Tunisia by car · Tunisia by car
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Tunisia by car
Tunisia by car
Tunisian highways resembles US Interstate or the Highways of Europe with a dual carriageway�: A-1 runs from Tunis south heading to Sfax (The section from Sousse to Sfax has recenly been opened June 2008), A-2 runs from Tunis north heading to Bizerte, and A-3 runs from Tunis West heading to Oued Zarga. Tunisian highways speed limit is 110 km/h. It is possible to maintain that speed on that road very easily. The routes shown on some maps have a planned extension to Gabes then Ras Jedir (Libya Frontiers) in the South as of 2011-2014 and to Ghardimaou (Algerian Frontiers) in the West, but several years later. The remaining Highways have single carriageways, with traffic round-abouts at major intersections, which follow the European model (those in the roundabout have the right of way). Consequently, on roads other than the A-1,2,3 it can be difficult to maintain an average speed of more than 75 km/h most of the time as the speed limit is 90 Km/h. Almost all road signs are in both Arabic and French.
Like most developing countries, road accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in Tunisia. Tunisians are aggressive, poorly skilled and discourteous drivers. They are unpredictable in their driving habits, jumping traffic lights, seldom signaling when changing lanes, often ignoring traffic lights and stop signs, driving at very high rates of speed regardless of the quality of the roads or condition of their vehicles, and stopping at almost any location even though it may block other cars or potentially cause an accident. Because of the lack of sidewalks, pedestrians walk on the roads often without regard for cars or their own safety. Sadly, Tunisians seldom secure their children in appropriate car seats and these tiny passengers often bear the brunt of most accidents.
Although police are visible at many major intersections, they seldom enforce traffic rules or stop bad drivers unless its to solicit bribes.
People unfamiliar with driving in developing countries are best to use public transportation or hire a driver.
Driving in Tunis is further compounded by narrow streets and limited parking spots. To see the Medina of Tunis, it would be best to park some distance from the Medina, and take the light rail (called TGM) in from Marsa/Carthage, the green tramway (called Metro) downtown, or perhaps a taxi in from the nearer outskirts.
Rental Cars are fairly easy to find, but somewhat expensive, at 100 dinars or so a day, for a medium sized car such as a four door Renault Clio.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Tunisia
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Tunisia Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.