Tunis begins in the narrow lanes. The medina, the old walled city, lies on a low ridge between the salt lake and the Sebkha of Ariana, and the main street runs uphill from the Bab el Bahr, the Sea Gate, towards the Zitouna Mosque, the Mosque of the Olive Tree. The mosque's origins go back to the late seventh century, soon after the Arabs founded Tunis, and the city grew around it. Its great period came under the Hafsid dynasty in the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, when Tunis was a wealthy capital with libraries, schools and merchants trading across the Mediterranean. Later came the Ottomans and the beys, who added palaces and fountains.
The medina has about seven hundred monuments by the usual count, packed into a maze that was designed for walking and for staying cool. Houses turn blank walls to the street and open onto inner courtyards with tiles and jasmine. The souks are organised by trade, so you pass through leatherworkers, goldsmiths, perfume sellers, and the chechia makers who make the red felt caps worn across North Africa. The covered lanes keep out the sun, and the sound and smell change every few metres from incense to leather to frying dough.
On a motorcycle, the approach is simple: do not take the bike into it. The medina is largely pedestrian and the surrounding streets are a lively tangle of traffic, with horn-heavy driving, trams and light rail, and a casual attitude to lanes. Park somewhere you can watch, near the gates at the edge, and go in on foot. Be ready for firm bargaining in the souks, which is part of the game and is best treated with good humour.
Beyond the city, Tunisia rewards riders. The roads north to the Ichkeul wetlands and west to the Roman city of Dougga run through olive groves, wheat fields and low hills, with fine, usually well-surfaced asphalt, sudden dust and the occasional animal. Spring, with green fields and wildflowers, and autumn, with softer light, are best. Summer inland can be punishing.
Tunis is a large city of nearly seven hundred thousand people, so fuel, food and everything else is easy. Drink a strong mint tea with pine nuts, eat a brik, the crisp pastry parcel with an egg inside, and give yourself an afternoon to get lost on purpose.