Tunisia or Morocco for a first time in North Africa

Tunisia and Morocco share the same brochure — medinas, desert, Roman ruins — but not the same scale: Tunisia is the size of Greece, Morocco is bigger than Germany. That difference decides almost everything else that separates the two trips: how many kilometres sit between places, how many times the hotel changes, and why prices and the hard sell differ.

GuideTunis, the city — what is there to do?Tunis →

That gap in scale shows up first in the kilometres: in Tunisia it is two hours from the capital to Sousse, three to El Jem, five to the Sahara; in Morocco it is six and a half hours from Marrakesh to Fez by train and ten hours by road to the Merzouga dunes. Which is why Tunisia is done from one hotel with day trips, while Morocco needs a route — and three or four changes of accommodation in ten days.

GuideSix and a half hours to Fez — how many days does the medina itself need?Fez →

What each country does better

• Roman heritage: Tunisia. Carthage, El Jem and Dougga are better preserved and emptier than anything in Morocco.
• Medinas and craft: Morocco. Fez and Marrakesh are bigger, livelier and harder — in the good and the bad sense.
• The beach: Tunisia. Sousse, Hammamet and Djerba have a real season; the Moroccan coast is the cold Atlantic.
• Mountains: Morocco. The Atlas with its villages and walking has no parallel in Tunisia.
• The Sahara: a draw. Merzouga has bigger dunes, Tozeur has the Sahara ninety minutes from an airport.

GuideBigger dunes, but a full day's drive from Marrakesh — how does Merzouga work?Merzouga →

GuideSousse as a base for the beach and day trips:Sousse →

The hard sell

Once the visa is settled, the next impression arrives in the first medina: pressure from sellers, the difference travellers mention most and guidebooks write least. In Morocco it is stronger and more persistent, in Tunisia milder — the tourist streets of Sousse and Hammamet have it too, but 'no, thank you' is accepted first time far more often. For a first trip to an Arab country, that is a serious line item.

Prices

That same pressure shows up in ticket prices too, not only in the tone of the sale: Tunisia is slightly cheaper in restaurants and noticeably cheaper on entries — the Bardo, Carthage and El Jem cost a few euros each, while Marrakesh and Fez charge for every madrasa and garden separately.

2 daysWhat two days in Tunis with Carthage look like:Tunis in 2 days →

It comes down to who is travelling and with how much time. For a first time in North Africa, especially travelling with children or parents, Tunisia's smaller and simpler schedule is harder to get wrong — everything works from one hotel. Morocco is the richer experience and asks for more energy, and it opens up better to someone who has been in that part of the world before.

Day tripsEl Jem, Kairouan and Monastir — trips Morocco does not have:Day trips from Sousse →