Travel: Hammamet, Tunisia

For New Year Laura and I travelled to Hammamet in Tunisia for some winter sun. When we were there we realised we probably hadn't seen the sun for a couple of weeks, such was the awful weather the UK had been experiencing so it was a good shout.

Although we usually prefer to travel independently due to the freedom it gives us, we decided to book a package trip due to the good deal we found. We stayed in the 4* Les Orangers resort which was all inclusive on food and drink, had excellent facilities including an indoor pool and very clean with very friendly staff. We would recommend it. 

There are several parts to Hammamet as we discovered and the hotel was situated in between the old part of town to our north east and the newer Yasmine Hammamet development to our south. 

The view from our room as sun sets on our first day

One of our pet hates about package tours are the 'welcome' meetings where the rep & tour company try to sell lots of additional trips and evening entertainments. However, we were interested in an extra trip, the Sahara express, a two day trip heading to south and west Tunisia. Part of that trip included visiting the Star Wars sites (http://www.stephendcook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/intergalactic-travel-tatooine-star-wars.html).

In the afternoon we walked to Old Hammamet and visited the medina. 

Buying some tat of the guy whose sales pitch was shouting "Bloody 50p" at potential buyers

Cemetery by the beach 

The fortified walls of the medina

One morning I decided to get up for the sunrise. With it being winter, a 7.10 am start was not too painful. 

New Year

For new year the hotel put on a gala dinner which was a great way to see it in. We were lucky to have met a lovely Scottish couple at the hotel with whom we had dinner and stayed up until 3am. New year was seen in by the chefs parading around the restaurant covered in chocolate and banging kitchen equipment.  

Coming next... Sahara Express trip