LIBYA: BACK IN THE FOLD

This desert nation was an international pariah until 2003, when it renounced its nuclear program and took responsibility for the airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.

With the lifting of visa restrictions on U.S. citizens in May, Libya is poised to welcome leisure travelers. Marriott and Intercontinental have announced the construction of large hotels in the capital, Tripoli. “The day we sent out the press release that visas were being granted, bookings came in,” says Perry Lungmus of tour company Travcoa.

Its tours usually revolve around archaeological sites (“situated beautifully on the coast”).

The Libyan coastline is as varied as the moods of its mercurial leader Muammar Qaddai, ranging from rocky cliffs to powdery white sand. At the western end, the seven-mile-long sandbar of Farwa curves out into the water, forming a clear blue lagoon. On the eastern side, the year-old Hotel Al-Burdi is a contemporary, landscaped resort set into a bay and surrounded by cliffs. Most visitors hone in on Libya’s magniicent Roman ruins, particularly Leptis Magna, a nearly complete Roman city on the northern coast. And since the Sahara covers 90 percent of the country, it’s worth giving it a nod, particularly the Acacus

mountain range, with its 12,000-year-old cave drawings.

 

The Tunisian town of Hammamet
boasts a 12th-century casbah.

MOROCCO: LUXURY AND TOLERANCE

Morocco has of late garnered media attention for hosting the ilming of Sex and the City’s risqué sequel, after the United Arab Emirates’ government backed out, judging the ilm too scandalous for the conservative emirates.

More tellingly, perhaps, Morocco welcomed the gay British singer Elton John at its Mawazine festival in Rabat this year, a sign of real-life tolerance that triumphed over pro-tests by hard-line religious groups. While beach goers generally lock to Morocco’s more developed Atlantic coast, the Mediterranean village of Oued Laou is an oft-overlooked alternative north of the popular mountain town of Chefchaouen, known for its hash cafés. Oued Laou is a quiet ishing village, but the surrounding landscape is among the most lush in Morocco, and the nearby beaches are sparsely populated. New development in Tangiers, where European travelers disembark after a ferry ride from Spain, is revitalizing the city, says Joel Zack, president of Heritage Tours Private Travel. He has seen the town emerge from seediness to welcome its irst boutique hotels, including the Nord Pinus. 

 

The archaeological site of Leptis
Magna, in Libya.

TUNISIA: BOUTIQUE EXPLOSION

Tunisia boasts high literacy and has made signiicant strides toward gender equality. It has long been a destination for European holidaymakers on sun-and-fun package tours that include outings to the country’s famous archaeological sites: Dougga, Bulla Regia, Oudna, and El-Jem. In recent years, tourism has gone upmarket, with boutique hotels opening in and around the capital, Tunis, such as the Villa Didon in Carthage and the Hotel Dar Said in a 19th-century mansion.

While many of the prime spots along the country’s 700 miles of coastline have been developed into large resorts, a little effort will get you off the tourist trail and onto some lovely sand. The port town of Bizerte was the last to be abandoned by the French departing Tunisia. It’s an easy day trip that swings you past the archaeological site of

Utica. Djerba, a sandy, palm-clad island off the southeastern coast, is billed as a model of peaceful Muslim–Jewish coexistence. The Jewish community, about a thousand strong, worships at the El-Ghriba synagogue in Erriadh.

Two hotels have opened in this enclave, Dar Dhiafa and

Dar Bibine, the latter with Armani linens and Philippe Starck furnishings.

Nearby is the small port town of Zarzis.  While not one of Tunisia’s most elegant cities, it has excellent nearby beaches and a new boutique hotel, the lushly landscaped Residence Sultana. From Zarzis, set off into the desert to visit sites such as Chott El-Jerid (described by scientists as one of the most Mars-like places on Earth) or the trog-

lodyte villages of Matmata, where George Lucas ilmed scenes from Star Wars in the 1970s.

 

North Africa: Different continent, different cultures
The Other Mediterranean