Tunisia??

PompeyPete

Agree with Interstellaflyer.

During Ramadan, Eid el-Fitr [which immediately follows Ramadan], and Eid el-Adhr [Feast of the Sacrifice], other Holy Days, and every Friday you won't be able to buy booze in any supermarket or booze store attached to supermarkets.

And quite a few other places that have sold booze with a meal might now feel very threatened by Salafists wrecking their place.

But in the main purpose built tourist areas like Port el Kantanoui and Yasmine Hammamet it'll be business as usual in the restaurants and the few tourist bars that there are. Although the small supermarkets in the tourist areas won't be able to sell booze on the days I've mentioned above.

Tunisia is a secular country, but times are changing. So nobody really knows the future.

interstellaflyer

PompeyPete wrote: »

Agree with Interstellaflyer.

During Ramadan, Eid el-Fitr [which immediately follows Ramadan], and Eid el-Adhr [Feast of the Sacrifice], other Holy Days, and every Friday you won't be able to buy booze in any supermarket or booze store attached to supermarkets.

And quite a few other places that have sold booze with a meal might now feel very threatened by Salafists wrecking their place.

But in the main purpose built tourist areas like Port el Kantanoui and Yasmine Hammamet it'll be business as usual in the restaurants and the few tourist bars that there are. Although the small supermarkets in the tourist areas won't be able to sell booze on the days I've mentioned above.

Tunisia is a secular country, but times are changing. So nobody really knows the future.

Yep, times seem to be changing, I can only base my experiences pre Arab Spring as we haven't been since.

liney

interstellaflyer wrote: »

My guess is that you went during Ramadan, in which case, yes some places may be closed during the day, however they will be few and far between and certainly if had gone into Sousse or the port area of Port El Kantaoui you would have found plenty of places to eat, as for bars, hotel bars will be open all day, other than that, there are not that many actual bars and most of these only open at night anyway, this is because most people that go to Tunisia don't go there to get off their head every day, those that do will stay in the hotel and will generally be on an All Inclusive package anyway, so the bars cater for those who want some night life.

Our hotel only sold crepes during the day, and the bars/cafes were not open in Port El Kanaouti.

Perhaps it was Ramadam... we were never told that it was at the time though. It just struck us that despite being a tourist area, places seemed to open and close as they felt like it.

interstellaflyer

liney wrote: »

Our hotel only sold crepes during the day, and the bars/cafes were not open in Port El Kanaouti.

Perhaps it was Ramadam... we were never told that it was at the time though. It just struck us that despite being a tourist area, places seemed to open and close as they felt like it.

All I can say is that you can't have been in one of the main tourist hotels and the hotels around you were All Inclusive, I've been lots of times during Ramadan and not found it hard to get a beer, what time of year did you go?

PompeyPete

liney wrote: »

Our hotel only sold crepes during the day, and the bars/cafes were not open in Port El Kanaouti.

Perhaps it was Ramadam... we were never told that it was at the time though. It just struck us that despite being a tourist area, places seemed to open and close as they felt like it.

You said in posting #9 that you went to PEK 10 years ago. Things have changed a lot since then, some for the better, some for the worse.

You shouldn't need to have been told it was Ramadan when you visited. Tunisia is a muslim country, and everyone who visits ought to realise that, and do a bit of their own homework beforehand.

wondercollie

Went to Tunisia in the spring of '81. Alcohol was available in the hotel and I remember the husband having a beer in town with lunch.

interstellaflyer

PompeyPete wrote: »

You said in posting #9 that you went to PEK 10 years ago. Things have changed a lot since then, some for the better, some for the worse.

You shouldn't need to have been told it was Ramadan when you visited. Tunisia is a muslim country, and everyone who visits ought to realise that, and do a bit of their own homework beforehand.

Most of the big tourist hotels on the southern side of PEK would have been well established 10 years ago, a lot of them were there in 1989 however they are mostly All Inclusive and I can remember them being that way from as far back as 2000 at least, though I'm sure some of these will have the facility serve visitors and take cash. Personally I don't think liney tried very hard to find anywhere as there would have been no problem at all in the main resort and harbor area of PEK. As for Ramadan, the brochures will usually tell when Ramadan is and you certainly get told on the transfer coach if you are on a package, if you are traveling independently then all I can say is if you don't do some research before going then there's nobody to blame but yourself.

liney

Blimey! We had difficulty obtaining food during the day. It was an observation.

Our hotel was not AI and did not open it's kitchen during the day time. In PEK harbour next to nothing was open during the day, and not reliably so. It was not Ramadam when I went in 2002, as Ramadam was in November in that year: I have since checked.

There is ever such a slight chance that some people may have different experiences when on holiday than yourselves.

elsien

I've done no research at all, so feel free to tell me to go away and look things up first!
Vaguely thinking about next year's cheapo holiday as I need to work out how much I need to save up first. I've always been put off Tunisia because the only people I know who've been have been all-inclusive, played it safe and barely left the hotel, then complained about the hassle when they did. And said there was nothing to leave the hotel for anyway. All-inclusive is my idea of hell, as is staying on a beach or by a pool all day for the whole time I'm there.
I like wandering round new places, seeing new things, trying the food and a bit of historical stuff doesn't go amiss. But a bit of beach and relaxation as well, and somewhere scenic (not in the hotel!) to plonk myself at night and watch the world go by. And am perfectly capable of telling touts to bog off.
Is Tunisia the place for me, and which bit would you recommend? (Up till now cheap has generally meant the Greek islands or Turkey, but I fancy a change.)
Thanks (and apologies to the OP for hijacking their thread.)

vegasvisitor

In my opinion then perhaps not the place for you.

There are some great sites to be seen in Tunisia, like Carthage, Sidi Bou Said, Tunis, El Jem. These can be done on the train or on an excursion. One day would cover the first 3, a half day for El Jem. Outside of that I'm not sure what else there is, other than wandering towns like Sousse, Monastir etc. I liked seeing Carthage and El Jem etc, but I also liked the comfort of the All Inclusive (without spending 24 hours a day there). That said we liked going out for walks, and also did some sports when we were there, so we were quite busy really.

Only you can decide. I think though in the places that do local food, and the non touristy areas you won't get alcohol due to it being a muslim country. It depends if that bothers you as well.