Best Place to Exchange Money in Tunis

Where to change money in Tunis

Tunisia's tourist office names hotels, banks, bureaux de change and post offices as places to swap cash for dinars. Under a central bank circular of 23 January 2026, licensed exchange offices must identify every client with official ID, even for small amounts, and keep their records, exchange slips included, for ten years. Bring your passport and keep your copy of the slip. We found no single bureau backed by two separate sources; stick to licensed offices and banks and steer clear of anyone changing money in the street.

• Bank branches in the city centre - Banks change cash, but hours, commission and whether they serve non-customers were not published on any page we could open. Ask at the counter first.
• Licensed exchange offices - The office records your ID and may refuse a transaction if it cannot verify who you are or why you are changing money. Ask for the rate first.
• Your hotel - Useful in the evening. We could not compare hotel and bank rates, so ask what you will receive and keep the slip.

Changing money at the airport

We could not open the airport operator's pages, so the exchange desks and cash machines at Tunis-Carthage (TUN) are unconfirmed. Plan to use your card at a cash machine on arrival, read any fee on the screen, and change only a small sum at a desk.

For the ride into town, take an official yellow taxi and ask for the meter. The tariff in force since 15 December 2022 adds 4.500 dinars to rides from airport taxi ranks, 1 dinar per large bag and 50 per cent to the metered fare between 21:00 and 05:00. A new tariff was expected from June 2026, but we found no report that it had started, so treat these figures as a guide.

ATMs and cards in Tunis

The tourist office says cash machines are easy to find in Tunisia. We found no published fee or withdrawal limit for foreign cards at Tunisian machines, so look for a local fee on the screen before you confirm; your UK bank may charge you as well.

No source we could open says how widely cards are taken in Tunis, in hotels or in the Medina. Carry dinars for market stalls, small cafes and taxis, and when a card reader offers sterling, keep the payment in dinars. The tourist office also suggests leaving restaurant tips in cash so they reach the waiter.

Paying for transport in Tunis

The TGM light railway runs from the centre to La Goulette, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa, and Lonely Planet rates it as cheap and reliable. Transtu, the operator, prices tickets by section: one section costs 0.430 dinars in second class or 0.800 in first, two sections 0.680 or 1.150, and a return 1.300 or 2.150. Ask at the window how many sections your trip covers.

Taxi meters have started at 900 millimes since 2022, drivers told La Presse de Tunisie in April 2026 (1,000 millimes make a dinar). Louages, shared minibuses to other towns, leave once every seat is taken; we found no sourced fares, so agree the price first.

Good to know

• Spend your dinars before you leave: the FCDO says they may not be taken out of Tunisia, and the customs travellers' guide lists the dinar among goods that may be neither imported nor exported.
• Keep exchange slips and any currency declaration: the FCDO warns that undeclared foreign currency can be confiscated. Tunisian press reports on the customs rules put the declaration threshold at 20,000 dinars (about 6,000 euros); if you may leave with 5,000 dinars' worth of foreign currency or more, declare it on arrival.
• Hotels collect a tax on arrival: 8 dinars per person per night at three-star hotels and 12 dinars at four- and five-star, for no more than ten nights, according to the FCDO.
• Tipping: the tourist office suggests around 10 per cent in restaurants and something for drivers and guides, always in cash.