Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the grand central boulevard of Tunis, channels Parisian elegance with its tree-lined median, sidewalk cafés and historic facades. The thoroughfare, named after Tunisia’s first president, serves as a busy commercial hub and an open-air museum of 20th-century history, flanked by landmarks like the French Embassy and the neo-Byzantine Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul. Dominating the eastern end, the Tunis Clock Tower rises 38 metres above Place du 7 Novembre. Its gilded, lattice-patterned design blends modernist and traditional motifs, glowing amber after dark. Though functionally modest (locals joke about its reliability), the tower’s height and central roundabout position make it an unavoidable landmark. By day, the avenue thrums with shoppers and coffee drinkers; by evening, it becomes a stage for leisurely promenades. For visitors, it’s less about individual sights than the collective energy: the hum of conversation, the scent of orange blossoms, and the weight of history beneath your feet.

Mary Pickford is D'Place is a high tech gem hearkens to the past. Its architecture is reminiscent of some of the Spanish-style buildings in the area, and inside it features a movie theater and museum dedicated to the silent film star known as 'America's Sweetheart.'

At Desert Memorial Park Cemetery, you can visit the gravesites of famous Rat Pack crooner Frank Sinatra and 70s singer Sonny Bono, of the duo Sonny and Cher. As this is a cemetery, please be respectful of the dead and behave accordingly.