Djerba Guide: Beaches, Souks & Day Trips

Discover Djerba

Djerba is North Africa's largest island and Tunisia's southernmost resort, served by direct flights from many European cities. It's flat as a table — its highest point is just 57 metres — and instead of mountains it's covered in olive trees, palms and white, cube-shaped houses with domed roofs scattered across the whole island. Almost all the hotels sit on the north-eastern coast between Sidi Mahrez and Aghir, where the sand is fine and pale and the sea shelves so gradually that you can walk 100 metres from shore and still be only waist-deep. The rest of the island is inhabited countryside: the pottery village of Guellala, the fishing town of Ajim, the Thursday market in Midoun, and the capital, Houmt Souk, with its souk in covered lanes. The island is the only place in Tunisia with an unbroken Jewish community — the El Ghriba pilgrimage synagogue stands in Erriadh, which is also home to Africa's largest street-art gallery. Thanks to its southerly position, the season here starts as early as May, and the sea is still 24°C in October.

What to see

The places worth your time in Djerba, and what to expect at each

Houmt Souk

north of the island

The island's capital, a maze of covered lanes selling carpets, spices, silver and pottery. You can walk around the old fondouks — caravanserais converted into cafés — in an hour, and the fish market by the harbour runs as an auction every morning.

Tip: Auctions at the fish market start around 9am, and you can have your fish grilled at the eatery opposite for a few dinars on top of the price of the fish. You won't eat more cheaply anywhere on the island.

Admission:: free
Time needed:: half a day

El Ghriba Synagogue

Erriadh

The oldest synagogue in Africa, with roots that tradition traces back to the 6th century BCE. The interior has blue tiles, wooden benches and hundreds of hanging lamps. Pilgrims from across the Mediterranean arrive every year for the spring Lag BaOmer pilgrimage.

Tip: Entry involves security and a bag check; cameras are fine, but on the day of the pilgrimage you can't get in without registering. Men are given a free paper head covering at the entrance.

Admission:: from TND 8
Time needed:: 1 h

Djerbahood in Erriadh

Erriadh

100 houses in the old village of Erriadh, their walls painted by artists from 30 countries as part of a 2014 project. The murals are still being refreshed and added to, so the whole village works as an open-air gallery, with a map at the entrance.

Tip: Go on foot and in the morning — after 9am tour buses arrive and it becomes hard to photograph the narrow lanes. The map by the car park is free; you don't need a paid guide.

Admission:: free
Time needed:: 2 h

Borj Ghazi Mustapha Fort

Houmt Souk

A massive coastal fortress on the edge of Houmt Souk, built by the Aragonese in the 13th century and rebuilt by the Ottomans. From the ramparts there are views over the harbour and the shallows where fishing boats anchor. A monument by the fort commemorates the 1560 siege.

Tip: Come at sunset — the ramparts face west, and it's the only spot in Houmt Souk where you can watch the sun set into the sea.

Admission:: from TND 8
Time needed:: 1 h

Guellala and its pottery workshops

south of the island

A village on the southern coast where local grey clay has been thrown into pots the same way for 2 millennia. The workshops have kilns sunk into the ground, and amphorae dry out in the open along the road. The museum above the village displays figures showing Djerban wedding and craft customs.

Tip: Buy directly from the workshop by the road, not from the shops in the car park — the same jug costs half as much there, and the potter will show you how it's thrown.

Admission:: workshops free, museum from TND 10
Time needed:: 2 h

Sidi Mahrez Beach

north-east coast

The island's longest and widest beach, around 12 kilometres of fine pale sand running along the hotel zone. The seabed shelves very gradually, and there are no rocks or seaweed in the first few hundred metres, making it the safest beach for young children in Tunisia.

Tip: A breeze picks up off the sea almost every afternoon and the beach empties out — the best time for swimming is morning until 1pm, with afternoons better spent inland.

Admission:: free, sunlounger from TND 15
Time needed:: all day

Ras Rmel, or Flamingo Island

northern tip

A sandbar running out from the island's northern tip into a shallow lagoon, where flamingos arrive in winter and spring. The birds aren't there in summer, but it's the quietest beach in Djerba, with knee-deep water for hundreds of metres.

Tip: Boats leave from the harbour in Houmt Souk, but at low tide you can walk out along the sandbar on foot. Flamingos are visible from November to March, not during the main season.

Admission:: boat from TND 30
Time needed:: half a day

Ajim and the Star Wars set

west coast

A fishing harbour on the west coast, where the ferry to the mainland departs and sponge divers set out to sea. Scenes from the Mos Eisley spaceport were filmed here, and several white structures around the village remain in the landscape.

Tip: The dome by the road north of Ajim isn't a hotel but a former cistern — it stands alone in a field and photographing it is free. The caretaker nearby expects a dinar or two, no more.

Admission:: free
Time needed:: 2 h

Djerba Explore and the crocodile farm

Midoun, hotel zone

A complex next to the hotel zone with 400 Nile crocodiles, a folk-traditions museum and a reconstructed Djerban village with craft workshops. Crocodile feeding is shown once a day, and children happily stand around it for half an hour.

Tip: Feeding usually happens around 5pm — arrive 10 minutes early at the railing by the large pool, or you won't see anything over everyone's heads.

Admission:: from TND 35, children from TND 20
Time needed:: 3 h

Photos: Houmt Souk — Chesdovi (CC BY 2.5) · El Ghriba Synagogue — Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Djerbahood in Erriadh — Galerie Itinerrance (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Borj Ghazi Mustapha Fort — El Golli Mohamed (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Guellala and its pottery workshops — Stegop (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Sidi Mahrez Beach — SuperManu (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Ras Rmel, or Flamingo Island — Touzrimounir (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ajim and the Star Wars set — Jaume Ollé (CC BY 2.5) · Djerba Explore and the crocodile farm — TOUMOU (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where to stay

Areas and districts, matched to the kind of trip you are taking

Sidi Mahrez zone

Best for: the beach and families

An unbroken strip of large hotels along the island's best beach, where most tourists stay. Outside the hotels there's almost nothing — a few souvenir shops and roadside restaurants — but it's the only spot with a gently shelving sandy seabed and beach service. It's 15 kilometres to Houmt Souk and 8 to Midoun.

Houmt Souk

Best for: first-time visitors and independent travellers

The island's capital, with a harbour, marketplace and small hotels in converted fondouks. It's cheaper to stay here than in the hotel zone, and there's somewhere to go in the evening, though reaching the beach means a bus or taxi. For anyone who doesn't want to sit by a pool for two weeks straight, it's the best base on the island.

Aghir and the south-east

Best for: peace and quiet and windsurfing

The southernmost end of the hotel zone by the lagoon, where the beach is narrower but always half-empty, and the steady wind makes it the island's best spot for windsurfing and kitesurfing. Hotels here are spread far apart and the evenings are completely quiet — but you can't get anywhere without a car or taxi.

Midoun and the inland villages

Best for: markets and life outside the hotels

The island's second-largest town, 4 kilometres from the beach, hosts a big market every Thursday selling vegetables, spices and textiles. Around it lies countryside with olive trees and low white houses, good for cycling between. Prices at local eateries run about a third of those in the hotel zone.

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Getting around

From the airport

The island has its own international airport, Djerba–Zarzis, 9 kilometres from Houmt Souk, served in season by direct charter flights from many European cities. The hotel zone in the north-east is 25 kilometres from the airport, and the transfer takes 30 minutes. There are 2 ways to reach the island by car: via the 7-kilometre Roman causeway of El Kantara from the south, or by the ferry from Jorf to Ajim, which runs around the clock and takes 15 minutes.

Djerba–Zarzis (DJE) · 25 km

Hotel transfer· 30 min· included in the stay
Taxi to the hotel zone· 30 min· TND 40
Taxi to Houmt Souk· 15 min· TND 15

Tozeur–Nefta (TOE) · 320 km

Rental car via Gabès· 4 h· TND 120/day
Louage with a change· 6 h· TND 35

Around town

The island is flat and has 150 kilometres of roads that are easy to drive. SNTRI public buses run between Houmt Souk, Midoun and the hotel zone roughly every hour and cost a few dinars, but stop in the evening. Yellow metered taxis are more common — a ride from the hotel zone to Houmt Souk costs around 15 dinars. For trips around the island, a rental car or scooter is worthwhile, since transport between the southern villages is practically non-existent. Almost every hotel rents bicycles, and the flat terrain suits them well.

Yellow taxiInsist the meter is running; after dark and outside town a 50% surcharge applies. · TND 5

SNTRI busHoumt Souk – Midoun – hotel zone route, roughly every hour until 8pm. · TND 1.5

LouageShared nine-seat minibuses that leave once full. The cheapest way to reach the mainland. · TND 3

Rental carEssential if you want to reach the south of the island or the Sahara. The tank is filled with cash, and petrol is cheap. · TND 110/day

Bicycle or scooterThe island is flat; a bicycle is enough for the ride from the hotel to Midoun. Hotels also rent them out. · TND 20/day

Useful apps: Google Maps, Bolt, Maps.me

When to go

Djerba has the longest season in Tunisia. Swimming is possible from mid-May, when the sea is 21°C, right through to the end of October, when it's still 24°C. July and August are hot — 34°C during the day — but the sea breeze makes it more bearable than on the mainland. The best balance is June and September: warm water, comfortable heat and lower prices. Winter months hover around 18–20°C, not warm enough for swimming, but hotels keep running and it's a good time for exploring the island. It only rains around 40 days a year here, mostly in December and January.

Best time

May, June, September and October

What to avoid

December to February, when the sea is cold and it's windy

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Day	18°	19°	21°	24°	27°	31°	34°	34°	31°	28°	23°	19°
Night	8°	9°	11°	13°	17°	21°	23°	24°	22°	18°	14°	10°
Rainy days	5	4	4	3	2	1	0	1	3	4	4	5
Sea	16°	15°	16°	18°	21°	24°	27°	28°	27°	24°	21°	18°

Food & drink

All-inclusive hotels serve an international buffet with a bit of Tunisian food thrown in, such as brik and harissa. The real food is in Houmt Souk and Midoun: fish restaurants by the harbour where you pick your fish from the display case and pay by weight, and small local eateries serving ojja and couscous. Djerba's speciality is couscous with octopus and fish instead of meat, since the island lives off the sea. Meals are washed down with green tea with pine nuts, and alcohol is only sold in hotels and a handful of licensed venues.

What to try

Brik

A thin sheet of malsouka pastry fried with egg, tuna and parsley. The yolk inside stays runny, so the first bite is taken from a corner and it's eaten by hand over the plate.

Couscous

The whole country's Friday meal: semolina steamed over a pot of meat and vegetables. In coastal towns it's also made with fish, a version you won't find at the hotel.

Méchouia salad

Roasted peppers, tomatoes and garlic crushed in a mortar with tuna, egg and olives. Served cold as a starter, and it's the best way to get a feel for the strength of the local harissa.

Ojja

A tomato and harissa pan dish with eggs cracked in, usually with merguez or prawns. Quick, fiery and the cheapest hot meal in any local eatery.

Lablabi

A chickpea soup with garlic and cumin, into which you crumble stale bread right in the bowl. A workers' breakfast, sold in the morning and often sold out by midday.

Harissa

A paste of roasted chillies, garlic and cumin that arrives with the bread before the menu does. Tunisian harissa is hotter than the Moroccan kind — try the first spoonful with care.

Makroud and pine nut tea

Diamond-shaped semolina pastries filled with dates and soaked in honey, served with strong sweet green tea with a handful of pine nuts floating on top.

Grilled fish by the kilo

Pick your sea bream, sea bass or mullet from the display case and pay by weight. The price per kilo is usually chalked on a board — have the fish weighed in front of you.

What it costs

Pine nut tea

TND 2–4

Brik at a local eatery

TND 3–5

Fish dinner in Houmt Souk

TND 35–60 per person

Celtia beer, 0.5 l

TND 7–10

2 sunloungers with a parasol

TND 15–25

Taxi from the hotel zone to Houmt Souk

TND 12–18

Rental car per day

from TND 110

Full-day guided trip to Matmata

from TND 90

Indicative prices that change over time — treat them as a guide, not a price list.

Practical information

SocketsCEuroplug, two round pinsEFrench, with earth pin

Voltage230V / 50Hz

Tap waterDo not drink tap water — Don't drink tap water — it's chlorinated, hard and has an unpleasant taste in summer. A 1.5-litre bottle of water costs under a dinar in a shop, 4 times that in a hotel. It's best to avoid ice in drinks outside the hotel, and wash fruit with bottled water.

TippingA tip is expected in small change: round up in a café, leave around 10% in a restaurant, and give hotel porters a dinar per bag. You can't add a tip at passport control, so always carry a few 1 and 5 dinar notes. Guides and drivers on a full-day trip expect around 5 dinars per person.

Driving on theright

SafetyResorts and medinas alike are safe, and police are visible in tourist areas. The most common hassle isn't crime but pushy selling: someone in the medina will approach you claiming to lead you "to my brother's workshop" and steer you into a carpet shop. A polite "la, choukran" and walking on is enough. Taxis have meters — insist they're switched on, or the driver will quote 3 times the fare. Watch the flags in the sea; the afternoon wind in the south can be strong.

Opening hoursShops in the resorts open from 9am until late in the evening, including Sundays; medinas and souks close around midday on Fridays for prayers. Government offices and banks run from 8am to 4pm, and only until 1pm in summer. During Ramadan the daily rhythm shifts: cafés and restaurants outside hotels don't open until after sunset, while hotel service runs as normal.

Customs & etiquetteTunisia is secular but Muslim: swimwear is taken for granted at the resort, but in town and in the medina it's normal to wear a t-shirt and trousers or a skirt below the knee. Tourists usually can't go beyond the courtyard in mosques. The left hand isn't used for eating or handing things over. Photographing people, especially women, without asking isn't done, and it's forbidden near police and military sites.

A few local wordsHello — As-salám alejkumThank you — ŠukranNo, thank you — Lá, šukranHow much does this cost? — B'kaddech?That's too expensive — Ghálí barša

How to plan your days

1 day

A day off the beach

1Morning taxi to Houmt Souk for the fish market and the souk.
2Lunch at a harbourside eatery, with fish bought at the market.
3Afternoon at Borj Ghazi Mustapha fort and the ramparts.
4On the way back, stop in Erriadh at the El Ghriba synagogue.

2 days

2 days touring the island

1Day 1 as above.
2Day 2 morning: street art in Djerbahood while it's quiet.
3Head south to pottery village Guellala and the museum above it.
4Afternoon in Ajim, the Star Wars set, and back along the west coast.

3 days

3 days including the lagoon and the market

1The first 2 days as above.
2Thursday morning: the market in Midoun.
3Afternoon boat to Ras Rmel, swimming in the shallows.
4Early evening crocodile feeding at Djerba Explore.
5If there's a day left, windsurfing in Aghir or a trip to Zarzis.

Day trips

Matmata

150 km · 2 h 30 min by car

A Berber village of dwellings dug into the ground around circular courtyards, where Luke Skywalker's farm was filmed. One of the courtyards now operates as a hotel where you can have lunch. The route runs via the El Kantara causeway and Gabès.

Douz and the gateway to the Sahara

230 km · 3 h 30 min by car

The last town before the dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental, from where camel caravans set off into the sand. It's worth setting out early in the morning and being on the dunes at sunset, when it cools down and the colours are at their strongest.

Tataouine and the Berber ksour

180 km · 2 h 30 min by car

A landscape of stone ksour granaries perched on hillsides like honeycombs. The finest are Ksar Ouled Soltane and Chenini. It's a full-day trip, and without a car or an organised tour it's practically impossible to get here.

Frequently asked questions

Is Djerba suitable for families with young children?+

Yes, it's among the best in the whole Mediterranean. The beach in the Sidi Mahrez zone has fine sand with no stones, the seabed shelves so gradually that children can walk 100 metres from shore and still only be waist-deep, and the shallow water means the sea is warmer here than elsewhere in Tunisia. Most hotels have a children's pool and an entertainment programme.

When is the best time for swimming in Djerba?+

From mid-June to the end of October. The sea is warmest in August and September at 28°C, but even in October it's still 24°C, so autumn dates are actually better for swimming than early June. In May the water is around 21°C, which most people find on the cool side.

Is it worth renting a car on the island?+

If you want to see Guellala, Ajim or the southern coast, yes — public transport off the Houmt Souk–Midoun route barely exists, and a taxi for a full day costs more than a rental car. A car for the day starts from TND 110, and the roads are flat and empty. For a trip just to Houmt Souk, a taxi is enough.

Can you head into the Sahara from Djerba?+

Yes, and it's the most popular trip off the island. Douz, the gateway to the dunes, is 230 kilometres and 3.5 hours away by car, while Matmata with its underground dwellings is 150 kilometres. Most people choose an organised 2-day trip with an overnight stay in the desert, since the one-day version means 7 hours in the car.

How safe is Djerba?+

The island is safe, and a police presence is visible in tourist zones. The most common annoyance is persistent selling in the souk, not crime — a polite "la, choukran" and walking on is enough. In a taxi, always insist the meter is running. The southern border areas near Libya are off-limits.

Can I take leftover dinars home with me?+

No. The Tunisian dinar is a closed currency that you can't take out of the country, and no one back home will exchange it. Keep your exchange receipts — at the airport you can change back at most 30% of the original amount against them, and only before check-in. Spend the rest in duty free, which accepts dinars.

What should you buy in Djerba, and how do you bargain?+

Pottery from Guellala, olive wood, carpets and deglet nour dates. Bargaining is standard in the souk: the first price is usually 2–3 times the final one, so offer a third and meet in the middle. Hotel shops and supermarkets have fixed prices that are often lower than the final souk price.

Is there anything to do on a rainy or windy day?+

The island only gets around 40 rainy days a year, but an afternoon breeze is common. For that kind of day, Djerba Explore with its crocodile farm and museum is a good option, along with the covered souk in Houmt Souk and the museum in Guellala. Windsurfers, on the other hand, head to Aghir — for them the wind is exactly why they came.

Visa Requirements

Check the latest visa requirements for entering this country. Some nationalities may need to apply for a visa or e-visa before travel.

Check visa requirements

Emergency Numbers

Police197 Ambulance190 Fire198

Language

Arabic / French

Currency

TND

Timezone

Africa/Tunis

Dial Code

+216

Population

12.5M

Area

163,610 km²

Voltage

230V / 50Hz

Driving Side

Right

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