Travel to Tunisia with Novatours via Estravel
A little prelude. Since one traveler has a gray passport, the trip requires group travel. This means it's a group tour with a return flight and hotel.
After an unsuccessful attempt to organize a trip with JoinUP, I contacted Estravel representative Oleg Mashkov (read his impressions on the Estravel page (https://www. estravel. ee/ru/nashi-konsultanty/oleg-maskov/)). He told me a lot and gave me various recommendations. Since I don't care who I book the tour through, I decided to do it through Oleg – as a way of saying thank you: the price is the same for me, but he gets a percentage for the company. The booking process went flawlessly, and I always received prompt answers to all my questions.
Direct charter flight with Heston Airlines. Three operators (Novatours, JoinUP, Coral Travel) offered tours on this flight, but it seemed to me that Novatours was the main one (the brochures on the plane were Novatours, and the headrests had the Novatours logo). A little life hack! It turns out that not all companies informed tourists about the option of checking in, purchasing seats, and dining online! I was informed about this option and checked out online, purchasing seats for 9 euros. Upon boarding, there were two counters, and people were standing in one long line. The other counter had a "priority" sign and added information about baggage and online. I still didn't understand where the "priority" came from, but I used the "Check In online" sign and checked in my baggage at this counter without queuing. Consequently, I was among the first through security and passport control before the crowds got too crowded. I also had the option to choose a seat in the waiting room. Incidentally, after passport control, there's a café , restroom, and smoking room in the lounge.
Boarding was on time. The 180-seat Airbus A320 was old and uncomfortable, with no monitors or online information. Meals and drinks were available for a fee. Boarding was by bus. The plane was full.
Enfidha greeted us with a lack of sun and a gloomy, overcast air.
Since I'd chosen my own seats, and they were at the front of the cabin, I was among the first through passport control. The customs officer spent a little time fiddling with my gray passport, confirming whether we were traveling with a group, and then stamped it.
Our plane was the only one at the airport, so there weren't any other passengers crowded together.
After passport control, we went to collect our luggage, which had already arrived. At the exit, there were three desks with the names of our operators. We were given the bus number. Ours was the largest (43 passengers) and was parked right there in the parking lot, like all the other buses. We exchanged some currency right away – the rate was very reasonable (167 dinars for 50 euros)!
Then came the transfer, and as it turned out, our hotel was the last one, and we arrived at the Sousse Palace Hotel & Spa at around 8:25 PM. And, as a final note, everything was perfectly organized!
We wanted to check in, but they took our passports and sent us to the restaurant because dinner wasn't until 9 PM. The food probably left a decent enough impression, but everything else was very dismal – finding a clean table was a real challenge.
After dinner, we received the keys to a room with a direct sea view (as booked) on the second floor (and, a pleasant surprise – instead of half board, we were given all-inclusive) and a hotel employee delivered our suitcases to our room.
Alas, the five-star billing doesn't hold up to scrutiny. The room is shabby, but everything is there except for a safe. The toiletries and other amenities are definitely not five-star quality. The WiFi is a disaster; for a stable connection, you have to head towards the lobby.
Day two.
Breakfast was plentiful, but some dishes were cold. The coffee machines (there are two of them) are set up differently, and the coffee in one is decent, but in the other there is too much water!
In the morning, I tried to resolve the issue with the missing safe. I accidentally ran into a representative from a third-party company, and he helped me negotiate at reception! After the staff inspected it, it turned out that the safe was indeed missing. They promised to resolve the issue within 30 minutes. Looking ahead, I had to remind them four more times about the issue, and after asking to change rooms, the employee deigned to bring the safe. This was already the afternoon (the employee was in an interesting state). The safe was installed, but it wasn't attached to the wall, and no food was served.
Returning to the representative who services tourists from Russia, I inquired about excursions, and his offer was 7 euros cheaper than what our operator had quoted.
Afterward, I met with a Novatours representative, who talked about safety and behavior. We also discussed excursions, but, as mentioned above, I preferred the cheaper one.
We spent the entire day waiting for the safe, with breaks for swimming and lunch.
The lunch was plentiful, but we didn't eat too much.
After lunch, the beach and promenade along the sea. It's crowded, but it's not like on the other (European) side of the sea; here, people mostly sit outside on the porch; there aren't many open-air cafe terraces. In the evening, we exchanged euros: 100 euros equaled 340 dinars, so there wasn't much of a difference.
Dinner, again, was plentiful. The meat was lamb and beef, which wasn't bad at all!
Day three.
After breakfast, sunbathing. Then a trip to the medina (old town). Right at the entrance, we met a talkative man who spoke a little Russian and offered to show us around the old town. He asked for 40 dinars for his services, but we haggled down to 30. We didn't need much at the market itself, but we bought olive oil (he asked for 120 dinars, sold it for 60), a pack of coffee (the price was also steep, but we haggled down to 60). We also bought argan oil (they asked for 93 (there were several packages), but we got it for 51). Finally, we bought dates on the branch for 6 dinars per kilo (I didn't see any bargaining opportunities here, as they were already cheap).
After lunch, we spent time swimming and sunbathing. In the evening, we went shopping. We bought a silk scarf for 38 dinars, and some supplements like prickly pear and caraway seed oil (vinegar).
I won't say anything about dinner, breakfast, or lunch – everything was quite good!
Day Four
Spent sunbathing, water treatments, and searching for a chain store. The search was unsuccessful. There are no large supermarkets nearby, and the chain stores that do have a very limited selection.
Day Five
We booked a tour to Tunis (the capital) with XPress for 210 dinars. Our Novatours tour was sold for 70 euros. As expected, XPress is the operator, and Novatours acts as an agent and charges the client, not the operator. Consequently, all the Novatours travelers were also on the same bus. The bus was full, and the tour was conducted in Russian.
At 6:25 a. m. , the bus pulled up to the hotel, and we were the first tourists (breakfast was at 6:00 a. m. , so we had time to eat). Then, for an hour and 15 minutes, we toured the hotels, picking up tourists.
Our first stop was Carthage, where we explored the remains of the thermal baths.
The next stop was the Blue City (Sidi Bou Said). At the beginning of our tour, we were offered a visit to the museum (entry fee: 5 dinars).
A walk around the city.
Lunch in Tunis (the capital) (lentil soup, chicken with rice and salad, melon and grapes, a pitcher of water with mint and lemon, and a bottle of water (drinks for seven)).
We drove through Tunis along the main street, saying, "Look to your right and look to your left to see where the buildings are. "
Then the mosaic museum (National Bardo Museum). The tour was quite long, and everyone was tired.
We left the city, dropped off at a convenient place along the way (where they offered cosmetics and olive oil, but the prices were inflated and the quality was questionable), dropped off at hotels, and arrived at 7:00 PM.
In summary: nothing spectacular, just an introductory historical tour. There could have been more of Tunis itself, but there's probably nothing to see there; it's crowded and unsafe.
The next two days are spent relaxing on the beach.
I checked in again, but the page isn't well-adapted to browsers; it only works correctly on Edge. There was an error when purchasing seats; the check-in didn't work, but the money for the seats was still charged. I checked in again, and they charged me for the seats again (9 euros per seat). I contacted customer support – they apologized and promised a refund.
The last day
The day before, I received a message from Novatours with the transfer time. The bus would arrive at 2:35 PM (departure at 6:40 PM).
We had breakfast, swam, and sunbathed in the morning. We checked out of our room at 12 PM, but took advantage of the opportunity to have lunch. We waited for the bus in the lobby. There's no luggage storage at the hotel; all suitcases are in the lobby, but this doesn't encourage leaving luggage, even though there's security there. There's also no shower in the lobby.
The bus arrived at 2:40 PM, and we were the first. We went to pick everyone up at their hotels.
At the airport, luggage is scanned at the entrance.
Then we checked in for our flight. People were standing in a long line. But it turned out there were three counters open, and the line was just one. Thinking quickly, I moved from the back to the other counters at the front.
The check-in staff (it seemed to me) were inexperienced, most likely apprentices. They took a very long time and tediously processing the paperwork. As with departure, despite Check-In and an electronic boarding pass, they issued a paper one.
At the gate, they ask if you have tickets. Then a customs officer asks if you have dinars and also asks about euros.
After security, they make you take off your shoes. They rummage through your suitcases, carelessly throwing everything around.
We were the only flight at the airport at the time, and there were no other passengers, so all services (including the cafe and duty-free) were open for us. Duty-free had very high prices and a very limited selection.
Boarding was announced, and due to the flight being full, the plane departed a little early.
We arrived in Tallinn at 12:35 a. m. (as scheduled). Passport control, baggage claim, and exit.
To sum it up:
We are happy with the trip.
Novatours worked perfectly, everything was clear and understandable. There's a slight disappointment with the cost of the excursions, but everyone has their own choice.
The hotel is conveniently located right on the beach. The entrance is from the city center, right off the street (shops, the medina, cafes, and the port are nearby). The food is okay. As mentioned several times, there are big issues with free tables, table setting, and crockery. Rooms are cleaned daily, and towels and toiletries are changed. The hallways aren't kept very clean. The entertainment staff is on duty. The beach is fenced and private, with plenty of sun loungers and no lines. Sun loungers by the pool were occupied in the morning. There's no information about the spa, so we didn't get to it. The hotel is not new. WiFi isn't available throughout the entire property, and since our room was at the end, it wasn't reliable.
By the standard standards, the hotel doesn't reach five stars, but we found it quite acceptable!
We brought olive oil, dates, coffee (imported but Tunisian roast), cosmetics (argan, prickly pear), some sweets, silk (from the store), and small souvenirs.
The vegetable market is crowded and bustling, the vendors are shouting and don't let you choose your goods – they just put everything on the shelves, but the prices are lower than in the city. The prices at the rest of the market are exorbitant (you can get them almost ten times cheaper, let alone in half), and they cheat with quality. Spices aren't cheap, and there are quality issues!
There's a fairly decent wine (Tunisian) in chain stores, and the prices are affordable.
