North-east Tunisia
Cap Bon
Tunisia's main resort peninsula done honestly: where to base between Hammamet and Nabeul, what the orange-grove hinterland is actually worth, and getting around without a hire car.
In short
Cap Bon at a glance
Cap Bon is the peninsula most UK package weeks actually land on — Hammamet and its purpose-built Yasmine marina strip are the country's biggest concentration of all-inclusive resorts, 45 minutes from Enfidha airport and an hour from Tunis. It rewards you for leaving the pool: Nabeul's Friday market and pottery workshops, the orange and citrus groves the peninsula is famous for, the thermal village of Korbous on the gulf cliffs, and the Roman quarries at El Haouaria out at the tip. You don't need a hire car — louages and pre-booked drivers cover everything — and the resort coast sits well clear of any FCDO travel-advice line. Allow a 7-night base with two or three half-day trips off the strip.
Cap Bon is the peninsula most UK package weeks quietly land on without anyone calling it by name: the Hammamet bay, with its sealed Yasmine marina strip of all-inclusive resorts, is simply where the charter flights into Enfidha point. Treated as a pure beach week it does the job, but the peninsula’s pleasure is the bit just inland — Nabeul’s pottery workshops and its big Friday souk, the citrus and orange groves the cape is named for in every Tunisian’s head, and the cliffside thermal village of Korbous on the Gulf of Tunis side.
The mistake first-timers make is assuming they need a hire car to reach any of it, then never leaving the resort because Tunisian driving looks chaotic from the coach window. You don’t need the car: Nabeul is a twenty-minute louage from Hammamet for a couple of dinars, and the few spots the shared minibuses don’t reach well — Kelibia’s fort, the El Haouaria quarry caves, Korbous — are better done with a pre-booked driver for the day. Base on the strip if you want everything easy, in the old town for the medina, or in Nabeul itself if you’d rather a working town and cheaper rooms than a resort bubble.
The route
A relaxed 7-night peninsula week built around a Hammamet or Yasmine Hammamet base, with the medina, Nabeul and the tip of the cape as half-day trips off the resort strip. Transfer times are car/louage estimates from the resort coast; the louage stations in Nabeul and Hammamet cover most of it for a few dinars.
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Days 1–2
Settle into the resort coast
Pre-book a transfer rather than haggling a taxi after the flight — Enfidha to Hammamet is about 45 minutes, Tunis–Carthage about an hour. Change a modest amount of money at the airport (you can't have brought dinars with you) and spend the first two days slow: the long sandy bay, the resort, and a first wander into Hammamet's compact medina and Kasbah by the sea.
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Day 3
Nabeul market and pottery
Nabeul is the peninsula's working capital and the pottery centre of Tunisia — its big Friday souk is the regional market day, and the ceramics and rush-matting workshops are open most of the week. It's about 20 minutes and a couple of dinars by louage from Hammamet, or a short petit-taxi hop. Half a day is plenty; agree the taxi fare before you get in.
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Day 4
The tip of the cape: Kelibia and El Haouaria
Head out to the cape's end — Kelibia's Byzantine-and-Ottoman fort sits above one of the peninsula's best beaches, and the Roman sandstone quarry caves at El Haouaria (Ghar el Kébir) are cut into the cliffs near the Sicily-facing point. It's about 1h15–1h30 by car from Hammamet, so this works best as a pre-booked driver day or a guided trip rather than louage-hopping.
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Days 5–7
Korbous, or slow down
Either wind back down to the beach for the rest of the week, or take a half-day to Korbous, the cliffside thermal-spring village on the Gulf of Tunis side, about an hour from Hammamet. On a longer trip, Cap Bon also pairs naturally with a day north to Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Saïd — roughly an hour each way.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Hammamet (old town)
££ mid-rangeThe characterful base: a walled medina and a 15th-century Kasbah right on the sea, low-rise hotels and a more Tunisian feel than the marina strip. Better if you want the town and the beach in walking distance rather than a sealed resort bubble. Some older hotels here are dated, so check recent reviews.
Best for: Medina, walkability, a less resort-bubble feel
Yasmine Hammamet
££ mid-rangeThe purpose-built resort strip just south of the old town: a marina, a dense run of large all-inclusive hotels and the Medina Mediterranea theme-medina. Newer, more polished and more self-contained — the default for a first all-inclusive week where you want everything easy and on-site.
Best for: First-timers and families on all-inclusive
Nabeul
£ valueThe peninsula's working town, 15 km up the coast, with its own beach, the Friday market and the pottery quarter. Rooms and guesthouses run cheaper than the Hammamet resorts and you're in a real Tunisian town rather than a strip — best if you want value and local life over an all-inclusive bubble.
Best for: Independent travellers wanting value and a real town
Getting around Cap Bon
Cap Bon is small and you don't need a hire car for it. Within and between the coastal towns, louages — shared minibuses that leave when full from a central station — are the local way to move, costing a couple of dinars for the Hammamet–Nabeul hop and far more frequent than the bus. Inside the towns, use the yellow petits taxis but insist on the meter or agree the fare before you get in, as un-metered tourist fares are the most common overcharge. For the tip of the cape (Kelibia, El Haouaria) and Korbous, where louages are thinner, a pre-booked driver for the day or a guided tour is simpler than chaining connections. Self-drive only makes sense if you're touring beyond the peninsula, and even then Tunisian driving is more stress than it's worth on a short resort week — bring your UK licence if you do hire. Carry small dinar notes, as drivers and louages rarely have change for large ones.
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