Tozeur reveals different sides: old town lanes and palm culture meet, in the wider travel area, the vast salt flats of Chott El Jerid. There is also a museum with diverse collections, parks and landscapes nearby.

Chott El Jerid: Vastness Between Mountains and Desert

Chott El Jerid covers 586,187 hectares. The vast salt flats lie between the Cherb mountain range to the north and the desert to the south. Its animal and plant life is typical of pre-Saharan regions. The landscape is defined not only by its size, but also by its position between mountains and desert.

The wetland is considered difficult to access. A single road, about 80 kilometres long, crosses it, connecting Tozeur in the northwest with the Kebili region (“Nefiaoua”) in the southeast. Dghoumes National Park lies on the northern edge of the chott. It is part of a Ramsar site and is home to steppe flora and fauna. Chott El Jerid and Dghoumes thus offer a glimpse of landscapes that differ markedly from the old town districts.

The surrounding area also offers a varied landscape. In Chebika, a wadi flows down a steep mountainside, forming waterfalls and streams where frogs live. The old village of Tamerza is abandoned; its lush oasis is fed by a high waterfall. Both are nearby landscape destinations that complement the wider travel area, although neither is in Tozeur itself.

Jerid: Old Town, Brickwork and Palm Craftsmanship

The Tozeur and Nefta region is called Jerid; the name means “land of palms”. Tozeur and Nefta were important stops on the routes of major caravans and were prosperous for a long time. In their old town districts, lanes and dead ends wind between tall walls made of pale bricks. Long, vaulted passageways open onto small squares with relief-decorated façades. This sequence of narrow paths, covered passages and small squares gives the districts their distinctive architectural character.

The region’s architecture also tells the story of Jerid’s materials: small bricks made from a mixture of clay and sand define the architecture and give the towns an ochre desert hue. In the wider travel area, various parts of the palm are also used in crafts. Palm leaves, for example, are woven into baskets, while palm wood is used to make chests. The palm is therefore present not only in the region’s name, but also in handcrafted objects.

Museum and Parks in Tozeur

The private Dar Chraïet Museum is in Tozeur, a few hundred metres from the town’s palm grove. Its collection includes jewellery and traditional pottery, as well as costumes and valuable objects. One room displays contemporary paintings in honour of the poet Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi. The different areas of the collection bring together art, everyday objects and cultural themes. If you are planning a visit, check the latest visitor information in advance.

The five-hectare Chak Wak park was also created in Tozeur. Its features include dinosaurs, animals, statues, small museums, caves and huts. As a theme park, Chak Wak combines dinosaurs with the history of religions. This gives the park a different focus from the Dar Chraïet Museum: here, themes from nature and prehistory meet religious history, while the museum centres on collections and paintings.

Dates and Finding a Suitable Place to Stay

Tozeur is considered the capital of dates. Featured varieties include the red, sweet Allig and the delicately melting, translucent Deglet Nour. The wider travel area’s culinary profile also includes fresh dates and specialties such as jam, pastries and syrup. These varieties and products give the palm region its own distinctive flavour, without implying a specific place to sample them.

When looking for hotels in Tozeur, you can first organise your priorities around the discoveries that interest you: old town architecture, museum collections, date culture or the landscape of the chott. This way, you can tailor your search to the kind of trip you want to plan, rather than combining all the places and themes into a single outing.

Discover more destinations: Tozeur, Dguache, Jundubah, Tawzar, Manouba, Monastir, Ariana, Sfax.

See the wider travel overview: Tunisia.