The grand Mosque, Sousse, Tunisia.  Easy to reach without flying!

The Grand Mosque, Sousse

London to Tunisia without flying

You can travel safely, comfortably and affordably from London St Pancras to Tunisia in 48 hours without flying, by Eurostar, TGV high-speed train and comfortable ferry.  Take Eurostar to Lille or Paris and change onto a high-speed TGV train to Marseille, then sail to Tunisia by Corsica Linea or CTN ferry, ferries sail several times every week.  This page is a step-by-step guide to planning, booking and making a trip to Tunisia by train and ferry, with no flying necessary!

small bullet point  London to Tunis by train+ferry

small bullet point  Useful country information: currency, dial code...

small bullet point  Hotels & accommodation in Tunisia

On other pages

small bullet point  Train travel within Tunisia


Useful country information

Ferries to Tunisia:

Marseille-Tunis, Genoa-Tunis:  www.corsicalinea.com, www.ctn.com.tn.

Genoa-Tunis: Grandi Navi Veloci:  www.gnv.it.

 

Train operator 

in Tunisia: 

Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens, www.sncft.com.tn

For train times, see the Train travel in Tunisia page

Time zone:

GMT+1 all year round.

Dialling code

+216.

Currency:

£1 = approx 3.8 Dinars.    Currency converter

Tourist information:

www.cometotunisia.co.uk.      Recommended guidebooks

Visas:

UK citizens do not need a visa to visit Tunisia.

Page last updated:

8 January 2024


London to Tunis

  Take Eurostar & TGV high-speed train from London to Marseille

Day 1, by Eurostar & TGV from London to Marseille:  Take Eurostar to Lille or Paris, then a 186 mph TGV from Lille or Paris to Marseille.

  Chill out by high-speed train along the Rhone Valley!

Chill out along the Rhone Valley.  The TGV flies past pretty French villages, crossing and re-crossing the River Rhone on huge viaducts.  Spend the night in Marseille.

  Boarding the SNCM ferry from Marseille to Tunis

Day 2, at Marseille, you board the ferry to Tunisia, with comfortable en suite cabins, restaurants, bars and sun decks.

  The ferry from Marseille arrives in the Bay of Tunis

Day 3, arriving in the Bay of Tunis, with the sun glinting off the sparkling waters, and the ruins of Carthage up on Byrsa Hill on your right.

London ► Tunis

Tunis ► London

How much does it cost?

How to buy tickets online

How to buy tickets by phone


London to Tunis via Genoa

It is also possible to travel from London to Tunisia via Genoa in Italy - the ferry may be a bit cheaper from Genoa to Tunis than from Marseille to Tunis, but the train fare from London to Genoa is usually more expensive and less convenient than London to Marseille.


Find hotels in Tunisia

Find hotels at Booking.comMy favourite hotel search: www.booking.com

Booking.com is my favourite hotel booking site and I generally use it to book all my hotels in one place.  I've come to trust booking.com's review scores, you won't be disappointed with any hotel that scores 8.0 or more.  Crucially, booking.com usually lets you book with free cancellation, which means you can confirm accommodation risk-free before train booking opens and/or you can hold accommodation while you finalise your itinerary and alter your plans as they evolve - a feature I use all the time when planning a trip.  I never book hotels non-refundably!

Personal recommendation...

The Hôtel Majestic on the main Avenue de Paris in Tunis has the best French colonial facade in town and is a great place to stay, see www.booking.com/hotel/tn/majestic.en.html.  It was closed for refurbishment for a while, but has reopened in 2011.  It's comfortable and central, and rooms with en suite facilities cost around £20 per night.


Guidebooks

Amazon logoYou should take a good guidebook.  For the independent traveller this means either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide.  I personally prefer the layout of the Lonely Planets, but others prefer the Rough Guides.  Both provide excellent practical information and historical background.  You won't regret buying one!

Click the images to buy online at Amazon.co.uk

The European Rail Timetable has train, bus and ferry times for every country in Europe.  It costs £15.99 from www.europeanrailtimetable.eu.

Lonely Planet Tunisia - click to buy online

 

Rough Guide to Tunisia - click to buy online

 

Thomas Cook European Timetable - click to buy online


Travel insurance & VPN

 

Staysure travel insurance

 

Columbus Direct logo

Always take out travel insurance

You should take out travel insurance with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover from a reliable insurer.  It should cover trip cancellation and loss of cash & belongings up to a reasonable limit.  These days, check you're covered for covid-19-related issues, and use an insurer whose cover isn't invalidated by well-meant but excessive Foreign Office travel advice against non-essential travel. An annual policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy with Staysure.co.uk myself.  Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, see the advice on missed connections here.  Here are some suggested insurers, I get a little commission if you buy through these links, feedback always welcome.

UK flag  www.staysure.co.uk offers enhanced Covid-19 protection and gets 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot.

UK flag  www.columbusdirect.com is also a well-know brand.

US flag  If you live in the USA try Travel Guard USA.

 

Maya.net logo

Get an eSIM with mobile data package

Don't rely on WiFi, download an eSIM with a European mobile data package and stay connected.  Most newer mobile phones can download a virtual SIM including iPhone 11 & later, see device compatibility list.  There's no need to buy a physical SIM card!  Maya.net is a reliable eSIM data retailer with a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating and a range of packages including unlimited data.

 

Curve card

Curve card

Get a Curve card for foreign travel

Most banks give you a poor exchange rate then add a foreign transaction fee on top.  A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month as I write this.  The money you spend on your Curve card goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.  And you can get a Curve card for free.

How it works:  1. Download the Curve app for iPhone or Android.  2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to the UK and most European addresses.  3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app, you can link up to two cards with the free version of Curve, I link my normal debit card and my normal credit card.  4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, exactly like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance in your own currency onto whichever debit or credit card is currently selected in the Curve app.  You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.

I have a Curve Blue card myself, it means I can buy a coffee on a foreign station on a card without being stung by fees and lousy exchange rates, just by tapping the Curve card on their card reader.  The money goes through Curve to my normal debit card and is taken directly from my account (in fact I have the Curve card set up as payment card on Apple Pay on my iPhone, so can double-click my phone, let it do Face ID then tap the reader with the phone - even easier than getting a card out).  I get a little commission if you sign up to Curve, but I recommend it here because I think it's great.  See details, download the app and get a Curve card, they'll give you £5 cashback through that link.

 

Express VPN

Get a VPN for safe browsing.  Why you need a VPN

When travelling you may use free public WiFi which is often insecure.  A VPN encrypts your connection so it's always secure, even on unsecured WiFi.  It also means you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geoblocking which a surprising number of websites apply.  See VPNs & why you need one explainedExpressVPN is a best buy with a 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot ranking which I use myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using this link you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription.  I also get some commission to help support this site.

 

Anker Powerrbank

Carry an Anker powerbank

Tickets, reservations, hotel bookings and Interrail or Eurail passes are often now held on your mobile phone.  You daren't let it run out of power, and you can't always rely on the phone's internal battery or on being near a power outlet.  I always carry an Anker powerbank which can recharge my phone several times over.  Buy from Amazon.co.uk or buy from Amazon.com.

Touring cities?  Use hill walking shoes!

One of the best things I've done is swap my normal shoes for hill-walking shoes, in my case from Scarpa.  They're intended for hiking across the Pennines not wandering around Florence, but the support and cushioning for hiking works equally well when you're on your feet all day exploring foreign cities.  My feet used to give out first and limit my day, now the rest of me gives up before they do!


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