Djerba Star Wars Tours

Southern Tunisia was shot for both the original trilogy and the prequels, and the tour market here has made the most of it. Some of what gets advertised as a Star Wars location is one. Some of it is disputed. Some of it is three hundred kilometres away in the other direction. Sorting the three is the useful thing this page can do before you book.

Confirmed, and reachable from Djerba

Ksar Hadada, north of Tataouine. The stacked mud-brick granary played the Mos Espa slave quarters in The Phantom Menace — the scene where Qui-Gon Jinn talks with Shmi Skywalker. The hand-painted board at the gate still names George Lucas and dates the shoot to July 1997, which is as close to a plaque as any of this gets. Most Tataouine itineraries from Djerba stop here, and a few include the entry fee.

Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata. The interior of the Lars homestead in A New Hope. Five pit courtyards make up the hotel; four hold guest rooms and the fifth — the film one — is now the restaurant. The dressing was taken down after 1977 and rebuilt in 2000 for Attack of the Clones, so what you walk into is a careful reconstruction rather than an original.

Both are within a Djerba day trip. Together they are the honest version of a “Star Wars tour from Djerba”.

Disputed

Ksar Ouled Soltane is described as a Mos Espa slave-quarters location by operators, guidebooks and a great many articles. The specialist fan record disagrees and leans toward it not having been used on film at all.

It is on almost every itinerary here anyway, and it should be: four storeys of ghorfa cells around two courtyards make it the most complete ksar in southern Tunisia. Go for the building, not the credit.

Not from this island

Mos Espa — the standing set, the one with the domes and the moisture vaporators — is at Ong Jmal near Nefta, past Chott el Jerid and roughly 300km west of Djerba. So is the Lars homestead exterior, on the salt pan itself. Both belong to Tozeur itineraries. No day trip from Djerba reaches either, and any listing that implies otherwise is describing a different departure point.

Which tour to book

The Ksar Ghilane, Matmata and Star Wars set 4x4 is the best-evidenced pick at $68 — small groups, the Sidi Driss set, and an unusually long stop at the oasis. 4.7 out of 5 from 102 guests.

The private Star Wars day is the completist option: eleven hours, Ksar Ouled Soltane, Chenini, Ksar Hadada and Sidi Driss, with all three site entries included. $255 per group of up to two, so roughly $128 each for a couple.

The Star Wars and sunset day at $57 runs the circuit as a landscape day — Ksar Hadada, Ouled Soltane, Guermassa, the salt lake, and a dune sunset to finish — which is arguably the better way to experience country that was cast for how it looks.

The most-reviewed tour on this site takes in Ksar Hadada as part of a Ksar Ghilane day, if you would rather the film stops were a bonus than the plan.

Full detail on every location, including the ones no Djerba tour reaches, is in the filming-locations guide.