Monastir
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Monastir

Monastir

Eastern Tunisian coastal resort town with beaches, a historic ribat, and a seafront peninsula.

Monastir is a coastal resort town in eastern Tunisia that manages to combine beach holiday infrastructure with a genuinely historic core. The town occupies a small peninsula with sea on three sides, and at its tip stands the Ribat of Monastir, an 8th-century fortified Islamic monastery that is one of the finest surviving examples of ribat architecture in North Africa.

The historic centre — the old medina within its 9th-century walls, the Bourguiba Mausoleum with its gilded dome — sits just back from the waterfront, surrounded by the resort hotels and beach clubs that have grown up since the 1970s. The contrast between the two halves of the town is sharp and not unpleasant.

Monastir is an excellent base for a beach holiday with the possibility of cultural depth. Water sports, excursions to Kairouan (only 80 km away), and golf are all on offer. The Sahel Metro light rail makes it possible to day-trip to Sousse along the coast without a car.

Guide

Beaches

Monastir occupies a small peninsula with sea on three sides, giving it more beach frontage than most Tunisian coastal towns. The main beaches are to the east and north of the historic centre, lined with the large resort hotels that have made Monastir a package holiday destination since the 1970s.

The beaches themselves are sandy and well maintained, though they can be crowded during the main European summer season (July and August). The water is warm and calm, sheltered from the open Mediterranean by the peninsula's geography. Outside high season, the beaches are considerably quieter and the town more pleasant. The beach at Skanes, a few kilometres north toward the airport, tends to be less busy than the hotels immediately adjacent to the town.

Guide

Getting There

Monastir has its own international airport (Habib Bourguiba International Airport), which receives direct charter and scheduled flights from many European cities, making it one of the more accessible coastal towns in Tunisia without passing through Tunis. Several European airlines operate seasonal routes, particularly from the UK, France, Germany, and Scandinavia.

From Tunis, the TGM light rail runs to Sousse, and from Sousse the Sahel Metro (a regional light rail system) connects south through El Kantaoui to Monastir — the full journey from Tunis takes about two hours. By car from Tunis, the A1 motorway runs to Sousse and the journey takes about 90 minutes in normal traffic. Kairouan, one of Islam's holiest cities, is about 80 kilometres inland from Monastir and easily reached as a day trip.

Guide

Things to Do

Monastir has two distinct characters: the historic centre with the ribat, the Bourguiba mausoleum, and the old medina; and the resort strip of hotels and beach clubs that has grown up around it. Both reward a visit, but the historic quarter is what distinguishes Monastir from other Tunisian beach destinations.