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 working oasis and market town, not a resort. It has no boutique riads, no waterfront and no spa district. What it offers couples is the desert itself: a camel ride at sunset, a night in a camp under a sky free of city light, and slow evenings by a hotel pool.

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 works as a base for four outings: the salt pan of Chott el Djerid, the cave houses of Matmata, the warm-spring oasis of Ksar Ghilane and the town of Kebili. Distances are by road and the pace is slow, so plan each as a full outing.

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 compact, and the main sights sit within walking distance of the town centre. Most are free to see. The town is home to the Mrazig people, and its sights are about nomadic life, the date palm grove and the edge of the desert.

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 suits families who like short, simple outings: a camel ride at the dune edge, a morning at the livestock market, a museum visit and a play on the small dunes. The heat is the main hazard, so visit from October to April and keep activities to the cooler hours of the day.

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 oasis town, and organised attractions are few. There is no hop-on hop-off bus, no open-top city tour and no municipal sightseeing service. What exists instead is a short list of guided outings: 4x4 trips into the dunes and across the salt pan, and carriage rides through the 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. Multi-day trips from Douz go south into the Grand Erg Oriental by camel or by 4x4, with nights in desert camps. The routes are real and well established, but they cross remote ground, so they go through licensed local operators who know the military zones and checkpoints.

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.

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 an oasis town on the northern edge of the Grand Erg Oriental, the sand sea of the Tunisian Sahara. More than 300,000 date palms surround it, and the Mrazig people who settled here kept their camel-herding traditions.