• By tunisianbelle, September 19, 2010 @ 10:30 am Have you done any research on any of the cities you are planing on staying in? Tunis is the capitol and has a lot of variety to offer in way of food, restaurants, shops, etc. The down side is that it is VERY crowded. I lived there for a short time and did not like it – too stressful for me. Kairouan is nice. It is one of the most important cities in the Islamic world, so it too is a busy city. One other thing about it is that it is famous for it’s makroudh. Mahdia is a very small city. The majority of it is set for tourism, with the rest of the city being very calm and relaxed. There is one café that overlooks the Sea that is an absolutely gorgeous setting. From those three places you should be able to get internet access fine. I would like to propose a city to you that you haven’t listed: Monastir. It is a resort city, but like Mahdia, the tourist section is apart from the rest of the city. While Monastir is calm, it has some conveniences, such as a Monoprix and Magasin General (they are like small time Wal-Mart or Targets). There are also nice restaurants, plenty of nice mixed cafés (most of the cafés in Mahdia and Kairouan are men only), and is close to a bigger city (Sousse) that offers conveniences that you could find in Tunis. Internet in Monastir also works very well. Here is some conversion for you: $1=1.157TND, 1TND = $0.86 €1=1.794TND, 1TND = €0.56 (Currency rates as of 09:41 GMT on 20 March 2008) Cost of housing will depend on a few things. It will depend on what city you want to rent in, where in the city you want to rent, whether you want to rent an apartment or a house, and what amenities you want. The more amenities, the higher the price. Do you want central heating or no? Do you want gaz du ville or gaz that you buy in a bottle? Do you want air conditioning or not? Do you want a great view or does it not matter? How good a neighborhood do you want to live in? Do you want it furnished or unfurnished? How many bedrooms do you need? All these play a factor in the price. You can find rents as low as 200TND a month up to 1000TND a month. If you go visit an immobilier (realtor) you might be able to find a good deal. Most of the time you get the best deals by just driving around and calling numbers listed on the for rent signs you see on houses and in the small shops and markets. If you can read French and/or Arabic, try looking in the papers as well. Most people don’t post ads in the papers though because of price. Feel free to ask people that you encounter on the street if they know of anything for rent in that area that you are in. The hanouts (small neighborhood stores) are the best places to check. Something to remember is to try to negotiate the price. June is the middle of the high season for the whole of Tunisia. Prices are higher during this period (summer) than any other time. Short term rentals are also (in general) more expensive than long term. During summer months you don’t have as much wiggle room, but it’s always worth a shot. 1.) About the Cost of living:.;_ylv=3?qid=20071204082651AAkxegY 2.) About the money (includes a link to see what Tunisian Currency looks like):.;_ylv=3?qid=20080124050138AAxPVf1 3.) About shopping and bargaining:.;_ylv=3?qid=20080102220238AAi70mg If I can be of any more help or assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Other links to this post