Hi everyone! We are Eva and Marijtje, two girls from the Netherlands who are cycling Tunis for two weeks.

After cycling around the medina and doing small trips to neighboring cities for a few days, we decided to do our first secondhand shopping experience, and of course… we went there by bike! In Tunis, whether by Cycling, walking or driving through the streets of Tunis, you will be ensured to find many informal secondhand markets everywhere. Along the roads, in small shops, in the medina, really everywhere. We decided to Bike through the Medina and go on the hunt for some bigger Fripe markets there.

In this blog we will tell you about our experience, normal pricing and more recommendations on how to have the best shopping experience

We started our adventure by cycling from Nomadic Bike to Bab El Khadra, where we chained our bikes very securely to a street pole and got some breakfast. We were recommended by a nomadic bike member to go there and it did not disappoint! This was the first time we tried this local dish: Dro3, a traditional sorghum porridge that has a warm earthy taste. We got it directly right of Bab El Khadra (when standing in front of it) at a cute small food stand. We were able to exactly say what we wanted on there: from honey, to seeds, to nuts and much more. And that for only 4,5 Tunisian Dinars (approximately €1.32 or $1,55) each, we highly recommend! With extremely well-filled stomachs, we started our journey.

But of course first: coffee! We got a cappuccino at a small coffee house, which cost us around 2 dinars (approximately €0,59 or $0,69) each. Always a good price in Tunisia .

After we finally got to the shopping part: We navigated from Bab El Khadra to the Fripe in Hafsia, but on our way there, we walked into a bigger Fripe! At the corner of Rue Ahmed Bayran and Bab Souika we walked into many stalls filled with clothing. After we headed to the Fripe in Hafsia.

We roamed through all the different tables, filled with piles of clothes, shoes, jewellery, camping equipment and much more! All things that one could definitely use when cycling through Tunisia. It was a very exciting and fun experience to roam through all the piles on the hunt for hidden treasures.

Arrival date of Fripe, pricing and bargaining

We had wondered beforehand what normal prices are and if it is normal to bargain? But some of our questions got answered by some local Nomadic Bike community members.

Apparently the new Fripe usually comes on the weekend, making prices highest on Saturday and slowly declining towards Friday.

We went on a ….., meaning that prices had already somewhat decreased. But that did not mean that we could not make good finds! Eva bought a nice reversible jacket for only 3 Tunisian Dinars and Marijtje a pair of Georgio Armani pants for only 5 Tunisian dinars. These are the prices we observed: most clothing piled on tables varied in pricing from 1-5 Tunisian dinars.

While shoes and bags varied widely per brand, state and stall, most often we spotted shoes for 10-20 dinars, but definitely there are also higher brand shoes (such as Nike, Adidas, Doctor Martens) that cost more: for example around 70 Tunisian Dinars.

But do not be sorrowed: Clothing, shoes and other items that are piled on tables have negotiable prices! Whereas clothing, shoes and other items that are hanging have more set prices (and are usually a bit on the higher side of the price ranges).

Brands

Brands that could be found on the Fripe varied a lot, we for example came across items from Massimo Dutti, Ralph Lauren, Napapijri, Veja, Nike, Adidas, Burton, Brunotti and many more high-brand items. Additionally, there were a lot of items of high quality materials: such as fur and leather.

Checking Materials

We would recommend looking up beforehand how to spot if that is the true material. Checking real leather can for example be done through feeling the texture of the item: does it feel soft and a little bumpy? This is usually a good sign: the look of the surface grain is often also a little imperfect. Another tell sign is that while you are holding onto it, the leather warms up: fake leather often feels hard, smooth and cold when touching.

Bring cash: change

Another recommendation we have is to bring enough (small) cash. As prices are usually low, it can be difficult to pay with notes. Thus preferably, ensure to bring enough 10 Dinar notes and smaller! Depending on how much you are planning to spend of course .

Learn some words of Arabic

We recommend learning at least numbers 1-10 in Arabic, that way you can hear the prices vendors are screaming. We often noticed that the prices they screamed corresponded with the prices we asked when willing to buy something: both when asking in French or Arabic. Most vendors speak some French, but not all. You can both make it yourself easier, as well as ensure you are paying the same prices, by learning some basic Arabic words. We have made a small cheat sheet for you down below:

Some basic words:

How much is the price? – kam as-si‘r? (السعر؟ كم )

Or we simply used: How much? – Qaddesh? (قدّيش)

Thank you (Tunisian Dialect) – 3aychek” (عيشِك)

Numbers 1-10

1 – wahed (واحد)

2 –ithnan (اثنان)

3 – thalatha ( ثلاثة)

4 – arba’a ( أربعة) 5 – khamsa ( خمسة)

6 – sitta ( ستة)

7 – sab’a ( سبعة )

8 –thamaniya (ثمانية)

9 – tis’a (تسعة)

10 – ‘ashara (عشرة)

And of course feel free to learn more!

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Overall we had a really good day and spotted many good finds: from clothing to camping equipment to electronics or even surf attire. Almost everything can be found at the Fripe of Tunis for great prices! People were very nice and often made a quick chat with us, but were not pushy at all. A very pleasant experience. And if you still have energy there are many more (both indoor and outdoor) fripes to enjoy! Here is a list of the most common outside fripes of Tunis, with the distances from Nomadic Bike Community (from which we rented our bikes). A short cycle through Tunis that we definitely recommend!

1. Cité Ibn Khaldoun (3 kilometers)

2. La Hafsia (4 kilometers): where we went

3. Bab el Falla (6.5 kilometers)

4. Cité el Kadhra (7 kilometers): where we went

5. Souk du Jeudi d’Ezzahra (21 kilometers); Thursdays 6am-7pm

6. Bou Selsla, La Marsa (23 kilometers); Sundays 7am-3pm

We hope this article was helpful and we wish you a very happy secondhand shopping!