Zaghouan Aqueduct

Tickets and tours: all the options

There is nothing to buy for the aqueduct itself: the arcades stand in open fields beside the roads south of Tunis, and you can stop and walk up to them freely. The Water Temple at Zaghouan is an open site on the hillside above the town; when a guardian is present a small fee or a tip may be asked, but there is no booking system.

Organised tours treat the aqueduct as one stop on a wider day. The common formats are a guided day trip from Tunis with a driver, a guide and lunch, combining the arches, the temple and the Roman city of Uthina near Oudhna; private Roman tours that add Thuburbo Majus; and day trips from Hammamet, Sousse or Mahdia that mix Zaghouan with the Berber villages of Zriba and Takrouna. Some trips are sold to cruise passengers arriving at La Goulette. Entry fees at the other sites are sometimes extra, so check what is included.

With a hired car or a taxi for the day, an independent visit is simple and cheap, and the arches need no explanation. Without one, a guided day from Tunis is the sensible choice, because public transport reaches Zaghouan town but not the best stretches of the arcade or Uthina.

A short history

Carthage, rebuilt as a Roman colony, depended on rain cisterns until the 2nd century AD. Sources link the aqueduct with Hadrian's visit in 128, which ended a five-year drought, and with the opening of the great Antonine Baths in 162. The channel ran by gravity from Zaghouan, dropping only about 264 metres on a journey of some 90 km, and later received a second branch from Djouggar. It was cut by the Vandals in 439, during Justinian's reconquest and at the Arab conquest of 698, and repaired each time. The Hafsid rulers reused it in the 13th century, and in the 1860s it was restored to bring water to Tunis again.

Getting there

The best stretch of arches lies about 25 km south of central Tunis, along the road through Mohamedia and Fouchana towards Zaghouan. Tunis Carthage airport is about 35 km away. There is no convenient bus stop by the arcade, so most independent visitors take a taxi or hire a car; the drive takes about 30 minutes outside rush hour, and you can pull over on the verge near the arches. Zaghouan town is about 60 km south of Tunis, roughly an hour by car. Shared louages leave from the southern louage station in Tunis and drop you in the centre of Zaghouan, from where the Water Temple is a short uphill walk. From Hammamet, Zaghouan is about an hour inland.

Rules and what to bring

Do not climb on the arches, which are loose in places, and stay away from the roadside traffic when taking photographs. Drones need a permit in Tunisia and may be confiscated at customs without one. Bring water, a hat and sunscreen, as there is no shade along the arcade. There are no facilities at the arches; cafes and toilets are in Mohamedia and Zaghouan. Dress modestly in the old town of Zaghouan.

When to go

The arches face the open plain, so the low sun of early morning or late afternoon gives the best light and the most comfortable temperatures. In July and August the plain south of Tunis is very hot and dusty from late morning, so plan the arches early and keep the shaded lanes of Zaghouan for later. There are no crowds at any time of year: day tours stop briefly, and you will often have a stretch of arcade to yourself.

The best months are March to May, when the fields around the arches are green and the hills above Zaghouan are in flower, and October to November, after the summer heat. Winter is mild but can be wet, and dirt tracks to the arches turn muddy after rain. During Ramadan, cafes in Zaghouan close in the daytime. Allow about an hour for the arches near Mohamedia, and a half day to add the Water Temple and the old town.