i aint been yet , hoping to go in may tho, as to whether you should cancel or pay of balance, i dont know if this will affect you or not , but i heard on radio this morning , that any one whos paid to go and cancels they will not get there money back, i would look in to this if i was you, hope this helps

Good for you Tammie. I think by May things should be a lot easier though I expect there will still be clear evidence of the troubles and not everything will have been rebuilt and back to normal. If, as I hope, I still manage to get back to Sousse on 18th March I will make sure I report back on what I find. I will update everybody on whether I am going and if anyone has any specific questions don't hesitate to ask and I will try to find out.

yes please do. will look out for your report when you get back. i keep listening to tv news and the radio, but they dont always give you the full update if you know what i mean

Fingers & toes crossed everyone. It will be interesting to get a first hand view from Aslemma, although anyone who has driven along the port area between Sousse & Monastir would think it was a bit like a war zone in places normally!

I'm afraid it will look a lot worse now Anne. My friend who got out on a flight to Glasgow on Friday said Magasin General in Sousse was in flames as they drove past. Incidentally Enfidha airport has now been re-named: rather than incorporating the name of Ben Ali it is now to be known as Enfidha Mohamed Bouazizi Airport after the young man who set himself on fire which was the match which lit this whole tinder-box.

I have been following the reports on Al Jazeera news which seems to have better coverage now than BBC and it appears that things are slowly improving.

Al Jazeera is a great source of news, much of it items that don't get any coverage here in the UK for one reason or another.

I agree with you Briar, I've always felt perfectly safe there, even walking through the 'local' areas. Jet2 have apparently dropped Tunisia as a destination, at least for this summer. so we can only hope the other companies don't follow suit.

Incidentally, at present I can't get into HT via the link in the e-mails unless I log in again, and when I try to do that it doesn't recognise me, but via my 'favourites' I get in without any problems.

This was a comment posted in yesterdays "Telegraph"........

Post removed for Copyright © reasons, please only post links to articles.

Thanks for that Anne. Roll on March.

Wish it was me ! I read something similar on another forum from someone who lives opp the Marhaba Palace in PEK and they said the only time they were a bit apprehensive was last Friday when Ben Ali fled the country, they thought there maybe a wee problem but hey ho everything was fine. Hope Sousse is good for you too!

To be fair, most simply did not have the choice because they were on package deals and were flown home by their TO regardless of their wishes. It's a while since I have been to Tunisia and was only thinking just before Christmas that once the holiday was out of the way I'd see about trying to arrange a week there in the Spring. Well, that was the idea and for the moment it remains only an idea - I'm sitting it out and waiting to see how things before I commit myself to booking anything mainly because I don't want to book now and then find that it gets cancelled and it's too late to find an alternative because I work in HE have only a limited 'window' in early April without teaching commitments.

If I'd actually booked, like Aslemma I'd probably have done nothing other than keep my fingers crossed because like her I'd be going on my own with nobody else to think about. However, if I had children and was limited to the school holidays - I'd have been frantic trying to arrange something else by now. Yes, in part because of the risk - what I choose as an adult for myself is not what I'd necessarily choose if it involved kids - but because I would be doing everything to try and ensure that we still got that family holiday. I wouldn't want to risk that it got cancelled at the last minute and they got no holiday at all. Everybody's circumstances are quite different and might have all sorts of reasons for the decisions they take. Friends thought that I was mad for going out to Tunisia fairly soon after 9/11 and things were exceptionally quiet but it didn't bother me. Again whther I;d have thought the same if I was taking young children, I can't say.

SM

(Hoping that I will get back to Tunisia some time this year)

That is so true. My own circumtances are completely different to most people who visit Tunisia, as I have been going there for over 11 years and am not a typical tourist. If I had young children I would be far more cautious and even if I was travelling with a friend I would need to defer to their worries, buit I travel alone so am independent I can travel at most times of the year so fitting in a holiday isn't a problem but returning to Tunisia is my priority at present so I can see for myself what has been happening.

Hello all,
we have been in touch with people that we know in the Skanes/Sahline area and the only real sign of violence was the burning down of the petrol station ( apparently owned by former president / family ) that is opposite the go kart track close to the Sahara beach hotel other than that no incidents.
We have already booked to return in July and September and will definately be going unless told otherwise by travel company.
From info received from our friends I dont think there is any significant risk to tourists at all.
Another good source of current information is France24 sky channel 513.
Pretty sure that people like us who have been many times will continue to return, I have spoken to a lot of our German friends who also plan to return this year, it would seem that regular visitors have more of an angle on the situation and are not discouraged from going, but i am sure many tourists will have crossed it off their possible destination lists which is a shame.
Everyone Take care be safe ........ENJOY :-)

i am sure many tourists will have crossed it off their possible destination lists which is a shame

It would be indeed, the genuine warmth of the Tunisian people is what always impressed me oh and the beaches

Whilst I'm pretty sure most of us regulars will return as soon as possible, I agree with easy_tiger that many tourists won't consider going there for some time. What I find ironic is that some people who have been given the chance to change their holiday have opted for Egypt which is hardly a haven of tranquility at present, though the problems there don't appear to have spread to the tourist areas.

Morning all,

Taking the subject away from present troubles, I'm glad to say I'm fancying Tunisia for next April. I've never been before and I'm looking for a destination with hot weather for us just to chill on the beach or around the pool. A bit of a walk around the town or medina would be good too.

Can anybody advise on an area or even an hotel? I've looked at the resort reviews and quite fancy PEK. Is it any more expensive out and about than other resorts?
Thanks for any suggestions

Hi Shirley

I know that everybody has their own preference however I would recommend PEK, a nice small VERY clean resort with lovely beaches and the Tunisians are lovely and very friendly.
From PEK you have easy and quick access in to Sousse via either bus, taxi, small road train or small Tuk Tuk.

From a previous post I made which might help

I will give you some info about Port El Kantaoui, we stayed in the Abou Sofiane which I could recommend and is located on a lovely stretch of beach about 20 minutes from the centre of PEK.

The hotel as a very good animation team who put on lots of activates particularly in high season, in low season there are not enough guests to make running a full program worthwhile, for example there were only 60 guests in the Abou sofiane 2 weeks ago and the majority were pensioners so not the most lively holiday.
In high season at the Abou Sofiane there is a full program and facilities include, tennis, volleyball, archery, shooting, pool games, football etc.
There is also water sports including parascending, pedalos and jet skis available from the beach during the summer.

In PEK it's self there is a small Amusement Park (Hannibal Park), Oasis Park Botanical Garden and Zoo and the Aqua Palace Water Park http://www.acquapalace.com/ I haven't been in to any of them so cant help you more info about them.
There is also a superb golf course in PEK if that should appeal to you and if you fancy any kind of boat trip they are all available from the Marina area in PEK..

I like PEK because it is very clean and I find that you don't get too much hassle from shop keepers to buy and if you want to go to Sousse it is only a few Dinar on the bus or by either a taxi or TUK TUK.

There are several other resorts available including Sousse, Monastir, Hammamet etc that I can't give you any help with

Also some pictures of Port El Kantaoui http://travel.webshots.com/album/568540283GrfKwP?vhost=travel

I know we will be back soon

Graham

thanks for the info Graham, great photos

I'm going to have fun researching Tunisia. As I said it's a possible destination for Easter 2012. I've already got this Easter and the summer sorted

hi guys we have booked to go back to p.e.k. in august 7 years in a row try to forget all the recent trouble and get back there i grew up in west belfast and have witnessed much worse than you have seen on news reports from tunisia seen bombings,shootings,burnings,troops on the streets you name it and not once did it bother me tourists came and left i cant recall any tourists being harmed so please consider tunisia as your holiday destination the country needs the tourists money it needs to get on its feet

sorry if this sounds like a rant but after holidaying there the people are so kind and friendly and i have been in contact with the hotel manager and they are so worried but praying people will return if you do decide to go please consider bringing some childrens coloring books or any unwanted childrens clothes the maids in the hotels are so poorly paid and would be delighted with then

thanks for reading