers Return and had previously walked past with a slightly dismissive attitude. That was until we later found this to have some of the best restaurant reviews of Yasmine Hammamet!
We returned later and both had a delicious home cooked vegetable curry each for lunch washed down with a couple of local Tunisian beers. The Rovers Return is run by a friendly and cheerful English lady called Dawn.
We were given some bread and harissa while waiting for the curries. Harissa is a traditional spicy Tunisian paste within which many dishes are also cooked.
The other main attraction of Yasmine Hammamet is its large newly built marina which is surrounded by modern cafes and restaurants.
We ordered a coffee and croissant each in the Le Cap cafe sitting upstairs in the sunshine overlooking the marina. As well as the croissant, we were also given a muffin each. The total bill for all of this (2 x coffees, 2 x fresh and tasty croissants and 2 x chocolate muffins) was 12.80 dinars or just £3.25!
The walk between the Marina and our hotel was pleasant along the pedestrian palm tree lined Yasmine Hammamet promenade.
Being a predominantly Muslim country, many of the cafes don’t sell alcohol. Tunisia is a wine producing country however so you can usually buy alcohol in restaurants and hotels. Our last day was a warm 23 degrees so we called into the ali baba themed Hotel Lella Baya for a refreshing mojito .
Unfortunately our first introduction to Tunisian wine was somewhat underwhelming. Shortly after arriving at our hotel just after 8 pm we were ushered to the restaurant for dinner. We asked for a glass of wine and without even seeing a wine list the overly helpful waiter quickly appeared with an ice bucket and a bottle of Vague… a suitable name for this rather bland wine but at under £9 for the bottle at least it didn’t break the budget!
Thankfully we had a much more positive experience of Celtia the local beer of Tunisia which was tasty.
We tried Muscat another traditional Tunisian wine… rather like an aperitif like Martini but served with a slice of lemon and a couple of olives dunked in rather than cherries!
Located next to the marina, a highly recommended restaurant in Yasmine Hammamet is the Barberousee La Plancha. We had a fabulous experience in there for our final lunch of the trip.
We sat in the sun relaxing over a leisurely pizza. The pizza and the service was superb.
We shared a bottle of locally produced red wine which was amazing. I later found that visits and wine tasting are available to the beautiful and modern wine estate where this is produced. The total cost for 2 x pizzas, 1 x bottle of wine and 1 x bottle of water was £41. With the quality of the food, wine and service we felt this was good value.
Accommodation
The beach of Yasmine Hammamet is lined with 4* and 5* hotels. We stayed for 4 nights in the Iberostar Averroes hotel which I found on Booking.com.
This was a large 4 star beach front hotel and we stayed on a half board basis which I think is the standard option for this hotel.
Our room was spacious, clean, comfortable and airy with plenty of storage, a large balcony and the all important powerful, hot and consistent shower!
We didn’t pay extra to upgrade to a room with a seaview however we did have a treat later in the afternoons with lovely sunset views 🙂
Currency Exchange
Tunisia has a closed currency and taking Tunisian Dinars into or out of the country is not permitted*.
From our experience Tunisia still seems to be very much a ‘cash’ society where coffee shops and restaurants were reluctant to accept payment cards.
This wasn’t too much of a problem as we were able to exchange GBP in cash for a favourable commission free exchange rate at our hotel reception. We got almost the same rate as found when I checked XE.com.
Our advice therefore is to take plenty of cash in sterling and change it at your hotel reception as necessary.
Airport tax
I had read that a departure tax of 30 Tunisian Dinars per person is needed. However this is not the case! While at the airport going through passport control we were asked by an official if we had any Tunisian currency on us. I responded that I had 60 TD (about £15) for the exit tax for both of us to which he replied “this isn’t needed, you can’t spend it in the duty free so you will have to take it home and bring it back next time”.
*With a small amount seemingly acceptable…
Weather
We were very fortunate to have had 4 days of sunshine and brilliant blue skies with daytime temperatures of 19 – 23 degrees. At night a fleece or jacket is needed as the temperature fell to around 10 degrees. Locals told us the week before had been ‘cold’ at only 17 degrees and raining.
Summary
The hotel Iberostar Averroes had excellent 4.8 / 5 review ratings on Google Maps and was fine for us as an inexpensive base for a short 4 night stay. The cost of this hotel including breakfast and evening dinner was under £50 per night for both of us which was excellent value and about a third of the high season summer price. All breakfasts and evening meals were freshly cooked and to a high standard with plenty of choice.
Generally (depending on the type of trip) large international hotels with large extensive buffets are not usually our thing. We prefer supporting local and authentic B & B’s, also in order to have dinner in a different local restaurant each night. However for this trip we enjoyed some different tasty lunches with a smaller hotel meal in the evenings.
With our £50 per person return EasyJet flights and £90 per person hotel stay, we had 4 nights on a half board basis for just £140 each.
As a tip I’ve found that winter escape bargains can be had during the low season. One place which comes to mind is the week of sun we had in Bermuda in January 2015, lovely weather, less crowds and again at about a third of the summer cost.
Anyway… enough digression… next up will be a post on the full day we spent visiting Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said.
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