I do hope you've not been persuaded to do it prawn. Your rep at the hotel will be delighted to book excursions for you, as that is where they make their money. Hold off even then. By all means go to the 'Welcome Meeting' but be aware that it's main purpose is a selling exercise and many trips can be done independently and much more cheaply. I would particularly advise against booking a trip to the Medina in Sousse. If you are nervous about doing it alone I'll be quite happy to go with you and you won't finish up paying an inflated price for a coffee in a cafe which gives her commission. The same applies if you want a boat trip. These can be booked with the lads down in the Marina in PEK or by the port in Sousse, where you can 'negotiate' prices (otherwise known as haggling)

Transport is dirt cheap, at least by our standards, and if you want to go into Tunis, Monastir or Mahdia you can get the train or Metro from Sousse. There are also buses to most places, again from Sousse. This means you won't be tied to the rep's times and can move on when it suits you. I'll give you a link to the train timetables later if you like. Louages (shared taxis) are also quite fun for longer journeys but may not be for the faint-hearted.

Some things are worth doing with the rep, including Medinat Alzara (I'll have to check the spelling),which is a 'sound and light' show, if it's still on. i think we've got some reports on that somewhere on here.

I do realise that a lot of what I've said is superfluous as you've been to Tunisia before prawn, but I've met so many people who've signed up for trips which have been a bit of a rip-off. On my first trip many years ago, with Cosmos (remember them?) we had a fantastic rep, an Englishman who lived in Sousse and had been kept on though he should have retired. He was a mine of useful information, but the rep on my second trip was absolutely useless and I've never bothered with them since.

No worry on that front, Aslemma! If I want any trips will certainly check out the local offers. As to the medina - we survived the souks in Istanbul so are not easily intimidated .

It was just that I thought it 'strange' to say the least that now I have paid up they can suddenly manage my booking online again! Definitely cynical!