Hello,

The Carlton is on Ave Habib Bourgiba, and there is a church or cathedral on this road. However, I couldn't give you any details about services or even if it's still in use for this purpose. But as there are quite a few ex pats in Tunis, working in embassies etc I'd guess that it is.

Tunis tends to be more relaxed re dress code than, for example the south of the country. Jeans are most certainly acceptable. Tunisian men love their jeans so you'll be in good company wearing them. Not too sure re shorts. Definitely don't wear them if you're planning to visit a mosque. Of course if you're going to be spending any time in the resorts such as Hammamet they'll be fine. My ex boyfriend (Tunisian) used to wear 'long' shorts - ie to the knee - quite a bit, but not so much when in Tunis. One thing to remember, jeans or suits Tunisians always like to look very smart.

As far as I'm aware you won't be able to pay for things anywhere with Travellers Cheques. You can however exchange these either at the airport exchange bureaus or at your hotel if they have a bureau de change. A lot of hotels will only change TC's for their own guests. You should also be able to use your plastic to get cash out of the cash machines and hotels and the more upmarket and/or tourist class restaurants should accept visa / mastercard etc.

I can't help at all re gyms, but to get you started with restaurants... Walk out of your hotel and turn right. Take the 2nd street on your right (I've used a Rough Guide map to remind me , so I hope it's right!) - Rue de Marseille. There are a few restaurants down this street. I can recommend La Mamma. Andalous ( a little further up) also looked very nice, though I didn't get a chance to actually eat there.

Hope this is of some help. Any other questions you think of, let us know and I'm sure someone on here will be able to help.
A.

There is a big cathedral in Tunis though I can't remember the name at present. As sunstruck says, there is quite a big ex-pat community in Tunisia.

Thanks for the tips.

From what I've heard polos and button downs are the more typical attire there, while shorts/t-shirts will scream tourist and gain one unwanted attention.

Also I'm going to go with cash from the ATM for most of my spending, as there is an ATM near the hotel and it's only a few US$ to get money out from my bank.

Thanks for the restaurant information.

I sure hope I can find a gym there, still doing some googling but no luck.

Re your query about a Christian church in Tunis, the Cathedral referred to above by Aslemma and Sunstruck is probably the Catholic one where masses are said in Arabic and French.

If you 'Google' on:

churches tunis

you'll find details of other churches too. for example, there is a Protestant church - St Georges - which seems to have strong American links but there is also apparently a small Greek Orthodox congregation too.

For anyone wanting to find an English language church the following site is useful:

http://www.ics-uk.org/churches

Whilst run by an Anglican organisation it has a search facility into a database that includes details of other denominations' churches throughout the world where services are said in English and wherever possible a link to a local contact.

SM