Driving in Tunis – Recommendations, Tips and Tricks
Find Your Car in Tunis
12. You will see many police officers on the roads of Tunisia. As a rule, all city entrances and exits are always equipped with stationary posts. When approaching such a post, make sure you slow down and prepare to stop at any moment. Absolutely any car can be stopped to perform a check.
13. Despite the fact that the police rarely use radar, drivers are still not recommended to break the established speed limit. If you have broken the rules, do not even try to offer money to a police officer. They will take the bribe (with rare exceptions), but may significantly increase the amount of the fine.
14. You will find it simple to find a petrol station close to major highways and towns, but in remote areas of the country petrol stations are rare. Therefore, when you plan to make a long trip to the countryside, you will need to make sure that the tank is full.
Hints on Car Hire in Tunis
When choosing a car for your Tunis trip, don’t forget to check and compare the franchise amount (indicated in the rental conditions) for all cars considered in your selection. The franchise may vary from 200 to 2000 euro/dollars even for cars of the same class. A thorough comparison will allow you to choose the option with the lowest franchise.
During your booking, we will offer you to take a full coverage of the franchise ('No Risk' or 'No Excess' package). If you book a car without full coverage, it is recommended to take it at the pick-up time - this will substantially reduce your financial liability in Tunis for the whole rental period.
During your car pick-up in Tunis, do not forget to check what to do in breakdown-, accident- or theft-cases. Most of our offers include 'Breakdown Assistance' package. Besides this, every rental office would be happy to assist you with this package.
Prior to the car return, please check your voucher for the fuel conditions. If it is indicated that a driver shall return the car with a full tank, do not forget to refuel it on the way back, this will save you from additional charges at the rental office.
If you are looking for a car hire in Tunis, we advise you to check OrangeSmile.com actual rental offers. Just use the orange search form at the top. We guarantee that you would not be able to find better rates anywhere else!
15. You should also not forget that in suburban areas livestock may become a serious problem for drivers. Animals can appear on the road very suddenly, so it is better to drive on suburban routes in the daytime and at low speed.
16. When traveling in suburban areas, you should move on asphalted roads only. Foreigners should not drive on the dirt roads. Shifting sands are very dangerous to motorists, and only experienced guides know for sure what dirt roads are safe.
17. However, not all local roads are paved, and it is possible to reach some settlements by dirt roads only. Many of these roads are laid along dry riverbeds and streams, and after heavy rain they turn into a turbulent flow of water. In this case, even a powerful SUV won’t be able to move on such roads.
18. The total length of roads in Tunisia is approximately 20,000 km. You will find best network of roads near the resort areas of the country. Roads that are located in the northern part of Tunisia are considered to be of the highest-quality.
19. All roads are divided into three types: highways (these are toll roads that are marked in yellow on the map), national roads (they are marked on red) and municipal roads (as a rule, these roads are made in brown on the map). Highways are the most quality roads, and traffic on them is not as heavy as on other types of roads.
20. The amount of the toll on the highway usually depends on a particular section of the road. As a rule, it is about 1.5 dinars. All toll roads are necessarily duplicated by free roads, so motorists always have a choice.
21. National and municipal roads are the most loaded ones. In addition to cars, there are many buses, trucks and even horse-drawn carts. In smaller towns, roads are usually very narrow, so traffic jams near intersections are absolutely normal.