Carthage

Tickets and tours: all the options

Carthage is not one fenced site but a group of separate monuments in the residential suburb north of the Lake of Tunis. A single pass, bought at whichever gate you reach first, covers the main ones: Byrsa Hill with the Carthage Museum, the Antonine Baths, the Roman villas, the theatre, the Magon quarter, the Tophet and the Punic ports area. Keep the ticket, as each gate checks it. The Bardo Museum in Tunis, which holds the best mosaics from Carthage, has its own ticket, or a combined one with Carthage.

Most tours on GetYourGuide treat Carthage as one stop in a half or full day that also covers Sidi Bou Said, the medina of Tunis and often the Bardo. They include a driver or minibus, a guide and sometimes lunch; the entry fees are usually extra, so check. Some start from Hammamet, Sousse or Mahdia, which means two to three hours on the road each way. There are also shore excursions for cruise ships at La Goulette, private guided tours of the ancient sites alone, a guided bike tour and an app-based self-guided option.

Independent travellers can do it well by light rail and on foot. For a first visit, a private guide with a car for half a day is the most efficient choice, followed by lunch in Sidi Bou Said.

A short history

According to tradition, Phoenician settlers from Tyre led by Queen Elissa, or Dido, founded Carthage in 814 BC. It grew into a trading empire with colonies across North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and Spain, and fought three wars with Rome, the second led by Hannibal. At the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC, the Romans took the city after a long siege and razed it. A century later Rome refounded it as the capital of the province of Africa, and it became one of the largest cities of the empire, later ruled by Vandals and Byzantines. Arab forces destroyed it in 698. Excavations began in the 19th century, and UNESCO listed the site in 1979.

Getting there

Carthage lies about 15 km north-east of central Tunis and only a few kilometres from Tunis-Carthage airport, about 20 minutes by taxi. The TGM light railway runs from Tunis Marine station at the end of Avenue Habib Bourguiba along the causeway to La Marsa, with trains every 15 to 20 minutes. Get off at Carthage Salammbo for the Tophet and ports, Carthage Hannibal for Byrsa Hill and the Antonine Baths, which are about 25 minutes from Tunis. Walks between the sites take 10 to 20 minutes. Taxis are cheap and plentiful; agree the fare or insist on the meter. Cruise ships dock at La Goulette, about 15 minutes away by car.

Rules and what to bring

The presidential palace stands beside the Antonine Baths: never photograph or film towards it, and do not fly drones anywhere in the area. Do not climb on walls or stelae. Bring a hat, water and comfortable shoes, as there is little shade and the ground is uneven. Cafés and toilets are limited at the sites themselves but easy to find in the suburb and in Sidi Bou Said. Dress modestly when continuing to the medina and the mosques.

When to go

The sites are rarely crowded, but cruise and coach groups from the Hammamet and Sousse resorts arrive between about 10 am and 1 pm and fill Byrsa Hill and the baths for a while. Start at opening with Byrsa, then work downhill to the coast, and keep the ports and the Tophet for the afternoon. Late afternoon light is lovely at the Antonine Baths.

Spring, from March to May, and October and early November are the best months, warm and usually dry. July and August are hot and humid, though the sea breeze helps at the coastal sites. Winter brings rain but is mild and very quiet. During Ramadan opening hours may be shortened. The international festival held in the Roman theatre in July and August brings evening concerts. Allow three to four hours for the main sites, or a full day with Sidi Bou Said and the Bardo.