Hammamet , Tunisia 2026

 Hammamet 2026

3rd May 2026. Sunday. We booked 12 days in Tunisia, a little town called Hammamet, south of Tunis, on the Mediterranean. The flight only took 2 hours 45 mins from Gatwick to Enfidha airport. Passport control was relatively easy, they logged where we were staying though. There was a luggage and body scan before leaving the airport. No indication what it was for. We had arranged a transit and we had no problems finding our bus. It's 56km to Hammamet and most of it is motorway. The terrain was arid, flat scrub land and olive trees. It was only 40 mins to town, but the driver got lost and we ended up going round the town 3 times. The journey ended up taking 1 and a half hours. We were the last to be dropped off at the Golden Tulip hotel, right by the beach. It was still relatively early, 18.00, plenty of time for a drink before a meal. But there was a problem.

 "Sorry sir, but we are full up. We've arranged for you to stay at another hotel. "

"Where's that? "

"Just round the corner, you can use all the amenities here. "

 He gave us a blue arm band each. Not a good start, but what's the point of complaining. We got ourselves a beer at the bar while waiting for a hotel car to take us and our luggage. The Yadis hotel was the next one along and we had no issues booking in. ( Tax , £32 each for 12 nights ). Couldn't fault the room, a bit dated but everything functional. 3 twin beds with a balcony overlooking the sea. Bathroom with "Italian " shower and a pipe with a nozzle on the end instead of a bidet. Rather novel. The place wasn't busy and I would say that the majority were Arabs, which meant there was not much demand for alcohol. We bumped into a few people who had also been moved from the tulip. Easy to distinguish us because we were wearing 2 armbands. I knew there were a lot because I had seen a list of at least 10 bookings. They were not happy. They considered the tulip superior, with better facilities. True it was flashier, the waiters all wore bow ties ! . One couple demanded to be moved back, and they were after a few nights, but they had to pay the tourist tax again.  (Good luck getting that back ). We ended up dividing our time between the two. They had good whisky at the Yadis, Milhson's, and generous measures, and the Tulip had Sky TV showing all the football.

 

One of our private beaches !

Tuesday. We were staying at a little place called Mrezka to the north of Hammamet. We tried walking there, but  I hadn't realised how far it was ( about 9 km ), after an hour or so we were still at least 30 minutes from the centre so we walked back along the train line. It runs from Hammamet to Nebeul but it looks abandoned. In the evening, watched Arsenal beat Atletico Madrid, so they are through to the final. Don't rate their chances against PSG.

 

Nebual station

Wednesday. Cloudy today so got a bus into town. The 115 bus runs from Nebeul to the main bus station in the centre, rue de republique. We got on at a bus stop on the roundabout just up the road from the Yadis. It only costs 700 Millimes, about 25p, 3.85 DNS to £. You pay the conductor on the bus, they don't like large notes though.

Hammamet plaza

 The buses are relatively modern bendy buses and the trip only takes about 15 mins. The beach, fort and medina are all just a short stroll along the road. It is quaint without being particularly attractive. The fort is located at one end of a long sandy bay, 13th Century, but it looks more modern than that. I got caught though. We were persuaded to look at one of the shops in the medina. Like an idiot I expressed interest in a leather belt. "How much? Special offer 350 , No, bargain price, 220, no , best offer 120, er ok. " £30 was rather expensive for a belt even though it was good quality lamb's skin.

 

Hammamet station

Thursday, Hammamet north beach . Our private beach is called pupput beach. Nothing fancy just a few shades and sun beds. There was a bar but it was closed, too early in the year. The Tulip had a separate one close by. We walked along to Hammamet north beach, presumably to differentiate it from the main Hammamet beach in town. It's not far and it was virtually deserted. All the beaches are very quiet. This one didn't even have a bar. Walked back along the beach. Ate at the tulip.

 

Fort at Hammamet

Friday, Guy at the bar having a moan. I had spoken to him on Monday. He was one of us who had got moved from the Tulip. The waiter wouldn't bring him drinks to the pool. I didn't say much, normally you would have to tip for that service, they didn't expect tips here . We were happy to get our own drinks. We had been using Tulip private beach. There was an old boy in charge, Captain Ali, we called him captain because he always wore a captain's hat. One of his sidelines was selling boat trips. We normally do a boat trip, but this one didn't look appealing, just a morning trip along the bay with a lunch. We didn't even ask the price. He also arranged jet ski hire for 200 tdn. 2 young girls booked it with him. We found out later that it only cost 120 ! . Nice little mark up.

 

Saturday, loads of people arrived at Yadis, mostly Arabs, a lot were wearing blue arm bands of the tulip, which was strange The restaurant that evening was heaving. The staff couldn't cope, and it was the 1st time that we had had to queue for anything. We found out later that they were here for a medical conference.

 

Sunday , Ruins of Roman fish salting factory, ( photo above ) at Zizou beach, Nebeul, was a place that I wanted to visit. It's only 3 miles away, a nice little walk by the railway. We were stopped by the police on the way.

"Where are you staying? Where are you going? .

 I thought they were going to lock us up. It wasn't obvious that they were police. No uniforms and although their car had Arabic writing on it and a light on the roof, it wasn't obvious that it was a police car. Anyway they let us go. There isn't a lot to see at the fish factory, just a few stones that had been excavated and a roof covering part of it, which I assume protect the mosaic tiles. We couldn't see them because it was all fenced off. The location was nice though, right by the sea. Walked back along the beach. Beautiful scenery, not very clean though, plastic bottles and old tyres and even a large dead turtle on the beach !. Because yesterday was so busy we ate at the tulip , crab claws. It was nearly empty.

 

Top end of the North beach, the Palace is in the background

Monday, Nahrawess beach. This is still part of Hammamet beach, but going towards the town, past Nozha hotel. Lovely beach, lined with a wooded area of conifers and palms. Noticeably cleaner than Nebeul. That may be due to the president's grace and favour palace a little bit further along the beach Walked back along the beach, about 30 minutes to the tulip. Had lunch there before going back to Yadis. Nearly all the people who arrived on Saturday had gone.

 

Tuesday, Nahrawess beach again, we walked along to the president's palace, well as near as you could get to it. There is a sign in the sand saying stop about 100 metres from it. As we approached it we could see a guard watching us. We didn't go any nearer. It was supposed to be 27 today, but although the morning was hot, light cloud in the afternoon made it feel considerably cooler. 1st day that the sea was calm.

 

Wednesday, I ought to mention a bit about Pupput. It wasn't just a beach. The whole area was called Pupput when it was an important part of the Roman empire. The main town was 10 km south of what is now Hammamet, but it was sacked and looted by Arabs at the start of the Byzantine empire. Now all that's left are the ruins. Home tomorrow so just a quiet day on the beach.

 

Thursday,

Bit of a problem with the prearranged pickup for the airport. They still thought we were at the Tulip. I had a word at the reception desk. The guy was very helpfull. He rang someone and told me the pickup was 6.10 from the Yadis and the restaurant would open at 5.30. I double checked that it would definitely pick us up from the Yadis.

"It won't turn up " M.

I must admit that I was sceptical. Anyway we were up early. The restaurant was open. They only had coffee and boiled eggs, well it was too early for me to eat anyway. Sure enough an empty 50 seater coach turned up. We were 1st on the list, which explained why it was so early, our flight wasn't till 11.15. There were only 5 other pickups so we arrived at the airport at least an hour before the check in desk opened. I noticed that the driver had to pay what appeared to be 180 tdn at a toll

booth. Relaxing flight  back, and the auto passport control was working, just had to wait longer for our bag, which was a bit wet due to a hail storm when we landed. It's been cold and miserable here all week. Ain't it great to be back ! As we left departures there were two guys with a trolley loaded with corn flakes. We knew they were corn flakes because the bags had split and there were corn flakes all over the floor. Must be a black market in corn flake