Hammamet rewards a little effort beyond the hotel pool. The Medina is the most rewarding part of town for walking: enter through the fortified gate, follow the lanes to the kasbah for views over the sea and the old town, and browse the pottery and craft workshops on the way back out. Dar Sebastian — the extraordinary villa of an early 20th-century Romanian millionaire — is the most distinctive cultural stop, set in a garden that mixes Andalusian, Roman, and Islamic motifs.
The Roman site of Pupput, 3 km from the centre, has well-preserved mosaic floors and baths from a prosperous 2nd-century town. The morning fish market near the harbour is worth an early start to watch the catch come in. Traditional hammams operate in the Medina for those wanting to do as the locals do.