11 Must do’s in Djerba | Tunisia
After a road trip full of adventure, nature and culture, it’s time to relax on the island of Djerba, Tunisia. Here you can enjoy the sun, sea and beautiful beaches. But Djerba definitely has way more to offer than only that.
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1) Djerbahood
Djerbahood refers to an art event (2014) in the village of Erriadh. Visit the open-air graffiti museum and enjoy a total of 250 unique works of art on the wall!
2) Plage Sidi Maharès
Djerba’s most popular beach is Plage Sidi Maharès.
3) Houmt Souk Old Town Djerba
Go stroll on Djerba’s main town: Houmt Souk. A number of well-preserved fondouks (caravanserais) can be seen in alleyways. These merchant inns combined sleeping quarters, animal stabling, and warehouse storage for the many traveling merchants who traversed North Africa, buying up salt, spices, and textiles to take back to Europe. Their typical structure usually took the shape of a series of rooms, several stories high, built around an arcaded courtyard.
4) Plage de la Séguia
Plage de la Séguia is a five-kilometer stretch of white-sand beach.
5) Midoun
Surrounded by fruit orchards and date palm groves, Midoun is Djerba’s largest market town. The population of the village includes many descendants of slaves, who were originally brought here from Sudan.
6) La Ghriba Synagogue
The interior of the synagogue has fine paneling and contains important and valuable old Torah scrolls. Every year, 33 days after Easter, La Ghriba is the scene of the Maghreb’s (North Africa’s) most important Jewish pilgrimage. The Synagogue was closed when we visited it.
Fun Fact: One local story says that a holy stone fell to earth here denoting the site’s religious importance.
7) Zarzis
If you don’t have time to visit the gorgeous and tranquil oasis of Tozeur, then Zarzis is a good compromise. Many people come here simply for the white beaches.
8) Guellala Village
The village of Guellala is Djerba’s main pottery center. Around 450 local potters live here, making it well worth visiting at least one workshop to get a feel for this ancient craft.
9) Nefta
If you’re staying in Djerba, the easiest place to go to the Sahara from Djerba is Nefta. Also, check out the stunning canyon scenery of the Selja Gorge once you’re there.
10) Medenine
A day trip to Medenine from Djerba. Medenine’s Ksour is straight out of the Star Wars movies (Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, to be precise). Medenine was an important staging point on the caravan routes into the interior of Africa. These granaries are vital warehouses for semi-nomadic families to store their possessions while they were away. Most were pulled down in the 1960s for the new town, but Ksar Medenine has survived. We didn’t do this as we visited the granaries in Tataouine.
11) Excursions from Djerba: Multi-day desert tour
Do you want to see more of the interior of Tunisia? Take a multi-day tour through the desert, visit different places in the south, or sleep in a tent in the middle of the desert.
Life of a Passion
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Lisa
So much to see in/around Djerba! Great must-do’s.
Life of a Passion
Thanks Lisa! I think the most important one is relaxing at the beach as well 😉