How to Dress in Tunisia

Don’t Dress Flashy

Keep your jewels and flashy gold at home. While Tunisia is a relatively safe country, it’s not a very bling-y country, so there’s really no reason for you to show off your jewelry and designer items, as this may draw unwanted attention.

Tunisia is Muslim but Less Conservative

While most Tunisians are Muslim, it is a pretty liberal country and doesn’t feel too conservative. Most young women, especially in the cities, do not cover their hair and freely wear crop tops and shorts. And while homosexuality is illegal here, the response to it from the actual community is much less severe. In fact, you’ll even find gay bars in certain areas of Tunis. With that said, PDA is typically a no-go for any kind of couple.

But Dressing Modestly Can Help You Feel More Comfortable

Although Tunisia is less conservative than its neighboring Muslim countries, if you want to feel comfortable, it helps to dress more modestly. In Tunis and the popular coastal cities like Sousse and Hammamet, we felt completely okay wearing whatever we wanted, including tank tops and shorts. But in more traditional cities and in the Tunis medina, covering your shoulders and knees can help you feel more comfortable.

Plus, entering mosques and other religious sites requires you to cover up, but don’t worry too much; most major religious sites will provide a covering for you if you are not appropriately dressed.

Pack Layers; It Can Get Cold at Night in the Sahara

Tunisia is a lovely country to visit in the summer, but the best time to visit is in the spring or autumn. In these months, the weather is still warm at around 30 C (86 F) during the day but is not too hot that you can’t walk around without sweating buckets. However, if you visit outside of the summer, make sure to pack layers. While the cities may not get too much colder, if you plan to visit the Sahara, you will want a sweater or two! Don’t underestimate how cold it can get in the desert. We were pretty surprised.

Carry a Scarf at All Times

One of the first things we bought when we arrived in Tunisia was a scarf. A scarf comes in handy for a couple of different reasons. First of all, if you’re a woman, you need a scarf to cover your hair when visiting mosques. Secondly, a scarf will be your savior in the desert. We used one to cover our noses and mouths whenever the wind blew in our direction. In the desert, we wore our scarves as turbans on our heads. Look up videos on how to tie a shemagh for instructions on how to do this!