Seaside suburb north of Tunis, with a sandy corniche and TGM light-rail link to Carthage.
La Marsa is the most elegant of the seaside suburbs strung along the cliff coast north of Tunis — a leafy, well-off beach town that has been the summer escape of the Tunisian capital since Ottoman times. It sits at the northern end of the TGM light-rail line that runs from Tunis through Carthage and Sidi Bou Said, and the half-hour ride is the easiest way for visitors to get out of the heat of the medina to the sea.
The town centres on a long, palm-lined Corniche along a sandy beach, busy on summer evenings with families, ice-cream vendors, and the foreign embassies' weekend crowds. The Bey of Tunis spent his summers here in the 19th century, and the old beylical palaces — most notably the Abdellia Palace — still stand among the modern villas. The Café Saf-Saf, set under an ancient fig tree around a working draw-well, has been pouring mint tea since the 18th century and is the obvious place to stop. The atmosphere is more French than Arab — La Marsa is where many of Tunis's diplomatic corps and bourgeoisie live, and the cafés, bakeries, and bookshops reflect it.
There is not a lot of sightseeing — La Marsa is for walking the corniche, lying on the beach, eating well in the evening, and using the place as a base for visits to Carthage and Sidi Bou Said a few minutes' train ride south. It is also the most relaxed and cosmopolitan place to stay in greater Tunis, and a sensible alternative to a hotel in the centre.
Guide
Beaches
La Marsa has a long sandy beach running the full length of the corniche — easily two kilometres of beach right in front of the cafés. The sand is clean, the slope is gentle, and the water is shallow enough for children well out from shore. In summer it gets very busy, especially at weekends, but you can usually find a spot.
Further north along the coast, the beach at Gammarth is quieter and is where the top-end hotels are concentrated. Both beaches are free to use. There are no lifeguards. Beach cafés sell drinks, snacks, and rent sun beds and umbrellas at modest prices.
Guide
Eating Out
La Marsa has the best concentration of restaurants in greater Tunis outside the central medina, and it is markedly more cosmopolitan than the rest of the city. French bistros, Italian trattorias, Lebanese restaurants, Asian places, and good Tunisian seafood are all here, mostly clustered around the corniche and the area inland from it.
For fish, Le Golfe and Au Bon Vieux Temps are reliable, set on terraces with sea views. For a Tunisian meal, try Restaurant le Saf-Saf (a different establishment from the café) or one of the small couscous places in the old town behind the corniche. The bakeries are particularly good — La Marsa's French-style patisseries supply much of Tunis. The town also has a small but lively bar and café scene in the evenings, less restricted than in the rest of Tunisia.
