Tunisia

FROM KASBAH TO SAHARA

Tunis, Dougga, Kairouan, El Djem, Tozeur, Mountain Oasis, Matmata, Djerba, Carthage.

36 HSW Continuing Education Hours (includes 8 AIA/CES Sustainable Design)

TUNISIA TOUR ITINERARY

36 HSW Continuing Education Hours accepted by AIA, ASID, IIDA, NKBA and

State Boards of Architecture and Interior Design

including 8 hr of AIA/CES Sustainable Design

For Architects: AIA and AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MN, MS, MO, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH,

OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WV, WI

for Interior Designers, the course is accepted by ASID, IIDA, NKBA, all States Boards of Interior Design,

In 2001 we did a similar tour to Tunisia and everyone was so happy about it that I want to do it again.

I also lived in Tunis for 9 years. I do know the country, its history, its sights.

TUNISIA

October 30 to November 11th

Day 01. October 30

Leave the US on the airline of your choice.

Day 02. October 31.

Welcome at Tunis-Carthage Airport.

Transfer and Check in Hotel Tunisia Palace 4* downtown Tunis, Dinner and overnight.

Day 07. November 5

Mountain Oases

Depart to Metlaoui. Visit the golden triangle of Mountain oases, Tamerza, Mides and Chebika. Lunch in the oasis of Tamerza. Explore the Mountain Oases of Mides and Chebika, which are perched in granite mountains above the Sahara and provide scenery for filmmakers in search of Biblical landscapes. On your way back to Tozeur, we will visit the set of George Lucas's Star Wars at Ong Jmel before returning to Tozeur. Dinner the hotel.

Day 03. November 1

Bardo Museum/Medina of Tunis

The day will start with a visit of the National Museum of the Bardo, one of the best archaeological museums of the Mediterranean world, especially known for its beautiful collection of mosaics, the World's largest, and located in an old palace that belonged to the Beys, the rulers of Tunisia.

Then, tour the Medina, the old city with its wonderful mosques, palaces and covered market places.

Visit ottoman houses that illustrates the way of life and customs of the nineteenth century Tunis. Lunch in the Medina. Dinner at leisure.

Day 04. November 2

Dougga /Kairouan

In the morning, leave for Dougga, the best-preserved roman city in Africa, listed in 1997 in the. Lunch in route.

Leaving Dougga, travel south to Kairouan, the holiest city in Tunisia with its impressive Islamic monuments some dating to 670AD.

Check in at your hotel (La Kasbah 5* lies at the heart of the holy city of Kairouan. This hotel, with a luxurious inside and a sober outlook, merges harmoniously into the Arab-Islamic architecture of the city of Kairouan). Dinner and overnight.

Depart to El Djem, the site of a very impressive Roman

Amphitheater (which once held more than 30,000 spectators), and a large collection of Roman, Christian and Punic pieces in the lovely small museum.

Lunch en route. Return to Kairouan in the afternoon, walk through the winding street of the old town of Kairouan, taste the traditional local pastry stuffed with dates called makroudh. Dinner at the hotel.

Day 05. November 3

Kairouan / El Djem

After breakfast, visit the sacred city, home to the Great Mosque built in the 9th Century, a great fortified building where many Roman columns were reused to build the prayer hall. Next to impressive water reservoirs built in the 9th century by the Aghlabid dynasty, you will stop at a lovely mosque covered with blue and white tiles.

Kairouan also has some of the most beautiful and best quality carpets in the country.

After dinner, visit the Dar Cheraiet museum, an architectural jewel born of 1001 nights dreams. The museum, partially outdoor features luxurious decorations and gardens with the most representative scenes of North African life.

Day 06. November 4

Tozeur

After breakfast, 4X4 departure to Tozeur, an oasis town rising from the sands of the Sahara desert. Lunch en route. Afternoon arrival in Tozeur. Check in Dar Cheraiet 5*.

Visit Tozeur, with its 300,000 palm trees and over

400 hot and cold springs.

Day 08. November 6

Douz/Matmata/Djerba Island

After breakfast, departure to Douz "gateway to the Sahara." Cross the dry salt lake of Chott el Djerid to reach Douz, the Gate of the Sahara, wonder in the market place, then continue towards Matmata Lunch en route.