Matmata Tunisia Guide
What Matmata is, the cave houses beyond the Star Wars hotel, the hill villages of Tamezret and Toujane, how long to stay, and which Djerba and northern-coast tours stop there.
Matmata is a small Berber-speaking town about 40 km inland from Gabès, where families still live in houses dug down into the ground. Most visitors see it for an hour on a desert day trip from Djerba or as the lunch stop on a two-day tour from the northern coast. That hour is enough for the Star Wars hotel and one family’s cave house. Add Tamezret or Toujane, the stone villages in the hills around it, if you want the region and not only the film set.
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Matmata at a glance
You reach Matmata on a sealed road about 45 minutes south-west of Gabès, in the Matmata hills. The old village is the one with the pit houses. Nouvelle Matmata, about 15 km away, is the newer town built for families who moved out of the pits, and some public transport stops there, which surprises independent travellers.
Key planning points
- The cave houses. A pit is dug into the soft rock and rooms are tunnelled out from its walls. You visit one on almost every tour, usually with tea and bread with the family who live there.
- Hotel Sidi Driss. The Lars homestead interior from A New Hope. It has its own Hotel Sidi Driss guide, so this page only places it on the route.
- Tamezret and Toujane. Hill villages of stone houses. Toujane is on most Djerba 4x4 routes; Tamezret is about 10 km from Matmata and on fewer itineraries.
- The route. Matmata sits between Djerba and the dunes, so it pairs with Ksar Ghilane or Douz in one day, or with El Jem and a desert camp on a two-day tour from Hammamet or Sousse.
- Time. 30 to 60 minutes on a tour. Half a day if you drive yourself and add a hill village.
How Matmata’s troglodyte homes work
Each house starts as a round pit open to the sky. The courtyard is the bottom of the pit, and the rooms are caves cut sideways into its walls: kitchen, bedrooms and storerooms, sometimes on two levels. Larger homes join two or three pits with a sloping tunnel from the road. The design keeps the rooms out of the wind and the sun, and you feel the drop in temperature as you walk down the entrance passage.
Outsiders knew little about the settlement until 1969, when 22 days of heavy rain collapsed many of the homes and brought Matmata to national attention. Plenty of families moved to the new town afterwards, but some pits are still lived in, and a few now take guests.
The visit on a tour is to a family home. You climb down, see the rooms, and sit for tea with bread, honey and olive oil. A small tip or buying the bread is customary. Ask before photographing the family; the rooms are fine.
What to check: whether your tour lists a cave-house visit with a family by name in the itinerary, or only a photo stop at a pit from the road edge.
Hotel Sidi Driss and Star Wars
Hotel Sidi Driss (also spelled Sidi Idriss) is five pits joined together: four hold guest rooms and the fifth is the restaurant. George Lucas filmed the Lars homestead dining room and courtyard here in 1976 for A New Hope, and the crew came back for Attack of the Clones in 2002. Tours usually combine it with the cave-house visit, often over lunch in the old dining room.
Our Hotel Sidi Driss guide covers what the stop is like, what is left of the set, and what a night there involves. The other Tatooine sites are far from Matmata: Ksar Ouled Soltane and Ksar Hadada are near Tataouine, and Mos Espa is beyond Tozeur. The Star Wars filming locations guide maps them all.
What to check: if Star Wars is the reason for the trip, pick a tour that lists Sidi Driss by name; some Matmata tours visit a cave house and skip the hotel.
Matmata beyond the film connection
Away from the hotel, Matmata is a working village on a dry hillside. You see the pits from the road as craters with a ring of whitewashed edging, and the hills around are terraced with low stone walls (jessour) that catch winter run-off for olive and fig trees.
Most tours give you no free time here. If you drive yourself, walk the lanes behind the main road in the late afternoon, when the light lies low across the craters and the day tours have left. If a family offers to show you their house, agree the tip before you go in.
What to check: whether you have cash in dinars. Tips, bread and tea at the cave houses are paid in cash.
Tamezret and Toujane
Tamezret is a Berber village about 10 km from Matmata, built on the slopes of one of the highest hills in the Matmata range at roughly 480 m. Its stone houses climb the hill in tiers, and from the top you see across the hills towards the plain. Few Djerba day trips stop there; the Douz jeep tour below is one that does.
Toujane is a mountain village towards Medenine, split in two by a valley. The Djerba 4x4 day trips use it as the first stop on the way to Matmata: a short stop among the stone houses on the way up into the hills. Tunisian film-makers shot La folle de Toujane there in 1974.
Choose by your route. Toujane comes included on most Djerba tours. Tamezret is easiest if you are driving, and it suits travellers who want an hour in a quieter hill village.
What to check: both villages are on steep stone lanes. Wear closed shoes.
Matmata with Douz or Ksar Ghilane
Matmata is a stop on a desert day, and the tours pair it with one of two desert bases.
From Djerba or Zarzis, with Ksar Ghilane. The common route is Toujane, a Matmata cave house, Sidi Driss and then the afternoon at the Ksar Ghilane hot spring. The Djerba: Ksar Ghilane & Matmata 4x4 Sahara Guided Tour covers all four for about $69, rated 4.6/5 from 342 reviews; our breakdown of the Ksar Ghilane & Matmata tour has the timings. The Djerba & Zarzis Ksar Ghilane, Matmata and Star Wars set tour runs a similar day for about $68 (4.7/5 from 137 reviews) with longer at the spring. Our Ksar Ghilane oasis guide covers the oasis half of the day.
From Djerba, with Douz. The Douz, Matmata and Toujane jeep tour from Djerba (about $68) swaps Ksar Ghilane for the dunes at Douz and adds Tamezret; the camel ride at Douz costs extra. It has 14 reviews at 4.8/5, which is too few to judge by; check the latest ones before booking. Our Douz guide explains the town.
With a night in the desert. The Djerba two-day 4x4 tour with a desert camp night (from about $48, 4.7/5 from 541 reviews) does Tataouine, Chenini and Ksar Ghilane on day one, then Matmata and Toujane the next morning.
From Hammamet, Sousse or Tunis. The 2-Day Sahara Express Tour from Tunis, Hammamet & Sousse (from about $118, 4.7/5 from 1,337 reviews) reaches Matmata for lunch on day one, after El Jem, then drives on to a Sabria desert camp. Expect a pickup around 5am.
Pick the Ksar Ghilane day if you want the hot spring and the most-reviewed route, and the Douz day if big dunes and the hill villages matter more to you. The full list is on our Matmata and Star Wars tours page.
How long to spend in Matmata
On a tour, you have 30 to 60 minutes for the cave house and Sidi Driss together. That is enough for most travellers, because the village itself is small.
Driving yourself, allow half a day for Matmata plus Tamezret or Toujane. Stay the night only if you want the village after the day trips leave, or if you are breaking the drive between Gabès and Douz or Ksar Ghilane. Hotel Sidi Driss takes overnight guests in four of its five pits.
How long do you need?
For the wider southern trip, one day from Djerba covers Matmata and Ksar Ghilane. Two days gives you a desert camp night with Matmata on the way. Three days is better for a first route that adds Tozeur and Douz; Matmata then becomes one stop among many and no longer the focus of a day.
Best time to go
October to April is the season for any desert trip in Tunisia, with November and March the mildest months for a mix of village walks and a camp night. Matmata sits higher than the coast, and the wind on the hill can be cold in January, so carry a layer for the walk between pits. In summer the cave rooms stay cooler than the lanes, but the drive to the dunes afterwards is hot. Our best time for a Tunisia Sahara tour guide has the month-by-month figures.
Self-drive or organised tour?
The road from Gabès to Matmata is sealed, and so are the roads to Toujane and Tamezret. Driving yourself works well for the hill villages. The tracks onward to Ksar Ghilane and the remote camps need a 4x4 and a driver who knows them.
For a two- or three-day trip, an organised tour is usually simpler, because it handles the dune leg and the camp. Self-driving pays off on four days or more, when you want to choose your photography stops, meal times and the nights in different towns.
What to pack
- Comfortable closed shoes for the stone lanes and cave steps
- Lightweight trousers and breathable tops
- Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
- Scarf for wind and sand
- Water bottle
- Power bank
- Warm layer for desert evenings and the wind in Matmata
- Small overnight bag if camping
- Swimwear and towel if the day ends at Ksar Ghilane
Frequently asked questions
Is Matmata worth adding to a first Tunisia Sahara trip?
Yes, if it is on your route, which it is for most Djerba desert days and the two-day northern tours. It is not worth a detour on its own unless you are a Star Wars fan.
How many days should I allow for Matmata?
An hour on a tour, half a day if you drive and add Tamezret or Toujane. For the whole south, allow one day from Djerba, two for a camp night, three or more to include Tozeur.
Do I need a 4x4 to reach Matmata?
No. Matmata, Toujane and Tamezret are on sealed roads. You need a 4x4 only for the dune tracks beyond, such as the run to Ksar Ghilane.
Can I stay overnight in Matmata?
Yes. Hotel Sidi Driss rents rooms in four of its cave pits. For a desert night, most tours camp at Ksar Ghilane or near Douz instead.
What is the best season to visit Matmata?
October to April, with November and March the mildest. Summer days are hot outside the cave rooms.
Final planning advice
Choose by what you care about most. For Star Wars, pick a tour that names Sidi Driss. For the villages, drive yourself and add Tamezret. For the desert, treat Matmata as the morning and let Ksar Ghilane or Douz have the afternoon and evening.
Ready to book? Compare Matmata and Star Wars tours with live prices, or see the decision guide if you are still choosing a route.
See the Sahara From Your Hotel Door
Hotel pickup, a 4x4 across the Dahar plateau, the hot spring at Ksar Ghilane, and lunch — rated 4.8/5 by 1,834 guests. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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