Mahdia Holidays

Mahdia is a traditional working port that has never really woken up. Fishermen go about their daily catch at a snail’s pace and café owners beckon you to unwind in tree-shaded squares. Beach life moves with similar slowness. Tunisia’s east coast is where great belts of soft sand melt into the Mediterranean Sea and the place for some serious relaxation. But if you like to stir from your beach mat now and then to discover a little local colour, head to the old town for the full North African experience.

You’ll find Mahdia’s finest beaches 6 kilometres north-west of the town where a scattering of resort hotels have set up camp. They lay on the likes of jetskiing, windsurfing, parasailing, and pedaloes. Closer to town you’ve got palm-edged Mahdia Beach. It’s a 10-minute walk from the old quarter and the place to unwind with a good book on blonde sands.

Head to the fortified walls of the old town and history never feels far away. You’ll enter via the Black Gate, which takes you through a 44-metre-long passage. From here, all streets lead to the Central Mosque, rebuilt to look as it did in the 10th-century. Narrow alleys also thread their cobbled way to small squares where decorated doors and mosaic floors add a bright splash to the whitewashed buildings.

From the mosque, you only need to walk a short distance along the seafront to reach the square bulk that is Mahdia’s 16th-century fortress. Bordj el-Kebir squats on the peninsula’s highest point. It’s simple and pretty plain inside but worth the visit for the views alone. Look down from the brooding battlements and your eye will reach over the old harbour and out to sea.