ACCOMMODATIONS & TRANSPORT

Although there are 2 or 3 luxury hotels in Mahdia, we recommend the Mahdia Palace because we want to gather everyone there as the reception on the 3rd night will take place there.

OPTION 1 : BUNDLE HOTEL + FLIGHT

In some cases, especially when it comes to 5-7 nights, we recommend taking a hotel and flight bundle (all-inclusive) from Paris.

If your layover is in Paris, make sure to check which airport you’ll be flying out from to go to Tunisia (ORY or CDG). They are at a significant distance from one another, so take this into consideration when booking your flights to and from Paris.

OPTION 2 : STANDALONE HOTEL

You can book your hotel (www.hotelquickly.com, www.booking.com, www.expedia.com) and your flight ticket (Google Flights) as standalones.

NOTE: when booking your hotel room, make sure to specify the number of people as the hotel charges per person and not per room.

Landing in Monastir

If you live in North America, we recommend booking a flight first to Paris, as this a Hub for many low cost flights to Tunisia.  For the second flight from Paris ( CDG with Nouvel Air, Transavia & Tunisair from Orly) to Monastir, we strongly suggest you book a standalone one way or round trip ticket or a bundle hotel + flight as in some cases you can have good all inclusive deals for longer stays especially.

Keep in mind that Transavia don’t include a checked luggage and you’ll have to pay extra for it. You will have an included checked luggage with Tunisair and Nouvelair.

Once you land in Monastir, you have 2 options:

• Take the metro. The station is at the exit of the Habib Bourguiba airport. The stop at which you should get off is the “Mahdia Zone Touristique”. From there, you can either walk to the hotel (10 min) or get a yellow cab for less than 1 dinar. You can check the metro schedule here: http://www.sncft.com.tn/En/home_46_87
• Get picked up by the hotel transport services (let us know and we’ll put you in touch with the right contact at the hotel, we need the flight number and the time at which you arrive)

Landing in Tunis

For the ones landing in Tunis, we recommend one of these options:

• Take the train. Get a yellow cab from the airport or wherever you will to the “Gare de Tunis” station, probably the longest option. Check schedule here http://www.sncft.com.tn/Fr/billets-en-ligne_57_29_confirmation (around 3:15 to 4 h / 15-20 dinars)
• Take the “louage”, a local inter-city carpool service (see picture above). Get a yellow cab from the airport or wherever you will be to “Moncef Bey” Station. Take your ticket inside at the counter (do not buy any tickets other than at the counter) (2:30 a 2h45 / 15-20 Dinars).
• Car rental for those wanting to visit Tunisia is available at the airport, but keep in mind that driving can be difficult, so we don’t recommend it.
• Get picked up by the hotel transport services but it will be more expensive than from Monastir. Let us know and we’ll put you in touch with the right contact at hotel. We will need the flight number and the time at which you arrive
• Get a standalone car service – which is probably the most expensive option. Let us know and maybe we gather more people that will be landing around the same hours to optimize the costs.

GETTING A SIM CARD: when you land in the airport and pass the police control, you’ll be offered by Orange or Ooredoo people to get a SIM card for free in exchange of a copy of your ID. We recommend getting one to be able to use your phone without roaming during your time in Tunisia. Also make sure your phone is unlocked to have it work. Then when you pass the customs, you’ll see all these little money exchange counters in which you’ll be able to get Tunisian Dinars. Then you can visit this Orange or Ooredoo stand and buy data (make sure to ask for as much data as possible, with some voice minutes).