Chott el Djerid
A vast salt flat in southern Tunisia, shimmering white and pink in the heat. A road crosses it, and mirages and strange colours make it a striking drive.
Tozeur and the Sahara
Palm groves and architecture made of brick mark this oasis town, the base for desert trips and visits to salt lakes and film-set sites.
Attractive locations
Selja Gorges
A narrow desert canyon in the Gafsa area, crossed by a historic railway. A tourist train has run through the gorge's steep, rocky walls and over small bridges.
Dar Cherait Museum
A private museum in Tozeur in a traditional house, with displays of costumes, jewellery, household goods and scenes from daily life in the Djerid region.
Chebika
A mountain oasis in a rocky canyon near the Algerian border, with palm trees, spring pools and a small waterfall. The ruins of an older village stand on the slope above.
Tamerza
The largest of the mountain oases near Tozeur, with a waterfall and an abandoned old town of mud-brick houses above a canyon. Palm groves and rock walls surround the newer village.
Mides
A village on the Algerian border perched above a deep, dry canyon. Viewpoints look into the gorge, and a path leads down to the dry riverbed.
Nefta
A desert oasis town with a large palm grove set in a sunken bowl called the Corbeille. Its old quarter has mud-brick houses and mosques, and it is a centre of Sufi tradition.
Airports
Tozeur Nefta International Airport TOE
It is about 3 km in a straight line from Tozeur and the Sahara.
Scams and safe taxis
Taxi and scam advice for this country is on the Tunisia page
Weather by month
Each month shows its average temperature in °C and its mm of rain per month.
- Jan10.0 °C13 mm
- Feb11.5 °C8 mm
- Mar15.9 °C15 mm
- Apr20.5 °C15 mm
- May25.1 °C9 mm
- Jun29.9 °C3 mm
- Jul33.2 °C1 mm
- Aug32.6 °C4 mm
- Sep28.5 °C12 mm
- Oct23.4 °C11 mm
- Nov16.0 °C14 mm
- Dec11.2 °C15 mm
Driest months: Jun, Jul, Aug. Wettest months: Mar, Apr, Dec.
Costs
Prices here are about 31% of US prices (World Bank, 2025). This compares a country's overall prices, not the cost of a trip.
Who can help
Emergency
Police 197. Ambulance 190. Fire 198. National Guard 193.
local government
Police Secours (national police emergency, 197)
Helps with: The Interior Ministry's e-services portal lists 197 as the Police Secours emergency number. The page has no information aimed at tourists.
Who qualifies: Anyone in Tunisia, including visitors, who needs police help.
Phone: 197
local government
Garde Nationale (National Guard, 193)
Helps with: The Interior Ministry's e-services portal lists 193 as the National Guard emergency number. The page has no information aimed at tourists.
Who qualifies: Anyone in Tunisia, including visitors, who needs help from the National Guard.
Phone: 193
local government
Protection Civile (Civil Protection, 198)
Helps with: The Interior Ministry's e-services portal lists 198 as the Civil Protection number. It is the number for Tunisia's civil protection service.
Who qualifies: Anyone in Tunisia, including visitors, who needs rescue or emergency help.
Phone: 198
local government
Office National du Tourisme Tunisien (ONTT)
Helps with: Tunisia's national tourism office. Its contact page gives head office addresses in Tunis, phone numbers and an email; it lists no tourist helpline.
Who qualifies: Anyone visiting Tunisia or planning a trip there.
Phone: 71 341 077
Email: ontt@discovertunisia.com
ngo
Tunisian Red Crescent (Croissant-Rouge Tunisien)
Helps with: Tunisia's national Red Crescent society. Its site gives its head office in Tunis; the site text does not describe specific services for visitors.
Who qualifies: People in Tunisia who need to reach the national Red Crescent society.
Phone: +216 71 325 572
Email: contact@croissant-rouge.tn
Address: 19, Rue d'Angleterre, 1000 Tunis
un agency
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Tunisia
Helps with: The UN migration agency's mission in Tunis. Its contact page also lists a toll-free assistance number (numéro vert d'assistance).
Who qualifies: Migrants in Tunisia. It is not a help service for ordinary tourists.
Phone: +216 71 860 312
Email: IOMTunis@iom.int
Address: 6, Rue du Lac le Bourget, Les Berges du Lac, 1053 Tunis
embassy
Foreign embassies in Tunisia (official diplomatic list)
Helps with: For a lost passport or serious trouble, contact your own country's embassy. The Tunisian foreign ministry's diplomatic list (June 2024) gives each mission's phone, email and address.
Who qualifies: Citizens of each country, through their own embassy.