La Goulette
The old port of Tunis at the mouth of the lake channel, known for its fish restaurants and mixed history.
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La Goulette, Halq al Wadi, sits where the Lake of Tunis meets the sea, and it was the port and the fortified gateway to the capital, with a Spanish and then Ottoman fortress guarding the channel. Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it was a mixed quarter of Italians, Maltese, Jews and Tunisians, and that history survives mainly in the food: the seafront is lined with fish restaurants and the local cooking shows the Sicilian influence clearly.
What you actually see
- The fish restaurants - the seafront strip the suburb is known for.
- The kasbah - the Ottoman fortress guarding the channel into the lake.
- The mixed quarter - the streets of a formerly Italian, Maltese and Jewish neighbourhood.
- The lake channel - the cut connecting the Lake of Tunis to the sea.
When to go
April to June and September to October are the most comfortable. Summer evenings on the seafront are busy with Tunis families. Restaurants are busiest at weekends.
Honest expectations
The beach is poor and the water quality in the channel is not good. Restaurants vary a great deal and the tourist-facing ones overcharge. The suburb is run down in parts.
Nearby
Carthage is north, and Tunis is west.
What to pack for La Goulette
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.