Hammamet Tunisia

The climate in Tunisia is perfect for sun worshippers and despite there being plenty of hours of sunshine each day it never gets too hot or humid for you to enjoy the sun’s rays. If part of your holiday plans is to get a great tan to bring back home with you then we recommend you take some sun screen with you as it is definitely easier to get hold of in European countries like England where it can often be purchased for far cheaper than abroad.

Should I Bring my Own Sun Cream to Hammamet?

We definitely recommend that you do bring your own sunscreen with you when taking a holiday to Hammamet or any of the other surrounds beaches and tourist destinations in Tunisia. There are a few reasons for this such as:

• Much easier to find back home
• Cheaper to bring your own
• No need to waste your precious holiday time shopping
• Much better selection at home
• Can buy online in the UK and save money over buying it on the high street.

If you’ve got a holiday planned to Hammamet or anywhere else in Tunisia then I highly recommend you get a guide book to take on your travels. There are quite a few available and I recommend either the Lonely Planet or the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide to Tunisia.  Both have loads of great info which should help make your trip even more enjoyable.

Reasons to Get a Guide Book

Even if you are going on a package tour there are lots of good reasons to get a guide book before going on holiday.  Here are some of the top benefits:

• Get to know the place before you arrive which will help you settle in and enjoy your holiday right from day one
• Learn the lingo: most guide books have a short dictionary and phrase book in them and although most people in Tunisia speak English knowing a few local words can help you out at the medina where the locals can get a bit pushy!
• Find out what attractions there are.  This can be a great help once you arrive and the hotel starts trying to sell you day trips and excursions.  Armed with your local guide book you can get the real info on which trips to do and how much you should pay and stop you getting ripped off.
• Avoid eating at the hotel every night. If you want to see the real Tunisia then head out for dinner in the evenings.  Your guide book will tell you all you need to know to avoid getting that Hammamet Hangover the next day from a dodgy diner.

There are many more great reasons to get a guide book so click here to find out which ones are available for Tunisia.

Happy holidays!

Just because you are going on holiday doesn’t mean you have to make do without some of the luxury items from home that have become essential items for your daily routine.  Hair straighteners are one such item that only a few years ago would’ve been seen as a luxury item but now try asking people if they would be happy to go without them for a week or two and you will be hard pressed to find anyone who would happily give them up.  In the past going on holiday to a place like Hammamet, Tunisia would either mean taking your full size irons with you which take up a lot of space and weight in your luggage or going without.  But now times have changed and travel hair straighteners are widely available.  When they first started being produced these mini hair irons weren’t that great, they might have been small but they lacked the power of their full sized versions and never really produced great results on your hair.

Now though, times have changed and these portable straighteners are every bit as good as a regular set.  The only major difference is that they are much smaller and easy to carry around. They also cost a lot less to.  All the major brands including ghd have travel versions of their best selling straighteners so whether you are home or away you needn’t be without your favourite bit of equipment and perfectly straight hair can be yours no matter where you are!

We had booked to go half-board at our hotel (the Sol Azur) as it was cheaper than self-catering so had our breakfast at the hotel each morning and had dinner there most nights.  We had to fend for ourselves at lunch time so got to try some of the local dishes.

Hammamet Sandwich
We got this on our first day from the cafe on the hotel beach at Hammamet. I was hoping it was going to be like the clubs sandwiches they serve by the pools in Greece and even though it wasn’t I really enjoyed it.  Tuna is popular in Tunisia and the Hammamet sandwich was filled with salad, a boilded egg and a generous portion of tuna.  What made it different thought was the bread which was a large round toasted bap with a hard shell.  I thought it was really nice and it came with fries on the side which was a nice touch.

Big Cheese
Nearly every cafe had a selection of burgers on the menu and the Big Cheese was a favourite of mine during my trip to Hamammet.  It is a roll cut into three slices with burger and cheese in between one slice and salad in the other.  Most places also had a Big Mac on the menu but regretfully I never tried on of those.

Pizza
They love their pizzas out in Tunisia, or at least the people going on holiday there do.  Maybe because Tunisia is so close to Italy?  Who knows but most cafes and restaurants have a good selection on the menu with version toppings.  I had a couple of Hammamet Pizzas which varied in toppings from place to place but mainly consisted of tuna and olives. I also had a very with strange meats which looked a bit like ground beef.  The pizzas were all 12 inch and thin crust which was nice and were very cheap, ranging from £2.50 up to £5 which was also nice.

Seafood
Being on the coast most restaurants in Hammamet and Hammamet Yasmine had an extensive seafood section and lobsters were often found swimming in tanks outside the beachfront eateries. I’m not much of a fish fan but my girlfriend had a few fish dishes and said they were all very nice.

Booze
Although Islam is the official religion of Tunisia alcohol is available in most cafes and restaurants in Hamamet and Hammamet Yasmine.  Our hotel had two types of beer, one of which was called Stella but must’ve been a Tunisian copy as although it was nice, didnt taste or look the same and came in a pint sized bottle.  The other beer was Celtia which came in a regular 33cl bottle and was also nice but probably not very strong.  The hotel has a good selection cocktails and most places had a wine list.  We had some Tunisian wine which was pretty nice.

Soft Drinks
The weather in Tunisia is perfect for growing oranges and all the cafes around the resorts of Hammamet and Hammamet Yasmine sold fresh orange juice which was squeezed to order.  They said not to drink the tap water so we didnt and bought bottled water to drink instead.  This was pretty cheap outside of the hotel selling for about 50p for 1.5 litres.

Full English
Non tourist resort would be complete without having a fry-up on offer and even Africa is no exception.  We saw a couple of places doing an English breakfast but I never got around to trying one.  Maybe next time…

Camel ride in Hammamet, Tunisia

You can travel to the safari zoo in Sousse for a cheap camel ride but we decided to go for one a bit closer to our hotel in Hammamet.

We booked the trip through one of the hotel approved salesmen who wonder around the complex and it cost us 30 DT each (about £15).

Where we picked up the camels

There were six of us from out hotel (the Sol Azur) and we were picked up at the hotel gates at about 10.00am by a mini bus and taken about 10 minutes inland to the camel lodge.  Another six or so people from another hotel arrived at the same time and we were given a seat in the shade whilst they setup the camels.  Being typical Tunisians they didn’t waste this opportunity to try and sell us things but they weren’t very persistent and we resisted their offers to spend £3 on a head scarf.

We were signalled to come down to the camels as they were ready for us.  I’d been on a camel before in Tennerife when I was younger so knew what to expect when mounting the beast.  My one was very well behaved and as soon as I got on he got straight up and was ready to go.  Some were a bit naughty and gave their riders a fright but overall they were a good bunch of dromedaries.

My Camel Getting Ready

The ride lasted for about two hours and saw us go across a paved road, past some houses then up a path to the top of a big hill.  At the top we were served complimentary drinks in a Bedouin tent and encouraged to dress up as Arabs and get our photos taken.  The views of the Hammamet coastline and beaches from atop of the hill were amazing and worth the journey alone. There was also a couple of authentic mad Arabic women in the tent to provide entertainment before we set off again on our trusty steeds to the bottom of the mountain/hill.  Being the enterprising fellows that they are the guy that was taken photos had managed to get the photos printed out by the time we got back to base and kindly offered to sell them to us for a mere 5DT per photo.  We took him up on his offer and bought all five for about £12.

What's He Doing?

This was the only excursion we did and I would definitely recommend it.  The same guys were also  selling quad bike rides in the hills/mountains as well as horse drawn carriage rides.

Although I was expecting it this was the time during out trip to Tunisia of the holiday where I was offered a camel in exchange for my girlfriend.  He offered two and I tried to haggle him up to three but in the end we agreed at two and a baby.

Taking a rest at the top of the mountain in Hammamet

Tunisian Dog

View of Hammamet from top of Camel Mountain

Another view of Hammamet from top of Camel Mountain

When we were looking through the hotels before booking and reading the reviews we kept seeing the term ‘animation team’ and ‘animations’ mentioned.  I had never heard of this term so didn’t pay it much attention but when we arrived at the hotel we realised just what it meant.

The Animation Team are similar to holiday reps or the Red Coats you find at Butlins.  They are in the in-house entertainment team and provide the animation events or entertainment that takes place at the hotel.  During the day there are animations for the children such as gymnastics, pool activities and mini golf and in the evening there is a children’s’ disco which is then followed by some ‘fun’ for the adults.  During the day the animation team hang out at the hotel practising their dance moves, chatting up the female holiday makers and trying to entice people to the evening animation event.

Typical evening animation events included a cabaret, karaoke, Tunisian night, a disco and belly dancing.

Normally I’d give this kind of thing a wide berth but the animation team are a persistent bunch and my girlfriend seemed quite keen so on the second night we went to the cabaret.  I didn’t really know what to expect and it was a very surreal experience but by the end I was enjoying it as some of the unbridled enthusiasm of the animators rubbed off on me (plus I’d had a few beers).  We went to a few more evening events during our stay but the caberet was easily the best and the great heights set on our second night were never reached again.  Each evening event is followed by a round of bingo in which I won a CD of songs performed by the animation team of 2009.  I haven’t listened to it yet but I’m sure it is fantastic!  After the event animation team round up a few lucky ladies to accompany them to Jimmy’s nightclub next door to party the night away.  Unfortunately my girlfriend didn’t make the cut so I never got to find out what Jimmy’s was like.

Most hotels in Tunisia seem to have an animation team but I cannot guarantee they will all be as good as the team at the Sol Azur hotel in Hammamet.

Which resort should you chose?

Hammamet and Hammamet Yasmine are the two main resorts in Tunisia and we stayed in Hammamet which is known as old Hammamet with Hammamet Yasmine being the new Hammamet.  They are quite close to each other and are often referred to as being a single resort although there is a difference between the two.  Both are on the same stretch of coast.  Read my page on the differences between the two to find out more.

Other popular Tunisian resorts include:

• Sousse
• Nabeul
• Djerba
• Tabarka

Tunisia, or the Republic of Tunisia as it is officially known, is a country in the north of Africa. It is located southwest of the Italian island of Sicily and south of Sardinia.

It has a 1300 km coastline so is ideal for those looking for a beach holiday and around 40% of the country is covered by the Sahara.

Language
The main language of Tunisia is Arabic but French is equally spoken.  During my trip to Hammamet most of the locals we encountered spoke English and German as well as Arabic and French.  Speaking French will come in handy if you go off the beaten track but for us in the resorts of Hammamet and Hammamet Yasmine it wasn’t necessary as pretty much everyone could speak a enough  English to get by.  Most menus and signs outside of the hotels were in English, French & German but inside the hotel everything was in English and German.

Religion
The official state religion of Tunisia is Islam and the president is required to be Muslim but apart from that they are pretty tolerant of other religions and wearing the Hijab (headscarf) has been banned.  We saw a few mosques dotted around but Hammamet and Hammamet Yasmine were much less obviously Muslim areas in the UK, East London as an example.  Not everywhere sold alcohol but most places catering to tourists did with a selection of wines and beers on offer.

Currency
The dinar is the currency of Tunisia and is abbreviated to DT when prices are listed.  It is a closed currency meaning you cannot take their money out of the country so you will have to get your Tunisian money when you arrive in Tunisia and change it up before you leave.  ATMs were readily available and our hotel, the Sol Azur, provded a free money changing service.  Remember to keep your recipts as you will need them to change money back into your local currency!

Population
The population of Tunisia was estimated to be around 10 million in 2008.

This is the hotel we stayed in and it is rated 4-star.   It is part of a complex with two other hotels, the Bel Azur (3-star) and the Royal Azur (5-star) beach hotels.

Each hotel has its only pool, bars, restaurants and cafes but are all with in the same complex so guests can freely make use of each of the hotels facilities.

Although we were staying in the Sol Azur hotel we spent most of our pool-time in and around the pool of the Bel Azur as it was very deep (3.5 meters) making it great for diving.

Each of the three hotels share the same stretch of beach which has a beach side food and drink bar serving snacks, ice creams and cold drinks through out the day.  The beach is not fenced off in anyway so you are free to wander off in either direction if you want a change off scenery but as the beach is only accessible via the hotels you don’t get any vendors wandering amongst the holiday makers.