Getting around Tunis
One bus from the airport, two feet through the centre and the medina, and one train for everything further out — Tunis moves in layers, not on a single ticket that covers it all.
- From the airport
- bus line 35 to Tunis Marine
- In the centre
- On foot
- The metro léger (tram)
- Six lines out to the suburbs
From the plane to the first coffee on the avenue takes one bus; after that it's all on foot or on rails. The centre and the medina are walked, the metro léger tram network runs out to the suburbs and the Bardo, and the TGM suburban train runs along the gulf to Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and beyond.
From Tunis-Carthage airport to the avenue
The airport sits inside the city limits, close to the centre. The line 35 bus runs straight to Tunis Marine station, at the end of Avenue Habib Bourguiba, 30–45 min for €0.30. A metered taxi is the faster option for anyone landing with a lot of luggage or late at night.
Everything on foot
The French part of the city is flat, with pavements and tree-lined streets, and it's an easy walk from the avenue to Bab el Bhar without thinking about it. Beyond the gate the medina climbs uphill, with no cars and no proper pavements — steps cut across the narrow lanes, and that's just part of walking through it.
Tram to the Bardo and the suburbs
A six-line network links the centre with the suburbs, and one of them, line 4, runs via the Bardo to Den Den — the shortest way to the museum by tram, with no change and no wait for a taxi on the avenue. The ticket is bought at the station.
The train to Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and on to La Marsa
One line along the gulf, eighteen stations from Tunis Marine to La Marsa, with trains roughly every ten minutes at peak and twenty off-peak. The ticket is bought per station, €0.24, and it doesn't cover entry to the Carthage sites — that's a separate, shared ticket.
Out of the city: a driver or a louage
For Dougga, Bizerte and Cap Bon the train reaches only one of them, or doesn't reach at all — that's a separate decision, with transport and price by trip on the next page.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What's the cheapest way in from the airport?
The line 35 bus to Tunis Marine station, 30–45 min for €0.30. A metered taxi is faster, but has no fixed price.
Do you need to hire a car for two days in Tunis?
No. The centre, the medina, the Bardo by tram and Carthage by train cover both days without a single kilometre of driving; a car or a driver only come up for trips outside the city.
Ready for Tunis?
Where to next
Mistakes everyone makes in Tunis
→Five things that ruin a day in Tunis before anyone notices what happened — and what takes their place without…
Sidi Bou Said · 17 km
→A blue-and-white village on a cliff above the bay and, two stops before it, what is left of the city that was bigger than Rome
How well does Tunis suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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