Getting from Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport to the city

A train at the door

• Monastir is the only airport in Tunisia with a railway station at its entrance.
• The station is Aeroport Skanes-Monastir, on the Sahel Metro light rail line.
• Northbound it runs to Sousse in about 30 to 40 minutes.
• Southbound it runs through Monastir town and along the coast to Mahdia, about an hour.
• Trains go every 30 to 60 minutes through the day.
• The fare is under five dinars, reported at about three to four to Sousse.

What that saves you

• A taxi to Sousse is 25 to 35 dinars. The train is a fraction of that and takes about the same time.
• Sousse is the main resort city of the region and where a large share of arrivals here are going, so this is the comparison that matters.
• The line also passes the Skanes resort strip, which is where most of the beach hotels are.

Taxis, for when the train does not suit

• Central Monastir: 8 to 12 dinars. The airport is only about 3 km west of the town.
• The Skanes resort zone: 10 to 20 dinars.
• Sousse: 25 to 35 dinars, about 20 km.
• Mahdia: 50 to 70 dinars.
• Use the meter on the short runs and agree a price before setting off on the long ones. That is the local convention and drivers expect it.

The airport itself

• It is small and rarely crowded, and it is run by TAV, the Turkish airport operator, under concession.
• Most of its traffic is European charter and low cost flying, heavily seasonal, with strong links to Germany, France, the UK, Poland and the Czech Republic.
• Out of season it is very quiet; in July and August the arrivals hall fills in bursts as charter waves land together.