Sfax charges almost nothing for its best asset: 3 km of intact Arab ramparts you can walk end to end for free. Add casse-croûte sandwiches under 5 TND, a 5 TND Kasbah rooftop and a ferry cheaper than coffee, and three days run on pocket change.
The main southern gate into the Medina, set in the double wall that still runs almost unbroken for roughly 3 km. Walking the outside of the wall west from Bab Diwan to Bab El Kasbah costs nothing and takes about 40 minutes at an easy pace.
Founded in 849 AD under the Aghlabids. The prayer hall is closed to non-Muslims, but the carved north facade and the three-tiered square minaret are fully visible from the lanes that press against the mosque on three sides, at no charge.
The northern gate opens straight onto the Medina's food streets — spice stalls, olive vats and wood-fired bread ovens, none of it ticketed. Behind it, Rue Sidi Amar Kammoun stays residential, with doorways and mashrabiya screens on every block.
The square corner tower at the Medina's southeast angle, part of the original defensive circuit. The open ground outside it is public land, and late sun rakes the full eastern wall — the strongest free vantage point on the ramparts anywhere in Sfax.
The city's covered produce and fish halls just outside the north gate, busiest between 09:00 and 12:00. Cured olives start around 3 TND a kilo, dates 5 TND, and the fish counters sell whatever the Kerkennah boats landed at dawn.
A dense run of sandwich counters north of Avenue Habib Bourguiba where a half-baguette with tuna, harissa, egg and olives runs 3.5-5 TND. Fricassé, the fried Tunisian bun version, costs about 1.5 TND and is sold from mid-morning.
The Medina's trade-by-trade souk system, with coppersmiths hammering trays and couscous pots in one alley and fabric merchants in the next. Browsing costs nothing; small hand-beaten copper trays start near 15 TND before any bargaining.
A café built into the thickness of the Ksar wall beside Bab Diwan, with seating in vaulted stone alcoves. Mint tea with pine nuts costs about 2.5 TND and buys you an unlimited stay; the terrace looks over the gate and the palm-lined square.
The fortress anchoring the Medina's southwest corner, converted into a museum of Sfaxian building crafts. Entry is around 5 TND and includes the rampart walk on top, which gives the widest rooftop panorama over the Medina's flat terraces.
The working fishing port southeast of the centre, where wooden Kerkennah boats unload octopus and cuttlefish traps. The quays are open to walk, and grilled-sardine shacks along the approach road serve a plate with bread for about 6 TND.
Ruins of the Roman port city 12 km south of Sfax — baths, mosaics in situ and a stretch of the Byzantine wall, usually with almost no other visitors. Shared louages from the Gabès road station drop you at the turn-off for around 1.5 TND.
The departure quay for the Kerkennah Islands, where foot passengers pay under 1 TND for the 75-minute crossing. Even without boarding, the quay is free to walk and gives an open western view over the port cranes as the last boat loads.