Morocco and Egypt have long been popular destinations for those looking to break the monotony of winter with a trip that is a little out of the ordinary. Similarly located on the African coast of the Mediterranean, Tunisia is now actively courting those same adventurers.

"So much. So close", reads the slogan on the Tunisian National Tourist Office information pack, and at just three hours from London, with a history and culture shaped by Berbers, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans and the French, to name but a few, the claims are not outlandish.

Enthused by the prospects, my flying three-night visit to Tunisia began as I stepped out of Tunis-Carthage airport, spent a night at the 4-star Hotel Sidi Bou Said 20km northeast of Tunis, then was back in the departure lounge of the same airport eight hours later to catch the 6.45am flight to Djerba.

High winds and sheeting rain – extremely unusual weather for the region - meant that it was touch and go as to whether the pilot would be able to land at the small southern island’s airport, but the gods smiled and we eventually touched down, albeit well behind schedule.

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The delay meant there was just time to dump the bags at the hotel before our whirlwind tour of the island of Djerba - the legendary place in Homer’s Odyssey where Ulysses and his crew were seduced by the lotus-eaters. It's now noted for its pottery, silver filigree work and growing reputation as a centre for sea water spa treatments (thalassotherapy).

At only 25km at its widest point nothing is too far away in Djerba and there is a good public bus service to assist the uninitiated in getting around. The potteries, centred around the village of Guellala in the south of the island was my first port of call. They are generally small family owned businesses, where the potters still use manual wheels to turn out traditional shaped amphora, bowls and vases and visitors are welcome to come in and watch them work.

After a brief look round, some haggling over a traditionally patterned earthenware bowl and a demonstration of a weird teapot with holes top and bottom that mixed two different liquids by turning it end over end without spilling, we headed east to the island capital Houmt Souk for the next bullet point on the itinerary.

The gods that had presented our pilot with a window to put the plane down on the island, was less forthcoming to the captains of the small boats that ferry tourists from Le Port de Houmt Souk to Pink Flamingo Island. It was a no go, but the guide Lilia assured me that it is named after the birds that live there and not a 1970’s disco. She then promptly improvised lunch at a harbour-side restaurant.

Specialising in “tout poisson & fruits de mer”, the Restaurant Haroun offered welcome respite from the increasingly inclement weather. Following a starter of salad, bread and olive oil and the traditional fare of harissa – a fiery chilli paste – and mechouia – a dip made from grilled peppers, I was presented with an exquisitely grilled sea bass on a bed of cous cous accompanied by king prawns and seared squid.

Fortified by a couple of bottles of Tunisian lager, Celtia, I was ready to face the weather and the 8km trip south to er-Riadh for the impromptu visit to the Synagogue of el-Ghriba, the oldest in North Africa, dating to the 7th century, and the destination of an annual pilgrimage on the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, usually during the month of May.

Security at the Synagogue is tight, having been the scene of a bomb attack in 2002 that killed 21 people, but despite the armed guards and the airport-style metal detectors visiting hours are restricted and we arrived two hours before permitted entry, so it was back to Hotel Yadis for some pampering in the hotel’s spa facility.

Of the 40-odd treatments that range from simple facials, massages and seaweed wraps to four or six day slimming or de-stress packages, I was signed up for four in the space of three hours.

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