VisitDjerba.com
Houmt Souk and the coast of Djerba seen from an aircraft

Places to Visit on Djerba

The island’s towns and villages, its best beaches and the desert destinations within a day’s drive.

Djerba is roughly 25–30 km across and almost flat, so nowhere on the island is much more than 40 minutes from anywhere else. Most visitors stay on the beaches of the north-east coast and make short trips to the towns and villages inland.

We have grouped the places below into three: the towns, villages and heritage sites that make the island a UNESCO World Heritage property; the beaches, lagoon and family attractions; and the day trips across the causeway to the hills and dunes of southern Tunisia.

Towns, villages & heritage

Bags, clothes and souvenirs hanging along a vaulted market lane in Houmt Souk Towns, villages & heritage

Houmt Souk

The island capital: covered souks, old fondouks, a harbour and a seafront fort.

Djerba’s main town and market since the Middle Ages: a tangle of vaulted souks and small squares, former caravan inns (fondouks) turned into guesthouses, a fishing harbour, a heritage museum and the fort of Borj El Kebir on the sea.

Explore
The prayer hall of El Ghriba with blue arches, coloured tiles and chandeliers Towns, villages & heritage

El Ghriba Synagogue

One of the oldest Jewish places of worship in Africa, in the village of Erriadh.

A synagogue revered for centuries by the Jews of Djerba — one of North Africa’s oldest surviving Jewish communities — with a richly tiled blue-and-white prayer hall and an annual spring pilgrimage. Visitors are welcome outside services, under tight security.

Explore
A large black chameleon painted inside an old stone archway in Djerbahood Towns, villages & heritage

Djerbahood (Erriadh)

A traditional village turned open-air street-art gallery.

In 2014 artists from around the world were invited to paint the whitewashed walls of Erriadh. Hundreds of murals later, the village’s lanes, domes and doorways form one of the most unusual art walks in the Mediterranean.

Explore
A great heap of terracotta jars and pots outside a workshop in Guellala Towns, villages & heritage

Guellala

The pottery village of the south coast, with a hilltop heritage museum.

For centuries Guellala has made the jars, pots and amphorae of Djerba from the clay of its low hills. Workshops line the main street, some partly underground, and a museum on the ridge above the village tells the story of island life.

Explore
The whitewashed walls and small minaret of Fadhloun mosque against a blue sky Towns, villages & heritage

Fadhloun Mosque

A sculptural whitewashed Ibadi mosque in the island’s countryside.

Djerba is famous for its hundreds of small, fortress-like mosques, many built by the island’s Ibadi Muslim community. Fadhloun, with its buttressed walls, stepped staircase and stubby minaret, is the most photographed and one of the few that is routinely open to visitors.

Explore
The causeway road running straight across the sea between Djerba and the mainland Towns, villages & heritage

El Kantara Causeway & Ajim Ferry

The two ways off the island: a road across the sea and a short ferry.

Djerba is joined to the mainland by a causeway of Roman origin running from El Kantara to the Zarzis peninsula, and by a ferry from Ajim to Jorf across a narrow strait. Every day trip to the south uses one or the other.

Explore

Beaches, lagoon & island fun

The shallow lagoon and curving sand spit of Ras Rmel Beaches, lagoon & island fun

Flamingo Island (Ras Rmel)

A long sand spit in the shallows north-east of Houmt Souk.

Ras Rmel is a hooked peninsula of sand and low dunes enclosing a shallow lagoon. Pirate-style boats from Houmt Souk bring visitors for swimming and lunch, and in the cooler months greater flamingos feed in the surrounding shallows.

Explore
A thatched parasol, kayaks and pedalos on a sandy hotel beach in Djerba Beaches, lagoon & island fun

Sidi Mahrez & the Zone Touristique

The island’s hotel coast: long sandy beaches between Houmt Souk and Midoun.

The north-east shore of Djerba is lined with resort hotels behind wide sandy beaches — Sidi Mahrez, Seguia and Sidi Yati among them. This is where most visitors stay, where water sports operate and where most tours pick up.

Explore
Dozens of crocodiles lying on the sand around a pool at Djerba Explore Beaches, lagoon & island fun

Djerba Explore

A crocodile farm, a heritage museum and a traditional village in one park.

A family attraction near Midoun that combines a farm with hundreds of Nile crocodiles, the Lalla Hadria museum of Islamic and Tunisian arts, and “Djerba Heritage”, a reconstruction of island houses, workshops and an olive press.

Explore

Day trips to the mainland & the Sahara

Arched doorways of troglodyte rooms dug into the side of a pit in Matmata Day trips to the mainland & the Sahara

Matmata

Berber homes dug into the earth — and Luke Skywalker’s childhood home.

In the hills south of Gabès, families carved their homes around deep circular pits, with rooms tunnelled into the soft rock. A few can be visited, and one, now a hotel, appeared as the Lars family homestead in the first Star Wars film.

Explore
A smooth golden sand dune at Ksar Ghilane under a blue sky Day trips to the mainland & the Sahara

Ksar Ghilane

An oasis on the edge of the Grand Erg Oriental, with a warm spring.

The closest place to Djerba where you can walk into proper Sahara dunes: a palm oasis around a warm spring-fed pool, camel and quad rides into the sand sea, and the ruins of the Roman fort of Tisavar a short ride away.

Explore
The ruined houses of Chenini on a rocky ridge above a valley Day trips to the mainland & the Sahara

Tataouine & Chenini

Fortified granaries, cliff villages and the name behind Tatooine.

The Dahar uplands around Tataouine are dotted with ksour — fortified granaries of vaulted cells stacked several storeys high — and Berber villages such as Chenini, built along a ridge. Several ksour served as Star Wars locations.

Explore

Getting around between them

Metered yellow taxis are the easiest way to move around the island; rental cars, scooters and bicycles give more freedom. Most island tours combine Houmt Souk, El Ghriba, Djerbahood and Guellala in half a day. For the mainland, see the Sahara day-trips guide and getting here & around.

Plan your island days

Souks, sandbars and the Sahara — all from one island

A half-day loop of Houmt Souk, El Ghriba and Djerbahood, a pirate boat to Flamingo Island or a 4x4 to the dunes — compare tours with hotel pickup and book in a couple of taps.

Browse Djerba tours Compare all tours