The site is not a site: it is a whole commune, scattered with remains separated by lived-in streets. You do not “do” it in one block. The order below follows the light, not the map.
Morning — Byrsa
Start with the hill, before ten. It is the high point, the one from which everything else makes sense: the bay, the port, the layout of the ancient city. The national museum stands there, with the acropolis around it.
An hour is enough if you look; two if you read.
Late morning — the Punic ports
Below, two basins: the merchant port, rectangular, and the military port, circular, with its central island. Unspectacular at first glance and considerable at the second — this is where the fleet sailed from that held Rome off for more than a century.
The small site museum has the model that makes the whole thing legible.
Lunch
There is no catering on the site itself. Go back up towards the hill, or on to Sidi Bou Saïd. The terraces facing the bay are on the heights, not at the water's edge.
Afternoon — the Baths of Antoninus
The largest Roman bath complex in Africa, and the only place on the site where you reach the sea. What still stands is only the substructure; the hall it carried rose some fifteen metres. You need to know that to see the building to scale.
The park running down to the sea is worth crossing slowly. It is the most pleasant moment of the day in summer.
Late afternoon — Sidi Bou Saïd
Ten minutes away. The village is full until four and empties afterwards. Go up late: the end-of-day light on the blue and the white is the reason people go.
It is also the hour we photograph most, from the hill — we post it regularly on our Instagram.
Two things worth knowing
One ticket covers everything
A single ticket gives access to all the Carthage sites for the day. Keep it: it is checked at every entrance.
The distances do not walk well
Between Byrsa and the baths there are nearly two kilometres of streets without shade. Plan on a car or the TGM.
Staying the night changes the day
The two hours before opening and the two hours after closing are the only ones when the hill is empty. They belong to those who do not leave in the evening.
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