5 Days Star Wars

Introduction

The 5-day Star Wars tour departing from the island of Djerba is the ideal circuit for Saga lovers to travel in the footsteps of George Lucas and Skywalker in the south of Tunisia! Between the island of Djerba, Tataouine, Matmata, and Tozeur, you will visit all the Star Wars filming locations! You will explore the Ksours that served as slave quarters, Ben’s House, and Lars’ House. You’ll discover the Igloo in the middle of a salt lake and the Mos Espa village, considered the largest Star Wars site in Tunisia.

A Propos du circuit 5 Jours Star Wars

Duration : 5 days
Departure time: 8:30 in the morning
Pick-up : All over Tunisia (our team will pick you up wherever you are)
Confirmation : Immediate
Guide : Arabic – French – English – German – Italian
Type of transport : Air-conditioned vehicle
Excursion approved by the Tunisian Tourism Office
Cancellation : See our terms and conditions

Points forts

Profitez d’une prise en charge de votre adresse là où vous êtes en Tunisie
Découvrez une grande partie du sud Tunisien
Profitez d’une randonnée entre les Ksours de Beni Khadech, hors des sentiers battus
Randonnez dans les villages berbères de Chenini, Douiret et Toujane
Traversez les grandes dunes de sable sur les traces des dromadaires
Visitez Tozeur et Nefta et découvrez les plus grands décors de Star Wars
Traversez Chott Djerid, le plus grand lac salé au nord Afrique
Explorez les oasis de montagne chebika, Tamerza et Mides
Partez à la rencontre de la nature et plongez profond dans la vie locale
Possibilité de personnaliser le circuit au grés de vos envies

A Propos du circuit 5 Jours Star Wars

Durée : 5 jours
Heure du départ : 8h30 du matin
Prise en charge : Toute la Tunisie (notre équipe vient vous chercher là où vous êtes)
Confirmation : immédiate
Guide : Arabe – Français – Anglais – Allemand – Italien
Type de transport : Véhicule climatisé
Excursion agréé par l’Office de tourisme Tunisien
Annulation : Voir nos termes et conditions

Highlights

Enjoy pick-up from your address anywhere in Tunisia
Explore a large part of southern Tunisia
Take a hike among the Ksours of Beni Khadech, off the beaten path
Hike in the Berber villages of Chenini, Douiret, and Toujane
Cross the vast sand dunes in the footsteps of camels
Visit Tozeur and Nefta and discover the largest Star Wars sets
Cross Chott Djerid, the largest salt lake in North Africa
Explore the mountain oases of Chebika, Tamerza, and Mides
Immerse yourself in nature and dive deep into local life
Possibility to customize the tour according to your preferences

Day 1: Mos Eisley and Ben's House

The Star Wars tour starts in Djerba, the location of several scenes, including the famous Chalmun’s Cantina!

Day’s visits:

Ajim (Mos Eisley – Episode IV)

– Stormtrooper checkpoint : Control of Ben and Luke by the stormtroopers (“These are not the droids you’re looking for.”); the location is challenging to recognize due to changes made by the film crew at the time.

Chalmun’s Cantina : The location is also difficult to recognize, especially since the building (a former traditional Berber bakery) is in a more or less advanced state of disrepair. Additionally, it was (is?) threatened with disappearance to build modern buildings, leading to an international movement to preserve it.

Millennium Falcon’s takeoff in defiance of stormtroopers : The alley is a few streets south of the “stormtrooper checkpoint” and is quite difficult to find but more easily recognizable.

Ajim (Ben’s House – Episode IV)

About 3 km north of Ajim, on the coastal road leading to Sidi Jemour, is the old fisherman’s house that served to film Ben Kenobi’s house during his exile on Tatooine in April 1976. It has become a place of “pilgrimage” and is regularly maintained.

Note that since the Special Edition of the Trilogy in 1997, the original house was replaced in the film by a shot of a miniature and digital painting, radically changing its appearance.

Sidi Jemour (Anchorhead, Mos Eisley – Episode IV)

About a dozen kilometers north of Ajim, still along the coastal road, is the mausoleum (= dome tomb) of Sidi Jemour (or Sidi Jmour). Also considered a mosque, it is a frequently visited religious pilgrimage site.

In April 1976, two scenes from Episode IV were shot there:

A cut scene outside Anchorhead: This cut scene is actually made up of two scenes: the one of the Toshi station and the one between Luke and Biggs.
Luke and Ben’s arrival by speeder in Mos Eisley: Note that this scene, like many in Mos Eisley, has undergone many changes over the course of the Trilogy’s evolutions.
Departure to Ksar Jouamaa for a night in an 18th-century attic, for dinner, evening, and night.

Day 2: The Planet Tataouine

After breakfast, head to the city of Tataouine, from which George Lucas borrowed the name Tatooine, although no Star Wars scenes were specifically filmed there.

The first visit will be to the famous Ksar Hadada: Like two other Ksours located near Tataouine (Ksar Medenine and Ksar Ouled Soltane), it was used to film the Mos Espa sets on August 10, 1997, specifically the slave quarters in Episode I (scene where Qui-Gon contacts Obi-Wan by comlink and scene with Shmi “He has no father…”).

Then, head to the Berber village of Chenini to enjoy a hiking tour with a local guide.

Enjoy a typical lunch in a local restaurant and then head to the second Ksar, called Ouled Soltane:
Ksar Ouled Soltane is located southeast of Tataouine. It is one of the best-preserved, renovated, and most visited ksours in Tunisia. It is a mountain ksar, which has 2 separate courtyards and over 400 ghorfas (storage cells) on 4 or 5 levels.

It served, like the other 2 ksours above, as a set for Mos Espa in Episode I in August 1997, for the slave quarters.

Head to Matmata where you will spend the night in a hotel where Star Wars scenes were shot.

Day 3: Star Wars between Matmata and Tozeur

During this day, you will visit:

The Sidi Idriss Hotel :

which includes 5 interior courtyards: 4 of them surrounded by rooms, and the fifth, named the “Star Wars courtyard,” constituting the restaurant. This one served as a set for the dining room and kitchen of Lars, as well as the courtyard.

The Sidi Bouhlel Canyon :

Filmography:

– Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
– The English Patient (1996)

On the way to Tozeur and just after Chott Djerid, you will find the village of Dakas, and just 2 km northeast of this village, you will find the Mausoleum of Sidi Bouhlel, which is located at the southern end of the “Star Wars Canyon,” where several scenes were shot mainly from Episode IV for the Jundland desert (shooting in March 1976), as well as some scenes from the pod race in Episode I.

Here are some scenes from the episode shot in this canyon:

Episode IV: Jundland Desert

R2-D2 is captured by the Jawas
Luke and C-3PO find R2-D2 and are attacked by the Tuskens, then rescued by Ben
Luke and Ben discover the sandcrawler and the Jawas massacred by the Imperials
Luke and Ben observe Mos Eisley in the distance

Episode I:

The Tuskens shoot at the pod race competitors
Annex: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark: all scenes in the film supposed to be set in Egypt were actually filmed in Tunisia (for example: Cairo was filmed in Kairouan, and Tanis not far from the canyon), the same goes for the scene where Indy threatens Belloq to blow up the Ark, filmed in the Star Wars Canyon.

Dinner and night in a 4-star hotel.

Day 4: Lars' Farm and Mos Espa Village

During this day, we will visit various Star Wars filming locations in Tunisia.

The first visit will be the Igloo of Lars’ Farm:

The Igloo:

It is probably the main element of the set: it simulates the entrance to the surface of the Lars’ farm and has almost become a symbol of Star Wars, and certainly of Tatooine. It was originally built in 1976 and reconstructed in 2000, identically and in the same place. It is only an “empty” set: there is nothing inside, and it leads nowhere.

Just around it, there were other sets that have completely disappeared over time, and we can mention:

The hydroponic gardens : Located behind the igloo, not much remains of them, except for the outline and some pieces that formed the “roof.”
The craters : There are 3 of them: a large one, a small one (the closest to the hydroponic gardens), and a third one that has completely disappeared. They represented the inner courtyards of the Lars’ farm (courtyards filmed elsewhere, see Matmata), including the largest one above which Luke leans when his aunt calls him and at the edge of which he admires the twin suns. Today, only the outlines remain.
The evaporators : There is nothing left of them today, except their footprints where they were implanted.
The tombs, including that of Shmi : They are located about 150 meters north of the igloo, and only the footprints remain there as well.

Great Dune (Sea of Sands – Episode IV)

Further north of the igloo, and north of the Algeria -> Nefta road, where the Sahara begins, is an imposing dune, the “Great Dune,” where the following scenes were filmed:

– The scene of the crash of R2-D2 and C-3PO’s capsule, in the “Sea of Sands” of Tatooine, in Episode IV
– The scene where C-3PO passes by a Krayt dragon skeleton
– The scene where the stormtroopers find the capsule (a scene that was later extended with shots taken in the Yuma desert)

Mos Espa (Episode I and II):

Mos Espa, the most easily visible and certainly the most attractive site, is the reconstruction, in the middle of the desert, of buildings that create an entire district of Mos Espa. The sets were created by Lucasfilm for the filming of Episode I in July 1997 (including Qui-Gon’s walks and his group in the streets and on the market of Mos Espa) and reused for Episode II (Ani’s visit to Watoo). And at the request of the Tunisian tourism office, they were left as they were, for tourism purposes. A road leads easily from Nefta.

Yardang Field (Episode I):

In the immediate vicinity of the sets mentioned above is the “Yardang Field,” literally “Yardang Field,” with a yardang being a rocky crest created by wind erosion in desert environments. This is where the landing of Queen Amidala’s ship on Tatooine in Episode I was filmed, as well as all the scenes around the ship (including the Maul/Qui-Gon duel).

Oung Jmel / Camel Rock (Episode I):

2 or 3 km northeast of the higher sets is a famous rock in Tunisia, for its shape giving the illusion of the silhouette of a camel (“Oung Jmel” translates roughly to “camel’s neck”). Episode I stopped here to place Dark Maul’s landing site on Tatooine directly in front, and a short sequence of the pod race also passes right in front of the rock.

Night at the Ksar Rouge hotel or similar.