The homelands of Hannibal and the final Punic War, with world-class Carthaginian and Roman cities in beautiful and varied countryside. Great introduction to Romans or and/or North Africa.
£1200 (sgl supp £70) | Price without flights: £880
Sun 24th - Sun 31st October 2010, 8 days with Dr Denise Allen
Availability: Singles Available | Doubles Available
Introduction
In the wide landscapes of northern Tunisia lie the ruins of Roman towns, more or less unaltered since the 5th century AD. Temples, bath-houses, theatres and amphitheatres still stand in the sort of ruined grandeur tourists found in Europe during the 19th century.
The foothills of the Atlas mountains attract enough rainfall to make this land agriculturally rich, and the long summer sunshine ripens the grain and olives which have always been an important part of the economy.
The once-great city of Carthage, now absorbed into the suburbs of Tunis, has scattered but substantial remains if you know where to look. The Punic city was thoroughly destroyed by the Romans in 146BC, at the end of a long period of war, but it rose again as an important Mediterranean trading centre. An international UNESCO “Save Carthage” campaign during the 1970s and 80s saw teams from all over the world excavating at sites throughout the ancient city, and the results can be seen on the Byrsa Hill, where the core of the city once stood, and many other sites.
One of the joys of Roman Tunisia is the astoundingly rich and varied use of mosaics as an art-form. The Bardo Museum holds one of the finest collections in the world, but there are more in smaller site museums, and in situ on many of the sites. They provide a detailed view of everyday life - hunting, agricultural and domestic scenes, amphitheatre spectacles, and still-life views capture in tiny tesserae what people would have been seeing and experiencing in the 2nd - 4th centuries AD.
This Bare Bones tour also gives you the opportunity to experience the delights of modern Tunisia: the souks, medinas and mosques of this accessible and friendly Muslim country - not forgetting the Mediterranean coast at Hammamet.
Itinerary
day one
Group flights London to Tunis or meet coach at Tunis airport or meet at hotel in Tunis.
day two
Morning discovering Carthage, traditionally founded by Dido (‘the wanderer’) as a Phoenician colony in the western Mediterranean, then growing in strength to become the sworn enemy of Rome by the 3rd century BC, and subsequently destroyed and founded again as a Roman city. Visits include the Byrsa Hill site, with excavated remains of late Punic houses and the Carthage Museum, containing results of the UNESCO excavations all over the city; the enormous Antonine baths, standing impressively derelict on the sea-front; the two harbours, which can still be clearly traced amongst the smart suburbs of Tunis, and the tophet where thousands of child burials have been found dedicated to the Punic goddess Tanit (sacrificed or died of natural causes? - the debate continues...). Afternoon to the pretty town of Sidi Bou Said, overlooking the sea just outside Tunis and Carthage, with time for some independent exploration.
day three
The Bardo Museum, in a former Royal Palace, houses one of the best collections of Roman mosaics in the world. Mythological scenes, fishermen drawing in their nets, oxen ploughing, even a tiger skin rug - all have been captured in coloured stone and provide a glimpse of what life was like 2000 years ago.
Independent lunch in Tunis. After lunch drive out of Tunis to view the best stretch of the 90km aqueduct which brought water to Carthage, where it emerges from ground level and is then carried on increasingly soaring arches over the valley of the Oued Meliane at Mohammedia. Continue to visit the remains of the Roman colonia at Oudna (Udina). Return to our hotel in Tunis.
day four
Dougga, possibly the most famous site of Roman Tunisia, with streets terraced into a steep hillside, and sweeping views out over the surrounding country. The capitol (temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) provides one of the iconic shots of Roman ruins - golden stone with impressive Corinthian façade. The ruins here include tombs of the early Numidian inhabitants, many temples, bath-houses (one with an accessible service corridor running beneath it), houses and a theatre.
A packed lunch will be provided today; continue to our hotel close to the site - a very traditional Tunisian experience; dinner is included tonight as no other choice nearby.
day five
Across the plains to Thuburbo Maius, a Roman city in a particularly lovely setting in open fields surrounded by hills. Only partially excavated, the public buildings show the typical development of native settlement, overlain by a Roman city, and later fortified during the Byzantine re-occupation of the 5th century AD (amphitheatres and fora were particularly suitable as citadels). Lunch included today; continue to Hammamet and our hotel.
day six
Free day beside the sea at Hammamet - miles of golden sand, much of it empty, but opportunities for beach sports or a camel ride. If you prefer a more active time, there are more sites (Cap Bon, Nabeul Museum) which could be visited independently in the area.
day seven
South to the spectacular amphitheatre at El Djem - it can be seen like a giant drum from a great distance towering over the low, flat-roofed houses of the modern town. Built of local sahel stone, its size - sixth-largest in the Roman world - reflects the wealth of the region acquired from its olive groves. Wealthy town-houses have also been excavated and are revealed in the garden of the excellent museum, which also has a particularly fine collection of mosaics.
Independent lunch in El Djem or Sousse. Sousse museum also contains some of the most famous of the Tunisian mosaics: an elaborate calendar showing typical scenes for every month of the year, some of the finest amphitheatre scenes, including four fine gladiators, and a team of leopard hunters who performed in the arena.
day eight
Private coach to Tunis airport for group flight home, travel independently or continue your holiday.
Included
WHAT’S INCLUDED
- Flights scheduled flights London/Tunis or arrange your own flights
- Transfers private coach provided to coincide with group flights - join this or make your own way between hotel and airport
- Local Travel Private a/c coach.
- Guide Lecturer (also a local guide) Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"! The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards. There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that. They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you. After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them. If you would like to know more about Dr Denise Allen, please click his name.
- Local Guide
- Meals Lunch Days 4 & 5 and dinner on Day 4 included
- Fieldnotes written for the tour
- Entry Entry to all sites in programme
- We tip the driver and the local guide on your behalf
You Arrange
- Flights if you prefer. It may suit you better, and you may get a good deal, on flights from your local airport - see above for price without flights
- Meals (except breakfast, 2 lunches and 1 evening meal) - plenty of choice of restaurants near our hotels (except at Dougga, where we have included dinner).
Flights & Visa
Airline: Scheduled flights with British Airways or Tunisair (to be confirmed).
Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)*
Passport must be valid for 3 months before you travel toTunisia. On arrival, security checks are sometimes run on British passport holders who are not UK-born. There is no cause for concern if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport
Hotels
3 nights B&B in a simple but comfortable hotel in Tunis, very close to the medina;
1 night in a simple, traditional hotel close to the site of Dougga near Teboursouk (HB);
3 nights B&B in a locally-owned hotel in central Hammamet
Comments
What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?
Superb Roman/ Punic sites expertly explained by our guide. The climate was perfect for it. Denise is great- full of energy and humour. Thanks!
The knowledge and friendliness of our guide lecturer and local guide, the company of people with the same interests and the great variety of places visited in such a small area. Ancient history came to life!
- The profusion of preserved mosaics both in situ and in museums.
- Dr. Allen recounting the fall of Catharge while standing on the Byrsa hill overlooking the city- vivid and powerful.
- The surprising quantity of Punic mosaics, especially Kerkouane which we visited on the extra trip organised by Dr. Allen
- The meal with local entertainment in the Medina of Tunis on the evening of day three.
- The Roman aqueduct- quite amazing!
Very well informed, enthusiastic, friendly and communicative tour guide Denise Allen. A well organised trip. Lovely Tunisian guide (Samy) - fantastic English, good sense of humour, full of info about his country, polite, a joy to have on board. A well mixed group. A good driver- he got us a fabulous picnic lunch one day. A friendly nation, welcoming with fantastic sites - very impressed.
Apart from the glorious mosaics and the stunning Roman architecture and Tunisian settings, I enjoyed the individuality and ‘looseness' of the tour, i.e. no herding into groups, no pressure to ‘join in', no relentless social talk etc. There was friendliness and sociability whenever one wanted it, and social dining on offer, but one could determine when or what to join in. Denise was excellent in this respect.
Having the chance to see stupendous sites almost free of visitors. I will never forget the rainbow over Dougga. As with all Andante tours, it ended far too soon.
Reading List
This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed. In many cases, we expect that you will find some of these books even more interesting and useful to read once the tour is over.
Guide Lecturer's Choice: (if you only want to read one or two books)
Susan Raven, Rome in Africa, 1984, Longman, 1993 Routledge. This is an excellent, highly readable narrative of the Roman presence in North Africa.
Serge Lancel, Carthage: A History, 1992, English translation, Blackwell, 1997.
‘A detailed, wide ranging and authoritative account of Punic cultures
Barnaby Rogerson, A Traveller's History of North Africa, Windrush Press, 1998
CARTHAGE
Virgil The Aeneid, especially Book Four, The Tragedy of Dido
John Peddie, Hannibal's War, 1997, Sutton Publishing
Military perspective of the Second Punic War and Hannibal's abilities as a general.
David Soren, Ben Abed, Aicha and Heidi Sim, Carthage: Uncovering the Mysteries and Splendors of Ancient Tunisia, 1990, Simon and Schuster.
THE ROMAN OCCUPATION
E Lennox Manton, Roman North Africa, 1988, Seaby. Good general account centred on particular dynasties and locations, e.g. Carthage and its hinterland. Good photos.
Joyce Salisbury, Perpetua's Passion, 1997, Routledge. Account of a young Roman woman and her companions, martyred in the Carthage amphitheatre in March 203.
Saint Augustine, Confessions.
David Mattingly, Tripolitania, 1995, Batsford. Excellent account of the ancient region which encompassed southern Tunisia and north-west Libya.
GUIDE BOOKS
CADOGAN
Barnaby Rogerson and Rose Baring, Cadogan Guides - Tunisia 1992
Although now out of date, this is the most enjoyable of the general guides as it is good on the ancient history and very entertaining. It is still available from Amazon.
Abigail Hole, Lonely Planet Guide - Tunisia 2007
Peter Morris and Daniel Jacobs, Rough Travel Guide - Tunisia 2005
MAPS
GeoCenter World Map - 1:800 000
Michelin No 972: 1:1 000 000
N.B. Many of the sites we visit now have their own colour guide books (available only in the country) and there are also general works on Roman mosaics, etc.
A good introduction to the latter is Roger Ling (1997) Ancient Mosaics, British Museum. Excellent introduction to and summary of the subject, with a large chapter on the mosaics of North Africa.
Book Now
Price and confirmed details for this tour will appear in our full brochure due out in October 2009. You can reserve a place on this tour before October on payment of a deposit. If you then change your mind, we will refund your deposit in full.
