Excursion Sidi Bou Said half day or full day
A private car, your own driver, and the blue and white village above the Gulf of Tunis. Half day at 70 €, full Grand Tunis day at 80 €, picked up at your hotel in Hammamet, Sousse or Tunis.
Sidi Bou Said
Carthage
Tunis medina
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An excursion Sidi Bou Said is one of the easiest days out in Tunisia. The village sits about an hour from Hammamet and asks for roughly two hours once you arrive, which leaves room in the same day for Carthage and, if you want it, the medina of Tunis. Below are both versions we run, the half day at 70 € and the full Grand Tunis day at 80 €, with the real timings, the price per vehicle and what each one covers.
Excursion Sidi Bou Said: two ways to do it
Everyone asks the same question first, so here is the short answer. The half-day excursion Sidi Bou Said takes in Carthage and the village, then puts you back at your hotel in the early afternoon. The full day adds the Tunis medina for ten euros more, which works out cheaper per hour if you are not in a hurry. Both prices cover the whole vehicle rather than the seat, so a group of four divides by four.
Half day
Carthage and Sidi Bou Said
70 €/vehicle
About 5 hours door to door · 4h45
Pickup at 08:00, two stops, back at your hotel around 13:45.
Carthage: the Antonine Baths and Byrsa hill
Two free hours in the village itself
Private car, the driver waits at every stop
Back in time for lunch at your hotel
Full day
Grand Tunis: medina, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said
80 €/vehicle
About 8 hours door to door · 7h
Pickup at 08:00, three stops, back at your hotel around 18:00.
The Tunis medina at opening, while the souks are cool
Carthage in the middle of the day
Sidi Bou Said last, once the coaches have gone
Only ten euros more than the half day
Both run every day of the week. You pay the driver at the end, in euros or dinars, and nothing is taken up front.
What the half day looks like, hour by hour
The half day works because it stops twice and drives once. You leave Hammamet at 08:00, before the A1 fills up, and you are standing in Carthage by 09:15. Nothing is timed to the minute either, so if you want longer on a terrace, say so and the driver waits.
08:00
Pickup at your hotel
The driver meets you in the lobby and takes the A1 north. Around an hour and ten minutes to Carthage from Hammamet, half an hour from Tunis.
09:15
Carthage
Start at the Antonine Baths, with the sea behind the columns, then Byrsa hill for the view over the gulf. One ticket covers eight enclosures and the driver moves the car between them, so you barely walk.
11:00
Sidi Bou Said
Up the cobbled main street to Café des Nattes, then along the quieter lanes towards the lighthouse. Two hours is enough to see the village properly without rushing it.
13:00
Back on the road
Straight back to your hotel, usually by 13:45 in Hammamet. Ask and the driver will drop you at the marina or in town instead.
Prefer the late light? We can flip the day and collect you at 13:00 instead. The price does not change.
What an excursion Sidi Bou Said costs per vehicle
One price covers the car, the fuel, the tolls and the driver. The figures below are from Hammamet: Sousse adds 10 € and Tunis takes 10 € off, because the drive is short. Entrance tickets are separate, and they are cheap. Carthage is 12 dinars per adult, around 4 €, and that one ticket opens all eight sites.
| Travellers | Half day | Grand Tunis day | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 pers. | 70 € | 80 € | +10 € |
| 4-6 pers. | 90 € | 100 € | +10 € |
| 5-8 pers. | 110 € | 120 € | +10 € |
| 8-12 pers. | 140 € | 150 € | +10 € |
Prices are per vehicle in euros, from Hammamet, and they do not move with the season.
From Sousse add 10 €. From Tunis take 10 € off.
What to see in Sidi Bou Said itself
The village is small, and that is the point. One main street climbs from the car park to the top, and nearly every lane off it ends in a view or a door someone has painted. You could walk the whole thing in forty minutes. Nobody does.
The blue and white, and why it is a rule
The colour scheme is not a tourist invention. A 1915 decree protects it, pushed through by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger, a French painter who settled here and rebuilt his own house in the local style. Every shutter you photograph is that decree still doing its job.
The three stops worth your time
Café des Nattes, at the top of the steps, where you sit on woven matting and drink mint tea with pine nuts
Dar el Annabi, a family house open to visitors, for what these rooms actually look like inside
Ennejma Ezzahra, d'Erlanger's palace below the village, now a museum of Arab and Mediterranean music
For food, buy a bambalouni from the stall near the top: a hot ring doughnut rolled in sugar, about one dinar. It is the thing people remember weeks later.
The main street is cobbled and steep. Flat shoes matter more here than anywhere else on this trip.
When to go, and what to know before you do
Timing changes this trip more than anything else. Cruise ships dock at La Goulette and their coaches reach the village around 11:00, so the lanes are busiest between then and 15:00. Plan around that and you get a different village.
The best hours to be there
Before 10:30, while the shopkeepers are still opening up
After 16:00, when the light turns the walls gold and the coaches have left
Any weekday outside July and August
What it costs on the ground
| What | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Carthage combined ticket | 12 TND (about 4 €) | Covers 8 sites, valid the same day |
| Dar el Annabi | 2 TND | Small house museum, cash only |
| Ennejma Ezzahra palace | 8 TND | Closed on Mondays |
| Mint tea on a terrace | 4 to 6 TND | Cash is easier than card |
Bring dinars in small notes. Cards work in the bigger cafés and almost nowhere else, and the nearest dependable cash machine is down by the marina. If you would rather compare this day against the others we run, our guide to what to see in Tunisia lines them all up.
How to book your day in Sidi Bou Said
It takes one message. Send the date, your hotel and how many of you there are, and we come back with the pickup time and the exact price for your group. Nothing is charged before the day.
Send the date, the hotel name and the number of travellers
We confirm the vehicle and the driver, usually within two hours
You pay the driver at the end of the day, in euros or dinars
Free to cancel up to 24 hours before pickup
If you are weighing this against the rest of the week, the full Grand Tunis day is the same trip with the medina added, and our Tunisia excursion prices guide sets every day side by side.
Not sure which version suits you? Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and we will tell you honestly which one fits.
Frequently asked questions
The questions travellers send us most often before they book.
How far is Sidi Bou Said from Hammamet?
About 85 kilometres, or an hour and ten minutes on the A1 motorway. From Tunis it is only 20 kilometres and roughly half an hour. From Sousse, allow an hour and a half.
Is half a day enough for Sidi Bou Said and Carthage?
Yes, as long as you keep it to two stops. Two hours in the village and an hour and a half in Carthage fit comfortably inside a five-hour trip. You need the full day only if you also want the Tunis medina.
Is Sidi Bou Said free to visit?
The village itself is free to walk. You pay only for what you enter, such as Dar el Annabi at 2 dinars or the Ennejma Ezzahra palace at 8, plus whatever you drink on a terrace.
What is the best time of day to visit Sidi Bou Said?
Late afternoon. The coaches leave around 15:00 and the low sun warms the white walls, which is when the photographs work. Early morning is the quiet alternative if you want the lanes to yourself.
Can I reach Sidi Bou Said by train?
From Tunis, yes. The TGM line runs from Tunis Marine to Sidi Bou Said in about 30 minutes. From Hammamet or Sousse there is no direct train, which is why most visitors take a private car.
How much does an excursion Sidi Bou Said cost?
From Hammamet, 70 € for the half day and 80 € for the full Grand Tunis day. That is the whole vehicle for up to four people, not the seat. Larger groups pay more for a bigger vehicle, never per person.
What should I wear?
Flat, comfortable shoes for the cobbles. Bring something that covers your shoulders if you plan to step into a mosque courtyard in Tunis. Otherwise normal summer clothes are fine all year.
Book your excursion Sidi Bou Said
You now have both options, the hour-by-hour timings, the price per vehicle and what every ticket costs on the ground. Either way the day starts at your door and ends there, the car is yours alone, and you pay nothing until the driver brings you back. Send us your date and your group size and we will hold the vehicle. Pick your half day or your full day, then book your excursion Sidi Bou Said.
Have a date in mind?
Send us the day and your hotel. We confirm the car and the pickup time, with no deposit.