Sfax
Tunisia · 20 m
Description
Sfax (صفاقس) is the second city of Tunisia, it lives on olive oil and phosphate rather than on visitors, and its medina is the better for it. The walls run almost complete, the souks inside sell to the people of the town, and the trade is still sorted street by street, one lane for spices, one for blacksmiths, one for wool. Two courtyard houses have become museums of the local decorative arts. From the port a ferry crosses to the flat Kerkennah islands, where the fishing is done with palm frond traps set in the shallows.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: April – May or October – November
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Medina of Sfax and its Aghlabid walls
- Bab Diwan and the square at the main gate
- Souks of the medina and their covered lanes
- Dar Jellouli museum of popular arts
- Archaeological museum and its mosaics
- Fish market and the morning auction
- Ferry from the port to the Kerkennah islands(Day trip)
- Thyna Roman site south of the city(Day trip)
- French colonial quarter and Avenue Hedi Chaker
- Olive groves and the oil presses of the Sahel
- Sidi Mansour coast and its beaches
Getting there
- Airports:
- SFA
- Train stations:
- Sfax
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry