Mahdia is one of the few towns on the central Tunisian coast that has managed to escape being turned into a tourist trap. It's a beautifully relaxed place, founded in 916 AD and set on a small peninsula some 200km (125mi) southeast of Tunis.

The town's main attraction is its old medina, already established by the time the famous historian Ibn Khaldoun visited in the 14th century and called Mahdia the jewel of the Barbary Coast. A walking tour of the medina should take about two hours, depending on time spent dawdling in shops and cafés.