According to BRIDGAT.COM, most tourists come here as part of an excursion group. The two-day trip to the Sahara is the most popular excursion in Tunisia. This is a great option to get a general idea of Duza and see if you want to get to know the desert better. People usually come here around 16:00 on the first day of the tour and, after spending the night in one of the hotels in the tourist area, leave the city in the early morning of the next day. The cost of the tour is about 180 TND.
On the luage, the Tunisian minibus. There are no direct routes from the resort towns to Duza, all cars arrive at the administrative center of the region, the city of Kebili. Separate minibuses go from here to Duza, the fare is about 5 TND, half an hour on the way. In turn, Kebili can be reached from the coast (Susse, Hammamet, Monastir, Mahdia) with a change in Gabes. There are direct luages from the city of Tunisia to Kebili.
By bus. The local bus company SNTRI runs two buses daily from Tunisia to Douz. The fare is about 30 TND, travel time is about 8 hours. You can find the timetable on the company’s website.
By rented car. It is also an ideal option for traveling around the southern region: you can visit numerous oases, drive along an unmade road through the dried-up salt lakeChott el-Jerid and even drive to Tauzar. The roads in the south are very good – wide, in some sections even with perfect coverage. Please note that there are no gas stations, cafes and no civilization at all on the 110-kilometer stretch from Matmata to Duza.
How to navigate in the city
The duz is divided into two parts. Entering the city from Matmata (and in the vast majority of cases you will enter here), you find yourself in the old Douz with its residential areas, restaurants, cafes, a market and a hint of the 21st century in the form of a post office and a bank.
Moving to the city center and turning left on the central square, you will find yourself in an oasis: the road passes right in the thick of date palms, and then the tourist zone begins – already a completely natural 21st century. All Duza entertainments are concentrated in the tourist zone: camel rides, hang-gliding, cafes, photo services, the festival square with stands and the hotels themselves, by the way, are quite good even compared to coastal ones.
Transport in the city
You will most likely have to move around the tourist area on foot, since everything is nearby here: there are basically few taxi drivers in the city, as the locals move mainly on mopeds or carts pulled by donkeys and horses. During the high tourist season, available taxi drivers often pass through the hotel area in search of a client, but it is difficult to predict the time of their appearance. For trips to the center of old Douz, you can call a taxi at the hotel reception.
Duza Restaurants
You can dine in restaurants in the center of old Douz: nothing special, ordinary Tunisian cuisine (salads, soup, couscous) or grilled meat. Alcohol is not served in these restaurants. There are also fast food eateries with a standard set of sandwiches, shawarmas and pizzas. Those wishing to dine in a European way can drop into one of the hotels in the tourist area (preferably in El Mouradi Douz or Sahara Douz) at lunchtime and get an unlimited number of approaches to the buffet for a fixed fee of 40-60 TND.
Douz Hotels
Hotels with a claim to the European quality of services are located in the tourist area of Duza. The most worthy are the four-star El Mouradi Douz and the recently restored Sahara Douz. Two hotels have pools with hot thermal water – this is the aforementioned Sahara Douz and El Mehari. Sun Palm also offers good accommodation and decent service. The cost of living is about 280 TND for a double room on half board. There are also budget hotels in old Douz, but it is better for foreigners not to settle in them, unless, of course, you are a hefty man of ferocious appearance.
