As the hubble-bubble of excitement over hosting the 2001 Mediterranean Games subsides, the Tunisian capital emerges sleeker and even more engaging. Wider pavements now line the city's famous tree-shaded main boulevard, where the cafés, restaurants and poster pillars still recall the ambience of Paris or Nice. But French colonial reminders stop at the entrance to the Medina. Inside, the souks are as exotic and chaotic as ever, the glitter of the jewellery and craft shops is as dazzling, and the magnificence of palaces and mosques of another age as impressive. It's a heady mix, guaranteed to take you out of yourself and into another world.

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The sights
Near the Zitouna Mosque, which can only be viewed from outside, you’ll see signs to the main palaces, mosques and mausoleums. Look for Dar Hussein, Tourbet El Bey, Dar Othman and Dar Ben Abdallah. You can go inside the ornate Dar Ben Abdallah, now a museum with tableaux, where Islamic design meets Italian Renaissance and you get a fascinating insight into the life of a wealthy eighteenth-century merchant.

Shopping and bargaining
The craft work is often beautiful. You’ll be tempted by tooled leather, pottery, jewellery, carpets, brass and silverware. Haggling is expected in the Medina – as it is in souks everywhere in Tunisia, whether you buy a Berber rug or a bottle of ‘Harem’ fragrance – so start by offering a third of the price and take it from there. If you don’t want to bargain, save your dinars for SOCOPA, the state-run handicraft shops (Maison de l’Artisanat Tunisien) where the prices are fixed. There’s one in Avenue Habib Bourguiba at the Palmarium shopping centre.

Where to eat and drink
In the Medina, Restaurant Mahdaoui, under the covered souk opposite the entrance to the Zitouna Mosque, does cheap but authentic Tunisian dishes (lunch only) for under £3. At Dar El Jeld, or Dar Bel Hadj, former Ottoman mansions where the most delicious traditional food, served in a romantic setting, costs about £20. A sandwich, casse-croûte in Tunisia, filled with vegetables, tuna, salad and chillihot harissa will set you back about 50 pence. A good café for Turkish coffee or mint tea is Restaurant M’Rabet in Souk Ettrouk. In the boulevards of the colonial ‘new’ town, and in the suburbs, there are also many good Tunisian, French and international-style restaurants at various price levels. A list of restaurants will be provided with your travel documents.

The glory that was Rome
On the edge of the capital, the Bardo Museum has the world’s biggest and brightest collection of mosaics showing what a high old time the Romans were having in Tunisia.
At Carthage, near Gammarth, little is left of the Punic ports but there are Punic houses near the National Museum of Carthage which fill you in on the Phoenician story.
The absolute stunner is Dougga, just two. hours’ drive from Tunis. This is the most spectacular Roman site in the country with temples, forum, theatre, baths – and a twelve-seater communal loo! – all still in recognisable shape. It’s the shell of a market town where Roman farmers once came to worship, shop, flop and play when they took time off from filling the Roman bread basket. Thuburbo Majus and Bulla Regia, only one hour and two hours respectively from the capital, are also impressive sites.

Sidi Bou Saïd
Like many former artists’ colonies, this village near Gammarth is a jewel – Andalusian-style sugar-cube houses with studded doors and fancy grilles, cascades of bougainvillaea tumbling over the walls of the old villas, lots of handicraft shops. Approach from the Sidi Dhrif side to discover the pretty backstreets. The best snack ‘to go’ is a bambaloni, an irresistible Tunisian-style doughnut, dispensed from a tiny doorway. To eat it, adjourn to the Café des Nattes, whose interior is straight out of Sheherezade. Save the delightful Café Sidi Chabaane, overlooking the sea, for a sundowner of mint tea topped with pinenuts. Not-to-be-missed: Ennejma Ezzahra, the wonderful mansion built by Baron d’Erlanger in perfect Moorish style, full of filigree plasterwork, trickling fountains and a small museum of musical instruments.

The Residence
Right on the Mediterranean, just north of Carthage, Tunisia’s most luxurious five-star hotel and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World is architecturally stunning. It could not be better placed for sightseeing, only ten minutes’ taxi ride from Carthage and thirty minutes from Tunis.