Café des Délices

The Café des Délices is the café with the view in Sidi Bou Said. Its seating spreads across the cliffside of the village, facing the sea and looking out across the Gulf of Tunis. For many visitors, a glass of mint tea here, with white walls behind and blue water below, is the image they take home from the village.

The café has deeper roots than its popularity suggests. Hatem Bourial, writing about the holy figures of the Sidi Bou Said hill, notes that it was built around the tomb of a saint, Sidi Chabaane, one of a dozen marabouts who lived around the village alongside Abu Said al-Baji, the saint who gave Sidi Bou Said its name. The café is also known in France through a song by Patrick Bruel, which has added to its fame among French-speaking visitors.

Expect a short list of the drinks found in cafés all over Tunisia, such as mint tea and coffee, rather than a full menu. The view is the reason to come, rather than the food, so treat it as a place for a drink and a rest after walking the steep lanes.

The terraces are busy at weekends and at sunset, when they fill with local families and tourists, and on days when cruise passengers visit the village. For a calmer visit, come in the morning or on a weekday afternoon, when it is easier to find a seat with an open view. The seating is on a steep hillside, so it is less suitable for anyone with limited mobility. We could not confirm opening hours or prices from an official source; expect café prices rather than restaurant prices, and carry cash.

The café suits couples, photographers and anyone who wants to sit and watch the sea. It is a short walk from the upper part of the village and the Café des Nattes; combine it with a visit to Ennejma Ezzahra, the former palace of Baron d'Erlanger, and a stroll through the quieter lower village. The TGM train stop for Sidi Bou Said is downhill from the village centre, and Carthage and La Marsa are each a short ride away.