Tunisia with Gil Travel

I felt I had to let other travelers know how wonderful my third trip to Tunisia was. I traveled there with a group of four, Nov. 11-20, 2016, on a tour arranged by Gil Travel (Philadelphia, PA; 800/223-3855, giltravel.com). 

One traveler and I each had single accommodations but paid no single-supplement charge. I paid $2,795. Most meals and water were included. Round-trip airfare on Delta Air Lines from New York’s JFK to Tunis was $1,020.

(I learned about Gil Travel from Jerry Sorkin, who founded TunisUSA. I traveled with TunisUSA to Tunisia and Algeria a few years ago. Jerry later joined with Gil Travel.)

 All of the hotels on this tour were excellent. My favorite was La Kasbah (Avenue Ibn El Jazzar-Cité la Mosquée, 3100 Kairouan; www.goldenyasmin.com).

There were so many sights to behold, starting with the National Bardo Museum in Tunis, which houses magnificent Roman mosaics dating from the first and second centuries. We also saw the outstanding, third-century Amphitheatre of El Jem.

There were excellent examples of Roman ruins at Bulla Regia and Dougga, and, on the island of Jerba, we visited a terrific market and El Ghriba Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in North Africa.

Our guide, Aicha Boukari, was very knowledgeable and eager to share that knowledge with us. Our driver, Ridha, honored us by inviting us to meet his mother and other members of his family.

I felt the country was safe, and at no time did I feel threatened.

PHYLLIS SCHLESINGER

New York, NY