Sidi Bou Said is a town located about twenty kilometers north-east of Tunis. Perched on a cliff overlooking Carthage and the Gulf of Tunis, it is named after a saint, Sidi Bou Saïd El Beji.
The international fame of the village was acquired in 1912 thanks to an English baron who built a magnificent palace. Sidi Bou Said became then a place of rest and inspiration to many artists, musicians and writers such as Chateaubriand, Gustave Flaubert, Alphonse de Lamartine, André Gide, Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, etc.
Picturesque white and blue village, Sidi Bou Said enchants with the magic of its colors, its streets of bougainvillea and the beauty of its traditional architecture, jealously preserved.
MUSTVISIT:
Dar El Annabi:The almost bewitching Alleys, may lead you to Dar El Annabi, a house of about fifty rooms, built in the 18th century. Nicknamed “the palace of a thousand and one nights”. Today it is a museum proposing works and objects of Arab-Muslim style.
Sidi Bou Said cafés: If there is an attraction not to be missed in Sidi Bou Said is its cafes. They are meeting places for artists for over a century. The most famous are the Café des Nattes and Café Sidi chabaane renamed café des délices " delights café”. This one offers undoubtedly the most enchanting sunset over the Gulf of Tunis.
Sidi Bou Saïd's marina: famous by its cafés and restaurants of local specialities.
The Ennejma Ezzahra palace : Gather at the Ennejma Ezzahra palace to enjoy the music of Arab Mediterranean Music Center nested at the heart of a standing garden of jasmine and bougainvilleas. The palace also has beautiful and rich collections of manuscripts, paintings and carpets.
Art galleries: SALADIN, GHAYA, THE BLUE VIOLIN, AGORGI, so many artistic stop points promoting Tunisian and foreign talents.
Souvenirs & Handicrafts:A must visit with its countless shops and displays, from the entrance of the village, they offer handicrafts from all regions of Tunisia: jewelry, ornaments, carpets, pottery, crockery, perfumes, incense ... and of course, the village typical souvenir : a painted iron cage in blue and white colors, evocative of the place, all in arabesque carved curves. Declined in all dimensions, it is in itself a decorative element, surpassing its original purpose.
