What to See in Tunis, Tunisia: Free Audio Guide

Looking for things to do in Tunis? Tunisia’s capital brings together the narrow streets and historic mosques of its medina, grand palaces, museums, and the broad avenues of the French Quarter. It is also a gateway to the ancient sites of Carthage and the coastal towns around the Gulf of Tunis. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Tunis with 166 narrated places.

What to See in Tunis

Explore the Kasbah and its historic mosques

The Kasbah is one of the most important historic areas in Tunis. Government Square and Kasbah Square stand beside one another in the old medina, surrounded by buildings connected with the city’s political history.

The Kasbah Mosque rises on Kasbah Square, inside the fortified area that once contained the seat of government and the royal palace. Commissioned by Abu Zakariya Yahya in the 1230s, it was initially a neighbourhood mosque before becoming a Friday mosque. Its seven aisles and nine bays create an unusual interior layout, while the mihrab is framed in marble and topped by a dome decorated with carved plaster muqarnas.

Nearby, the Hammouda Pacha Mosque stands at the corner of Sidi Ben Arous Street and Kasbah Street, beside the Sidi Ben Arous zaouïa. Hammouda Pacha Bey, a ruler of the Mouradite dynasty, built it in 1655. It was listed as a historic monument in 1912.

Dar El Bey, also known as the Government Palace, stands south of Government Square and west of Kasbah Square. The nearby Kasbah and Government squares have also played an important role in modern Tunisian history: Kasbah Square became known for the major sit-in protests held there during the Tunisian revolution.

See the palaces of the medina

The medina’s historic residences reveal how the ruling families, ministers and wealthy households lived. Dar Hammouda Pacha, on Rue Sidi Ben Arous, is among the oldest and largest palaces in the medina. Built around 1630, it was first the home of Hammouda Pacha Bey and his wife, the princess Aziza Othmana. Its central architecture remains unchanged from the time of its construction.

Dar El Haddad is another of the medina’s oldest surviving palaces. It stands at number 9 in the Impasse of the Artillery, in the old Khourassanides quarter near Bab Menara.

In the southern quarter of the medina, Dar Ben Abdallah houses the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Tunis. The 18th-century palace passed through the hands of several prominent owners before becoming a museum in 1964. Its reception rooms, ornamentation and Italian materials make it one of the grandest palace interiors in the medina.

The Palace of Kheireddine, on the Place du Tribunal near the Hafsia quarter, now houses the Museum of the City of Tunis. Kheireddine Pasha commissioned it between 1860 and 1870. The building combines traditional Tunisian design with European decoration, including an Italian-style interior with gilded details. After restoration in the late 1990s, part of the original façade and the decorated salon became part of the museum.

In Halfaouine, the Palace of Saheb Ettabaâ occupies the southwest corner of Halfaouine Square. Youssef Bel Khoja, the justice minister known as Saheb Ettabaâ, initiated its construction in the early 19th century as the surrounding district was redeveloped.

Visit the Bardo National Museum

For anyone deciding what to see in Tunis, the Bardo National Museum is one of the city’s essential museums. It occupies an old beylical palace in Le Bardo, just outside Tunis, where it has been housed since 1888.

The museum traces several millennia of Tunisian history through archaeological finds from different civilizations. Its collections include Libyco-Punic objects from Carthage, such as terracotta figures, grimacing masks and inscribed stelae. The museum is especially celebrated for its Roman mosaics, recovered from sites including Carthage, Hadrumetum, Dougga and Utica. The Virgil Mosaic is one of its best-known pieces and offers a glimpse into everyday life in Roman Africa.

Discover Tunis beyond the medina

The city’s religious heritage extends beyond its historic mosques. St George’s Anglican Church stands just outside the old city wall, at the junction of Ahmed Bey Ram Street and Bab Carthagène Street. Built around 1696, it was enlarged in 1848 under Ahmed Bey I and renovated again in 1901.

On Place de l’Indépendance, where Avenue Habib Bourguiba meets Avenue de France, the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul reflects the city’s different architectural influences. Built between 1893 and 1897, it combines Moorish revival, Gothic revival and Neo-Byzantine styles. Its bell towers were completed in 1910.

The Cinema Museum, founded in 1998, is located in the heart of Tunis. It adds a cultural stop to a walk through the central city, while the Avenue Bourguiba area connects cafés, public buildings and religious landmarks between the old city and the modern centre.

Extend your visit to Carthage

The ancient ruins of Carthage add another historical layer to a visit to Tunis. Neywo’s Carthage route runs from Byrsa Hill to the baths, with stops including the Carthage National Museum, Saint Louis Cathedral, the Basilica of Damous El Karita, the Odeon, the Antonine baths and Carthage Palace.

The Bardo Museum and Carthage together help explain the region’s long history, from Punic Carthage through Roman Africa and later periods. To discover more of Tunisia, you can also continue to cities such as Monastir, Tozeur or Tataouine.

Explore Tunis with a self-guided audio tour

Neywo has seven walking tours and one bus route in Tunis, covering 166 narrated places in total. The walks range from 1.23 to 4.04 km and from 50 to 116 minutes, while the bus route covers 10.6 km in 45 minutes.

The routes include:

• Beys, Palaces and the Kasbah — 1.56 km, 92 minutes and 12 stops
• The Olive Mosque and the Palaces of the Southern Medina — 1.3 km, 82 minutes and 12 stops
• Carthage: From Byrsa Hill to the Baths — 4.04 km, 98 minutes and 8 stops
• Bardo: Beylical Palace and Mosaics — 1.23 km, 50 minutes and 5 stops
• Avenue Bourguiba and the French Quarter — 3.5 km, 116 minutes and 12 stops
• Sidi Bou Said: The Blue and White Village — 1.83 km, 59 minutes and 6 stops
• La Marsa: Summer Palaces of the Beys — 4.04 km, 93 minutes and 7 stops
• Bus 11: Round the Medina to Tunis Marine — 10.6 km, 45 minutes and 9 stops

Download Neywo and explore Tunis at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, so you can follow a Tunis self-guided walking tour—or use the bus route—while discovering the city independently.