Squint in awe at the glinting-gold El-Jem Colosseum and imagine the bloodthirsty roar as Roman gladiators entertain the crowd. Float in startlingly clear seas at El-Mansourah Beach. Wear your fragrant jasmine flower with confidence you're sending the right message. Sway gracefully on camelback through the endless Sahara, willing your steed not to break into a trot.
In This Guide
Four authors, 73 days of in-country research, 70 detailed maps, 102 plates of salade mechouia, one rented camel. New Arts & Architecture chapter. Top Tunisian chef Rafik Tlatli gives an expert take on the local cuisine. Content updated daily: visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler suggestions.
Tunisia (Country Guide) This is one of the few guide books I have read and not had to buy others for the same country by other authors/publishers. A guide book is just that - a "guide", and nothing should be considered set in stone. The content is wide-ranging, appears to be thorough, and covers most of the places I will be visiting in the fall. I am wearing the pages thin from constant reading, and still find it very interesting and informative. Great book!
Tunisia Travel Preparations Not too many detailed travel books for travellers to Tunisia - a hidden gem in North Africa. Have not been there in decades, but am planning a trip with three other girlfriends next year and I was so happy that Lonely Planet had a new 'Bible' on Tunisia. They have done their usual super job with it's Tunisia 2007 Edition. We want to avoid travelling there with a group tour and with LP one can plan their trip completely -- know where your small hotel will be located within the cities or with a view; and, as always, complete coverage of historical sites & the really great beaches. I also love the layout of LP -- it's so easy to read & find information! Most of the other travel books are much heavier and the reading layout is annoying!
Pretty good All in all, I was very happy with this guide. It was the right size (not too thick, not too sparse), was very informative, and had great maps. I even liked the recommended routes (since Tunisia is small, it's very possible to "do" the whole country in a month), if one can "do" a country at all without living there.
Two recommendations I had for them. The first is that I did miss the recommended itineraries if you have 4 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc. It would have helped.
The second and more important issue I had was with the authors. Yes, they had a token female author but she reviewed the more women-friendly places such as Sidi Bou Said. The amount of harassment we received wasn't surprising, as I didn't solely rely on Lonely Planet and read up on those issues; but it really wore us down over the three weeks (I was traveling with a female friend and we are both attractive women in our 20s and 30s.)
My friend and I found ourselves in hysterics when the male author recommended that we sit down with men in a cafe and talk to them about their lives. Yeah right!! I come from Turkey, so I am in no way ignorant about Muslim tradition (although North African culture is obviously different than Turkish), but nearly every single man we talked to hit on us.
That's ok, that's life. But I was infuriated to read that covering our heads would invite ridicule, because finally, in our last week, I started covering my head in Jerba and I felt an IMMEDIATELY positive difference. Yes, if I had been a tall blonde perhaps the reception wouldn't have been the same, but is Lonely Planet only geared towards men and tall blonde women? What about Mediterranean types like myself who can easily pass as native Tunisians? I wish I had known beforehand and would have covered up the whole time (by the way, we dressed EXTREMELY modestly and after seeing how some tourist women acted in Tunisia, we are definitely sympathetic to the stereotypes the men have there towards women like us).
Tunisia is a great place to visit and I still have to admit that this is a good guide but ladies, read up on your own. Or should I write my own guide for women? :)
Nicely Laid Out and Easy to Use. Useful Maps It's light and compact and has some useful maps. We used the hotel suggestions but in most cases the ratings were off, if it says 3 stars assume 1.5-2 stars. Take ear plugs. Almost all of the hotels were in noisy areas. Many of the suggested eating places were also off the mark. Extensive menus would be met with three or four options available. The guides to sights and towns to visit were very good. We used the walking tours and maps to navigate through the country quite comfortably. Assume you'll be ripped off by every taxi driver and you'll be ok. It's still very inexpensive to travel in Tunisia. And this book is very handy to have along for the ride.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
