Carthage
Carthage, Tunisia
Carthage is the Phoenician and later Roman city on the Gulf of Tunis whose ruins now lie scattered among the villas of…
83 tickets & tours
Continent
Best ancient sites to visit in Africa
Two worlds meet in Africa's ancient sites. Egypt holds more than half of them: the pyramid fields of Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis around Cairo, the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and Deir el-Medina on the west bank at Luxor, and Graeco-Roman Alexandria with the catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. Across the north-west, Phoenician and Roman towns line the Maghreb: Carthage, Kerkouane, Dougga and Bulla Regia in Tunisia, Volubilis in Morocco, Timgad in Algeria. Further south stand the Swahili towns of Gede and Kaole and the stone walls of Great Zimbabwe.
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Most booked sites
Pyramids of Giza
Giza, Egypt
The Pyramids of Giza are the three great royal pyramids and the Sphinx on a desert plateau at the edge of Cairo, built…
65 tickets & tours
Volubilis
Moulay Idriss, Morocco
Volubilis is the best-preserved Roman town in Morocco, spread across a ridge below the Zerhoun hills between Meknes and…
29 tickets & tours
Saqqara
Saqqara, Egypt
Saqqara is the vast burial ground of ancient Memphis, 30 km south of Cairo, where the Step Pyramid of Djoser stands as…
23 tickets & tours
Valley of the Kings
Luxor, Egypt
The Valley of the Kings is the desert gorge on the west bank at Luxor where the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried…
20 tickets & tours
Dougga
Téboursouk, Tunisia
Dougga is the Roman town of Thugga on a hillside in northern Tunisia, about two hours south-west of Tunis, and UNESCO…
16 tickets & tours
Memphis (Mit Rahina)
Mit Rahina, Egypt
Memphis, at the village of Mit Rahina about 20 km south of Cairo, was the capital of Egypt from around 3100 BC and the…
13 tickets & tours
Gede Ruins
Malindi, Kenya
Gede is a medieval Swahili stone town hidden in coastal forest between Malindi and Watamu on the Kenyan coast.
11 tickets & tours
Dahshur Pyramids
Dahshur, Egypt
Dahshur is the royal cemetery south of Cairo where King Sneferu built the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid around 2600…
10 tickets & tours
Zaghouan Aqueduct
Mohamedia, Tunisia
The Zaghouan Aqueduct is the Roman water line that carried spring water from the mountains of Zaghouan to Carthage, 132…
9 tickets & tours
Bulla Regia
Jendouba, Tunisia
Bulla Regia is a Roman town in north-western Tunisia, near Jendouba, famous for houses built partly underground to…
7 tickets & tours
Timgad and the Arch of Trajan
Timgad, Algeria
The Arch of Trajan is the 12-metre triple gateway of Timgad, a Roman colony founded in AD 100 in the high plains of…
5 tickets & tours
Rankings for Africa
Cairo is the base for a long day across Giza, Saqqara and Memphis, which most tours combine; Luxor needs at least two days for both banks. Tunis reaches Carthage by suburban train and Dougga in about two hours by road, and Volubilis is a half-day from Meknes or Fes. Travel between October and April: in summer Luxor passes 40 degrees by midday.