Why Tunisia: the Mediterranean's most surprising country

Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, with the Mediterranean wrapping around its entire north and east coasts. To the south, the landscape shifts from olive groves and salt lakes to the orange dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental — the real, cinematic Sahara. What makes Tunisia unusual is the scale. From Tunis you can be on a beach in an hour, in a Berber mountain village in four, and at a desert camp by sunset the same day. Most travellers never stay in one place for long — and they don't have to.

Accommodation in Tunisia spans almost every category a traveller could want. The northern coast around Gammarth and the long crescent of Hammamet Bay are lined with full-service 4 and 5-star beach resorts, many of them all-inclusive and excellent value compared to neighbouring Mediterranean countries. For character, the medinas of Tunis, Sousse and Kairouan hide restored riads and dar — old courtyard houses turned into boutique hotels with plunge pools, libraries and rooftops. And in the south, you can swap all of that for a Berber-style camp under the Milky Way, eating tagine cooked in the sand.

Tunisian food is Mediterranean with North African heat. Olive oil from the country's three million hectares of olive groves goes into almost everything. Harissa — the chili paste born here — sits on every table. Couscous is the Friday meal, brik (a thin pastry parcel with egg and tuna) is the universal starter, and seafood from the eastern coast is some of the best in the Mediterranean. See our full Food & Cuisine guide.