Tunisia - Movie Magic Top Ten

From the Troglodyte Villages of Star Wars to the desert camp of the English Patient Tunisia is a country that is bristling with famous movie locations. 

Try a jeep safari through southern Tunisia for a taste of movie magic and Star Wars sets. We countdown the top ten places to see in Tunisia for film buffs…

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1.Ksar Haddada Village

Address: Near Tozeur, Tunisia
It is just few hundred kilometres from the bustling Tunisian seaside resort of Skanes but it could easily be a million light years away. Tucked behind the sweeping dunes of the Sahara Desert lies an unearthly village - the set of Attack of the Clones, the latest Star Wars adventure. This set and where Luke Skywalker first trod, ate breakfast and light-sabre duelled with Darth Vader are all now tourist stops for Star War aficionados and those just curious to see what all the fuss is about.

2.Troglodyte Villages

Address: Near Tozeur, Tunisia
Before reaching Tozeur are troglodyte villages set into hillside and the genuine Ksar Haddada, which was used for filming the Mos Espa slave quarters in Star Wars, The Phantom Menace.

3.Matmata & Hotel Sidi Driss

Address: Near Tozeur, Tunisia
Here you can be photographed in the interior of Luke Skywalker’s home, which appeared at the beginning of Star Wars. You can, if the mood takes you, sit at the table where he ate breakfast or stroll around the main courtyard which served as a location in the second prequel. You can enjoy this slice of time travel even if you are not a fully paid up Jedi or even a distant relative of Luke or Princess Leia.

4.Sidi Bouhel

Address: Chott el Jerid, Tunisia
On the edge of the salt lake of Chott el Jerid is Sidi Bouhel and the location of the gully where R2D2 is captured by the Jawas in Star Wars: A New Hope. It is known locally as ‘Star Wars Canyon’ and was also a location in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

5.Tamerza and the Red Lizard

Address: Tamerza, Tunisia
Just a few kilometres from the frontier with Algeria is Tamerza and the chanace to have a trip on The Red Lizard (Lezard Rouge) a former Royal Train. If Star Wars is not the limit of you curiosity you will already have begun to experience enough to write your own travel script. The journey onboard the Red Lizard is itself a journey through dramatic gorges and through time - to an era when Kings had their own trains no matter how short the journey. The luxurious carriages of the Red Lizard were a gift to the King of Tunisia from the French government. In its leather armchairs and plush seats he would travel from his palace to the coast - a full 18 kilometres away! Now, transported south and refurbished, the Lezard Rouge is a tourist must see. Slowly the Lezard Rouge climbs into the mountains chugging its way through dramatic gorges which open up like a picture book to reveal a changing landscape which is at one moment an oasis of trees and vegetation and the next, sheer rock formations towering above the bright red carriages.

6.Onc El Jmel

Address: Near Tamerza, Tunisia
Onc El Jmel is the site where Quin-ion and Darth Maul fought in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and it provided the background for the pod race in the same film. The site was also used in the English Patient.

 

 

 

7.Chott El Djerid

Address: Near Tamerza, Tunisia
The wondrous salt lake Chott El Djerid has Star Wars, The Phantom Menace connections and again The English Patient. Its flat silver surface stretches much further than the eye can see. With its near neighbours Chott El Fejaj and Chott El Gharsa they offer a span of flat, salt lakes covering more than a hundred miles long and, at its widest point, more than 50 miles across.

8.Onk Jemal

Address: Nefta, Tunisia
The desert camp of Count Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) is located in the Tunisian Sahara a few miles from the oasis of Nefta. Try a guided desert 4 wheeled drive safari which is the best way to see this location.

9.Ribat Monastery

Address: Monastir, Tunisia
Made famous for a scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, the ‘Holy Land’ in the film is actually Ribat in Tunisia - a fortified monastery in Monastir. This monastery was also the setting for the movie Jesus of Nazareth. The Ribat with its maze of walls and alleyways is open to the public for a small charge.

10. Medenine

Address: near Matmata, Tunisia
The Kzar which is young Anakin slave quarters home in The Phantom Menace is located in Medenine, about 35 miles southeast of Matmata. The narrow street, in which Anakin says goodbye to his mother, runs behind the main town square.

Photographs courtesy of The Tunisian National Tourist Office