Just back from a fantastic week in Monastir (Skanes) (Monastir)

Member Name: cheryl59

Product:	Monastir
Date:	11/08/08 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: exotic, lots to see and do, not just pool/beach based, great with kids

Disadvantages: watch out for the sunburn

There are only two reviews on here so far for Monastir (Skanes) and they are both saying how bad it is so I thought I should even things up a bit !

We've just got back from a week in Monastir and we loved it ! Our only regret was not staying for two weeks instead of one but all good things must come to an end !!

We decided to go for a last minute deal and - having two daughters aged 7 and 3 and therefore needing a family room and a holiday on a budget - we were somewhat limited as to where we could go. The travel agent came up with Monastir and two days later we were off !

Our experience is possibly slightly different to yours because we are a bilingual family (French dad, English mum, bilingual kids) and we flew out from Brest in Brittany, France and stayed in a Marmara French-speaking hotel called (and this had me in stitches and singing Wham songs right from the moment we booked !!!) Tropicana Club. We paid Euro2200 for a week full board for the four of us.

We had never been to Tunisia or anywhere in North Africa before so we really didn't know what to expect, apart from the sun, and we certainly weren't disappointed there !

Our flight touched down around 11pm, and the airport formalities were dealt with quickly. On the plane you have to fill in a little tourist ID card for each family member, which is all duly stamped and officialised as you pass through customs - the advantage being, this is the only ID you need on you while in Tunisia so you can keep your passports safely locked away at the hotel while you go out and about.

We found the courtesy coach, laid on to take us to our hotel and within 5 minutes, we were there. This proximity to the airport has been criticised as a negative point for Monastir, but for us, travelling with tired young children, it was an absolute godsend ! We saw the planes flying overhead but weren't disturbed by the noise, which we didn't hear at all once inside.

The hotel - which is probably about the same as all the others, they all seem to be about the same and have 3 stars - had everything we needed : unlimited buffet-style restaurant, activities for the kids and the adults, two outdoor swimming pools and an indoor one, a henna tattooist, a beach literally 2 minutes down a path - but we also wanted to get out and about and see the real Tunisia, not just a hotel that could be anywhere in the world.

We spent the first day in the pool to keep the kids happy ! A word of warning, we put LOADS of factor 30 suncream on every hour and stayed in the shade as much as possible and we still all got really bad sunburn so be careful and go for a higher factor, at least 50 for the adults or 100 for the kids. It felt really exotic to be lying under a bamboo parasol, surrounded by palm trees and cactii covered in prickly pears everywhere you looked! And the beach offered all the usual watersports for the more adventurous.

The hotels are all in one designated tourist area (Skanes Beach) but you can easily get a taxi for a few dinar to Monastir town. Tunisia is a land of hagglers so never accept the first price they want - they will take you for an idiot and have no respect for you at all and you'll pay over the odds. A one way trip per taxi into Monastir town (for up to four people) should cost around 8 dinar (about £3-4). Monastir has got a few monuments to see - the mausoleum, a museum, the riad - but we went to see the souk. After some serious haggling (my tip is to offer a silly price to begin with, and aim to pay a third to half of what they originally ask for ... if they refuse to lower the price, just head to the door and funnily enough, they always say OK just as you reach the street !!), we came away with a few bargains - a handwoven rug, some ceramic dishes, a nice mirror and - for the kids - a singing camel !!!! All the owners of the little shops grab your arm and take you in to see their wares, then try to drag you off to see their brother's/cousin's/uncle's shop a few doors down ! It's funny to begin with but can be a pain in the end so just say no and be firm ! The official languages are Arabic and French but they all speak English and all the other main tourist languages too.

We did another taxi trip to Sousse, another town with a big souk about 15-20 minutes away (again, around 8-9 dinar each way). Also an organised excursion in jeeps to see the Berber villages further inland and to the north, where you got to see a bit more of the real country. And a boat trip on Le Sultan, one of several impressive mock pirate ships that take you out to sea, lay on a barbecue, do some dancing and juggling, then let you go swimming from the boat if you want and - hopefully - see some dolphins (we did, from a distance). On the last day, we did a camel ride along the beach outside the hotel, which is not strictly legal but they still come along pretty much every day !

You won't find fantastic nightlife but for a romantic break or a family holiday, it's absolutely perfect.

Summary: We'd definitely come back !