In Homer’s Odyssey, he tells of an island abundant with the fruit of the lotus flower. When consumed, it sends the island’s dwellers into a serene state of amnesia.
This ‘Land of the Lotus-Eaters’ is thought to be the Tunisian island of Djerba.
When I arrive in Djerba, the elusive fruit is nowhere to be found, but the island still possesses the same languid atmosphere of lore – thanks in part to its tranquil Mediterranean coastline.
Djerba has long been a popular refuge for French and domestic Tunisian holidaymakers, but its horizons are expanding. A new flight route between Djerba and the UK has been launched by EasyJet and Conde Nast Traveller has named it one of the world’s best places to visit in 2025.
Through a new package holiday offering from EasyJet Holidays, I’m staying in the Radisson Blu Palace Resort and Thalasso, a five-star retreat on the northeastern coast. Rooms wrap around bird-filled courtyards, leading to dawn-chorus wake-up calls. My balcony frames a view of the Gulf of Gabes.
Those yearning for a fly-and-flop holiday can avail of the all-inclusive offering – from £573 for three nights, with flights – and spend their days padding from beach to pool to ice-cream bar.
But there’s much to explore beyond the resort, evidenced by the island’s Unesco status, awarded in 2023. A patchwork of governance has left its mark, with everyone from the Romans to the Arabs exerting control throughout history. At one point, its shores were teeming with Ottoman pirates.
The result is a harmonious coexistence of cultures. Mosques, churches and synagogues neighbour one another. Each May, El Ghriba Synagogue at the centre of the island is a pilgrimage site for thousands of Jews. A synagogue is said to have lain on this patch of land for two millennia, making it North Africa’s oldest. Inside, tinted light drips in through coloured glass windows and ornate tiles coat the walls.
Ailbhe MacMahon experienced EasyJet Holidays’ new package trip to the Tunisian island of Djerba. She checked in to the Radisson Blu Palace Resort and Thalasso
The Radisson Blu Palace Resort and Thalasso is a five-star retreat on the northeastern coast of Djerba
Those yearning for a fly-and-flop holiday can avail of EasyJet’s all-inclusive Djerba offering – from £573 for three nights, with flights, explains Ailbhe. Above is a premium room at the Radisson Blu Palace Resort and Thalasso
Berbers, indigenous North Africans, make up a large portion of the population. The Berber dialect is spoken in the village of Guellala, famed for its clay pottery. There, I watch local potter Fethi Boutriga sculpt a delicate teacup and saucer in seconds. He has made pottery since he was ten, he tells me, the craft handed down to him by his father.
Djerbans are encouraged to paint their homes white and blue, lending a Mediterranean uniformity to the landscape. One neighbourhood, however, is technicolour.
‘Djerbahood’ is a warren of streets in the village of Erriadh that has been transformed with more than 250 murals. Each corner reveals graphic street art between tumbling bougainvillaea and boutique hotel entrances.
There’s a similar artisanal streak to Houmt Souk, Djerba’s capital, where stalls are heaped with ‘margoum’ carpets, hats woven from palm fronds and silver jewellery.
Guest at the Radisson enjoy views of the Gulf of Gabes
Guests at the Radisson can ‘spend their days padding from beach to pool to ice-cream bar’
My guide, James Hedi, shows me his favourite spot for breakfast, the people-watching hotspot Café Ben Yedder. I ask him what he does for fun on the island. Quad biking and relaxing on the beach, he tells me. And drinking coffee – he gets through five potent ‘allongé’ coffees a day. Houmt Souk is all about laid-back cafe culture, I’m learning.
We lunch in El Fondouk, a 300-year-old lodging house for merchants of camel caravans. French expat Laure Jeanne Moreaux fashioned it into a rustic restaurant with whitewashed walls, woven lampshades and a menu of well-executed local dishes, from richly spiced couscous to fish stew.
Many tourism operators offer day trips to the mainland, making Djerba a gateway to the Southern Tunisian desert.
After reaching the mainland by ferry, my tour group drives towards the shadowy folds of the Dahar Mountains.
Ailbhe visits ‘Djerbahood’, a warren of streets in the village of Erriadh ‘that has been transformed with more than 250 murals’
Ailbhe visits Djerba’s El Ghriba Synagogue (above), the oldest in North Africa
‘Artisanal’ Houmt Souk (above), Djerba’s capital, is ‘all about laid-back cafe culture’, notes Ailbhe
The ‘spectacular’ village of Chenini, where houses are carved into the craggy rock of a hilltop
On the roadside, men sell plastic vats of contraband petrol from neighbouring Libya. A second guide, Jamel Sfasci, reveals: ‘It’s cheaper than water here.’
The landscape is sun-bleached and parched. Occasionally, a blink-and-miss-it doorway appears, hewn into walls of rock. These are the troglodyte homes of the Berbers. ‘There is a house here to the left… they are everywhere,’ Jamel says, pointing them out as we drive.
Their interiors are naturally temperature-controlled, remaining cool even in the unrelenting heat of summer.
We visit one such cave dwelling outside the town of Matmata and watch a woman prepare bread inside a blistering open-air stove. She presents it to us, crisp and perfumed with smoke, to pull apart and dip into bowls of thick honey and olive oil (among Tunisia’s most popular exports).
The region’s cinematic quality caught the attention of Hollywood location scouts, who cast it as the desert planet Tatooine in the Star Wars film franchise.
Hotel Sidi Idriss (left), a troglodyte complex that doubled as the Lars Homestead in the original 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (right)
Star Wars fans become emotional when they visit Hotel Sidi Idriss, Ailbhe is told
Hotel Ksar Hadada doubled as Mos Espa in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Hotel Ksar Hadada as it appeared in The Phantom Menace
Two Star Wars filming locations now operate as hotels for cinephiles. One is Hotel Sidi Idriss, the troglodyte complex that doubled as the Lars Homestead in the original 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Star Wars fans become emotional when they visit, manager Abdelsatar Ben Amor tells me. Spartan guest rooms are named after characters.
Another hotel is Ksar Hadada, a clay and stone former granary that doubled as Mos Espa in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. As I enter, the receptionist stamps my wrist with a blue ink Yoda-shaped stamp.
At golden hour we stop in the spectacular village of Chenini, where houses are carved into the craggy rock of a hilltop. An elderly woman emerges from her ancient stone house, wrapped in colourful shawls, and starts talking into her smartphone. Jamel looks at the scene and laughs. ‘The world changes,’ he says.
It could be a metaphor for this wondrous corner of Tunisia, a region committed to preserving the wonders of the past as it moves into the future.
TRAVEL FACTS
The turquoise waters of Djerba
Ailbhe MacMahon was a guest of EasyJet holidays (www.easyjet.com/en/holidays), Tunisian Travel Service (www.tts.com.tn/en/) and Discover Tunisia (www.explore-tunisia.com/uk-en).
EasyJet Holidays offers three nights at the five-star Radisson Blu Palace Resort and Thalasso (www.easyjet.com/en/holidays) in Djerba on an all-inclusive basis for £573 per person including 23kg of luggage per person, transfers and flights from London Luton on 26 April 2025.
EasyJet Holidays offers seven nights at the five-star Radisson Blu Palace Resort and Thalasso in Djerba on an all-inclusive basis for £1,066 per person including 23kg of luggage per person, transfers and flights from London Luton on 13 May 2025.
Seats from the UK to Djerba are on sale at EasyJet.com (www.easyjet.com/en/cheap-flights/tunisia/djerba) and via the mobile app starting from £28.63.
Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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