Sfax is Tunisia’s second-largest city and one of the least tourist-oriented places in the country - and that is precisely what gives it value as a destination. The medina is one of the best-preserved in North Africa, the city has no resort infrastructure or souvenir-market pricing, and it sits at the centre of an olive-oil producing region with deep commercial and cultural roots. Sfax also serves as the main gateway to the Kerkennah Islands.
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Visitors who approach Sfax with the right expectations - a working city, not a tourism product - will find it consistently rewarding.
Walk the medina ramparts
The medina of Sfax is enclosed by 9th-century ramparts that are among the best-preserved city walls in the Maghreb. Unlike most North African medinas, the outer walls are still largely intact and walkable along the perimeter. The main gates - Bab Diwan, Bab Jebli, and Bab el-Kasbah - are the architectural highlights of the circuit.
The circuit of the walls takes approximately 45 minutes at a slow pace. The outer face of the ramparts is visible from the modern city and gives the best sense of the medina’s scale.
Entry to walk the walls: sections are publicly accessible, though interior rampart access may require a small fee.
Explore the medina interior
The interior of the Sfax medina is one of the most authentic in Tunisia. It has not been heavily restored or restructured for tourism, which means the scale, materials, and layout reflect centuries of organic development. The main covered souk runs northeast from the Great Mosque and specialises in cloth and haberdashery. Parallel lanes have ironmongers, carpenters, spice merchants, and food stalls.
The best approach is unstructured walking: get lost, follow lanes that narrow until they open again, find a café and sit, watch the street life. The medina is safe and compact - if you navigate by the Great Mosque minaret, it is easy to orient yourself.
Visit the Great Mosque of Sfax
The Great Mosque (9th century, expanded in the 11th and 12th centuries) is the heart of the medina and one of the most important mosques in Tunisia after the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Non-Muslim visitors can view the courtyard during non-prayer times from the gate, but entry to the interior is restricted.
The architectural details visible from the entrance - the carved stone facades, the courtyard arcades, and the Aghlabid-period minaret - are still worth a close look.
Dar Jellouli Museum of Regional Arts and Traditions
The Dar Jellouli is housed in a restored 17th-century merchants’ townhouse in the medina and is the best ethnographic museum in the Sfax region. The displays cover traditional costume, jewellery, embroidery, furniture, and domestic life across the Sfaxian region, and the building itself - the courtyard, the decorated reception rooms, the interior ornamentation - is one of the finest examples of historic domestic architecture in Tunisia.
Entry: approximately 5 TND as of 2026. Open Tuesday–Sunday, 09:00–16:00.
The Kasbah and its museum
The kasbah at the western corner of the medina contains a small museum that traces the history of Sfax from Punic times through the Islamic period. The fortress structure itself is notable - it incorporates Roman-period stonework in its lower courses - and the tower offers views over the medina roofline.
Entry: approximately 5 TND as of 2026. Open Tuesday–Sunday, 09:30–16:30.
The working port and fishing harbour
Sfax’s commercial port is one of the most active in Tunisia and gives the city much of its economic identity. Walking along the port zone in the early morning - before 08:00 - allows you to see the fishing fleet unloading. This is not a tourist attraction; it is a functioning industrial operation and should be treated with corresponding respect for the workers.
The area around the old fishing harbour, closer to the medina gates on the seafront side, is more accessible and has a waterfront promenade that is pleasant in the evening.
Take the ferry to Kerkennah Islands
The Kerkennah Islands are a flat, quiet archipelago 20 km offshore from Sfax, reached by ferry from the port. The island group is known for its traditional octopus trap fishing (using palm frond structures in the shallow water), good beaches, and a very slow pace that contrasts sharply with the activity of Sfax.
The ferry runs multiple times daily and costs approximately 4–6 TND return as of 2026. The journey takes about 1 hour. The islands are worth a full day or an overnight stay.
Practical information
Getting to Sfax from Tunis:
- Train: Tunis Centrale to Sfax, approximately 3.5 hours, around 20 TND as of 2026.
- Car: approximately 270 km on the A1 motorway, around 2.5 hours.
- SNTRI bus: approximately 3.5 hours.
Getting around Sfax: the medina is walkable from the city centre hotels. Taxis are readily available and metered.
When to go: Sfax is a year-round destination. Summer is hot but the city remains fully operational. The medina and port are good in all seasons. For best time, transport, and accommodation, see our full Sfax city guide.
For day trips from Sfax into the south - to Gabes, El Jem, or the Kerkennah Islands - see our best tours in Tunisia guide. For a dedicated breakdown of guided tours, Kerkennah boat trips, and day-trip circuits, see our Sfax tours guide. You can also book tours in Sfax on GetYourGuide.
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