Things to do in Nabeul

The Nabeul governorate is Cap Bon. This horn of land points at Sicily and grows a large share of the country's fruit. It is green in a way the rest of Tunisia is not.

Round the peninsula

The resort strip sits on the western shore. Everything else is farmland, fishing ports and the odd ruin, and it makes a comfortable two-day loop.

• Nabeul — the pottery town, glazed in yellow and green, with a Friday market that fills several streets.
• Kerkouane — the only Punic town anywhere to survive, abandoned about 250 BC and never built over.
• Kelibia — a fishing port under the fort on its headland, and the muscat grown behind it.
• El Haouaria — the quarries that supplied Carthage with sandstone, cut back into the cliff.
• Korbous — hot springs on the western cliffs, one of them running straight into the sea.
• Korba — the lagoon where flamingos and waders stop on their way through.

What the peninsula makes

Citrus is the crop here. The flowering weeks in spring are what Cap Bon smells of, and Nabeul distils the blossom into orange-flower water. Harissa peppers dry on the roofs in late summer.

Pottery is the other trade. Workshops cluster in Nabeul town, and most will let you watch the wheel. The glazes follow Andalusian patterns brought by families expelled from Spain.

How trips work here

Nearly everything sold in the region departs from the Hammamet strip. That is where the hotels are. The peninsula's own sights need a hired car or a private day.

Practical

• Season. March to May for the blossom and the ruins, June to September for the water. October is still warm and much emptier.
• Getting around. Louages link the towns and leave when they fill. For Kerkouane and El Haouaria a car or a driver saves half a day.
• Kerkouane. Small, open-air and quiet, and an hour covers it. Look for the hip baths cut into the house floors and lined in pink plaster.
• Wind. The northern coast catches it. Kelibia's sea can be rough on a day when Hammamet's is flat.
• Markets. Nabeul on Friday morning is the big one. Arrive early, because the coaches are there by ten.
• Buying pottery. Ask about lead-free glaze if you mean to eat off it. Shipping is offered, and it is slow.
• Wine. Muscat de Kelibia is the local white. Alcohol is sold in licensed shops and hotels, not in the souks.