Hammamet is clearly among North Africa's finest beach resorts. Here the fine beaches turn the right way, to the south, allowing you to sunbathe and watch the sea at the same time. The result is that it is so much a tourist resort, that you can for long hours get a feeling that Tunisia has disappeared, and all that is left are zealous shop keepers. Hammamet has about 50,000 inhabitants and 40,000 hotel beds! German, French, Swedish are spoken at all sides of you. Silly European men walk around the streets in just shorts and sandals. Whole families eat ice cream at the same time and the same speed. Female tour guides in orange dresses talk without a stop while being followed by a crowd of camera-ornamented tourists, pretending to be specialists on Tunisian culture and history. And then suddenly a Tunisian Casanova changes the image, but just slightly, where he walks towards you with his hand around the waist of a ten years older Finnish woman confused by all the sudden attention she gets Most of the year, there seems to be more Europeans here than in Marseilles. This makes many travellers stay away from Hammamet, especially if they know a bit of the distinct charm that the city had just a few decades ago. But Hammamet is a well-adjusted port to Tunisia for many people. Many tourists go for comfort and fun, and then Hammamet is among the best choices of Tunisia. And if anyone would like to go on excursions, Hammamet is close to many things: Tunis, Kairouan, and many small towns out on the Cap Bon.
