Walking in Douz: Town Centre and Palm Grove

Check the current US State Department and UK FCDO advice before booking. Some border and military areas in the south of Tunisia are closed to tourists, so go into the dunes only with a licensed local operator.

Douz is a small town and can be walked in one or two hours. There are no organised walking tours as such. Visitors make their own circuit through the centre and the edge of the palm grove. Walking farther into the dunes is another matter, and it needs a guide.

A circuit of the town centre

Start at the Place du Souk, where white arcades shade the shops. Watch craftspeople making slippers and browse the stalls selling carpets, spices and desert roses. Bargaining is expected. Continue to the Musée du Sahara in the town centre, a short walk away, which covers the Mrazig people and the nomadic life of the Sahara. Check locally for hours and the fee. Then walk south, where the tarmac gives way to sand at Henchir El Rmah, the open ground used for the International Festival of the Sahara. The whole circuit is flat and takes about 2 hours at an easy pace.

The palm grove

Paths between the palms lead toward the village of Zaafrane. They are quiet and shady, and irrigation channels run beside many of them. Walk in the morning or late afternoon, take water, and keep to the tracks so that you stay on land where you can see the way back. The date harvest runs from October to December, when you may see the clusters being gathered.

Thursday morning

The weekly souk and livestock market is held on Thursday morning. Walk there early. The size of the camel trade varies.

Walking into the dunes

Do not set out on foot into the Grand Erg without a guide. Dunes shift, blowing sand erases tracks, there are few landmarks, and dehydration comes quickly. Wind and sand can turn a short stroll into a hazard within a kilometre of the town edge. To enter the dunes, join a camel ride with a guide, or book a guided trek through a licensed operator.

Practical tips

  • Walk from October to April. In summer, go at dawn or dusk only, because the heat is extreme.
  • Wear closed shoes, since horned vipers and scorpions live in the sand, and do not walk barefoot at dusk.
  • Carry water, a hat and a scarf for blowing sand.
  • If a sandstorm starts, go indoors at once.
  • Do not pay for a photo with a captive fennec fox, which touts may offer near the dunes. Keeping one is illegal.
  • Carry cash in Tunisian dinars.

Guides and rides

A guided camel ride from the dune fringe costs about 30 TND for an hour, and a carriage ride through the grove costs about 25 to 35 TND per carriage. Compare walking and desert tours in Douz . The FCDO safety page covers checkpoints, heat and sand drifts.

Read more: sightseeing in Douz and day trips from Douz .