Sidi Bou Said

Blue doors, white walls and the light that drew painters.

Perched on a cliff above the Gulf of Tunis, Sidi Bou Said is the image many people carry of Tunisia: whitewashed walls, studded blue doors and bougainvillea spilling over terraces. The look is no accident. The village's palette has been protected for around a century, and it has drawn painters and writers for just as long.

Visit Dar Ennejma Ezzahra, the palace built by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger and now a centre for Arab and Mediterranean music. Then do what everyone does, and still loves: climb to the Café des Délices and watch the bay as the light goes gold.

Highlights

• Dar Ennejma Ezzahra

• Café des Délices at sunset

• The village's protected blue and white streets

Best for: Views, photography, slow afternoons

Photo: Noelle Guirola / Unsplash