Sahara-shrouded Tozeur blooms like a date palm in the sandy, salty desert that encompasses it. Its historic medina town is punctuated with shocks of greenery courtesy of the waxy boughs and countless water springs that bubble up here; a curious geological phenomenon that made this spot a strategic trading post on the North African caravan trails and brought both wealth and patrons to the streets. Cue the majestic filigrees and intricate arabesque veneer of the sandstone centre, the Ouled El Hwadef, where Moorish geometrics converge on modulated walls of mud-brick. (This is also the area where the Dar Chariet Museum laden with jewellery and old artifacts from the city’s past can be found.) However, to linger in this one’s medina is to miss out on the otherworldly delights of the surrounding area: the bulbous cliffs of the Sidi Bouhlel Canyon, the Tamerza Canyon and the curious Star War houses of the Sahara. Most notable of all though is the sweeping Chott el Djerid, a colossal and alien salt pan lake that Tozeur tour guides specialise in exploring.