Enes Dikmen

Tunisia travel notes: taxis, louages, and visiting El Jem from Monastir

By . Travelled in early September 2026. Last updated .

We flew to Tunis, spent some time there, and also went to Carthage. Then we went to Monastir and visited El Jem from there. These are the things I would have liked to find online before the trip. Prices and conditions below are from our visit.

Using inDrive for taxis

For sure, I would recommend using the taxi app inDrive, especially from the airport. The taxi drivers we encountered outside the app would not turn on the meter and tried to overcharge. The first thing I would do is use inDrive.

It's great because you can offer a price there, and a driver can accept it before coming to pick you up. Agreeing on the price in advance helped us avoid arguments over the fare. It's still OK and nice to round up and tip a bit. Still much, much better than the crazy prices we were quoted outside the app.

Finding bottled water during our visit

When we were there, there was a water shortage. We couldn't find bottled water in supermarkets, and we understood that drinking the tap water was not recommended. The cafés or restaurants, though, had bottled water most of the time.

If it happens to be one of those times when you are there, and you find a place to buy water, I would recommend buying some extra and keeping it at the place you're staying.

Visiting Carthage from Tunis

Carthage is very doable by taxi from Tunis. There are many sites, and between them you can do long walks or some short taxi rides, as we did. Using the app took away the friction of negotiating fares, so it was pretty convenient.

Taking a louage from Tunis to Monastir

We used a louage, a shared taxi, from Tunis to Monastir. It was around 15 Tunisian dinars per person. It was quick. The one we had had no AC, and it was pretty hot, but with the windows rolled down and some speed, it was OK.

At the central louage station in Tunis, we got a ticket to Monastir from the counter and then found the right louage. People there helped us find the right one.

Visiting El Jem from Monastir by taxi

We found a taxi driver through inDrive and agreed on 150 Tunisian dinars for the whole taxi to take us from Monastir to El Jem, wait for us there for a couple of hours, and drive us back.

This was the connection we found hardest to work out. We found information about a train from Sousse to El Jem, but no convenient connection from Monastir. We heard about a bus, but it didn't seem to be frequent.

The price inDrive suggested when we selected El Jem was too low for the trip we wanted to arrange. It was about 55 dinars. The drive took more than an hour, and the driver also had to get all the way back, so that price didn't seem to make sense.

It took us some time to understand this and talk it through with drivers. After some offers and conversations, we accepted the 150-dinar offer for the return trip, including the wait. Overall, it was an OK deal, especially after hearing some much higher prices.

We also considered the time it would take to get to a louage station, go to Sousse, take a train to El Jem, and do the same on the way back. The taxi was convenient and not very pricey for someone wanting to visit El Jem from Monastir, especially with several people sharing the cost.

I definitely recommend going to El Jem. The amphitheatre is very beautiful. It's great, and shocking, how freely you can walk around and inside it. It's insane compared to how limited you would be in the Colosseum.