Houses to rent in Carthage

Between Carthage Presidence and Sidi Bou Said, houses are still let largely by word of mouth and through two or three agencies who all know each other. There are fewer online listings than in La Marsa, which partly explains the rents: when a Carthage villa appears on Houni, it often has three viewings the same day.

This page brings together what exists: villas with gardens along the TGM line, villa floors in Salammbo, blue and white houses in Sidi Bou Said, and a handful of properties in Amilcar in between. Owners post directly, and so do the agencies.

The TGM gardens, from Byrsa to Hannibal

The streets climbing from Carthage Hannibal station towards the hill are lined with villas built between the 1950s and the 1980s, with mature gardens and a view over the gulf from the upper floors. A house to rent in Carthage Byrsa in that perimeter is aimed first at diplomats and foreign executives: rents start around 3,000 DT and pass 7,000 DT for a renovated villa with a pool.

The area has one constraint newcomers underestimate: building work. This is inside the protected archaeological site, and the owner cannot dig a pool or add a room without going through the Institut National du Patrimoine. If the house needs work, ask what has already been approved.

Sidi Bou Said: the blue and white house comes with rules

Renting a villa in Sidi Bou Said means taking the village as it is, protected since 1915: white facades, blue joinery, no shop signs, and traffic that is impossible on spring weekends when visitors walk up to the Cafe des Nattes. Parking is the first subject of conversation between neighbours.

In exchange, a house in Sidi Bou Said gives you what no other district of Greater Tunis offers: courtyards, terraces over the gulf, silence as soon as night falls. Rents run from 2,500 DT for a small village house with no view to over 8,000 DT for a property with a garden on the cliff side. Furnished lets dominate, often taken by foreigners for a year or two. Anyone planning to stay longer also looks at houses for sale in Carthage.

The lower part of the village, towards the marina and the TGM station, is more affordable and less touristy. That is where I would tell a Tunisian family to look if they want the address without the noise of tour groups.

Amilcar and Salammbo, quieter and often cheaper

Amilcar is a narrow strip between the sea and the TGM track, with 1970s villas many of which look out over the water. Few listings, but prices sometimes below Byrsa for a comparable quality of life, with the beach on foot. For comparison, houses to rent across the Tunis governorate show what the southern suburbs and the centre are asking.

Salammbo, near the Punic ports and the boundary with Le Kram, is the most mixed part of the delegation: town houses, S+3 villa floors (three bedrooms plus a living room) at around 1,500 to 2,200 DT, a few old villas. It is the entry level of Carthage, and the most practical for anyone working in Tunis thanks to the Carthage Salammbo station. It is also where apartments to rent in Carthage, far more numerous, compete with the houses.

When to look, and what to ask the owner

The high season for rentals in Carthage follows the international school calendar: sign in July, move in during August. Outside that window, owners are more flexible on rent and on the length of the lease. Always ask for a registered tenancy contract, a detailed inventory of the furniture for furnished houses, and a clear split of gardening and water costs, two heavy items in a house with grounds.