Tunisia

The ancient medina of Tunis serves as a metaphor for travel throughout Tunisia; the deeper you go into it, the more you get out of it.

Around the edges of the medina, where the sunlight brings out the pungent odour of the heaped olives and makes the dried fruits drier, merchants battle for the attentions of the tourist with shouts, whistles and the occasional plucked shirt sleeve.

In the subterraneous gloom of the medina proper, however, a calm descends and you are free to wander amid silk headscarves, scented oils, exquisite leather and Tunisians at leisure.

Reading about the waves of sacking and pillage that washed over Carthage may enflame the imagination, but the most spectacular Roman ruins are further inland, at Dougga. Pitched between jagged mountains and an open plain, the highlight to a trip to Dougga is stargazing during one of the many summer concerts.

Heading deeper into the interior, the landscape becomes more arid as the winds blow straight off Tunisia's own piece of the Sahara, the Grand Erg Oriental.

Respite from the sun is provided by hundreds of thousands of palm trees in the oasis of Tozeur. Once a major stopover for Saharan caravanserai, the splendid old town is a showcase for wealthy merchants' houses made from local brick.