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Top 10s across Algeria

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The largest country in Africa, and almost all of it is Sahara. The 1,600 kilometres of Mediterranean coast at the top carry the cities, the Roman ruins and the vineyards, and the desert behind them holds rock art older than the pyramids.

Algeria at a glance

Best months

Apr · May · Oct · Nov

Ideal length

10–14 days

Budget / day

$45–95

Language

Arabic & Tamazight

Getting around

Domestic flights & trains

When to visit Algeria

Two calendars in one country: spring and autumn in the north, winter in the Sahara.

Full month guide →

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Best: April, May, October and November, warm on the coast and still workable in the south Peak: July and August, past 40°C inland and every coastal town full Good: cool and wet in the north, which is exactly when the Sahara is at its best

Quick answer · where to go in Algeria

Give Algiers three nights for the Casbah and the Bardo, with a day at Tipasa, the Roman city on the sea an hour west. East lie Béjaïa, the Kabylie mountains and Constantine on its gorge, with Djémila and Timgad in reach. West is Oran for raï and beaches, then Tlemcen. The south is a separate trip: Ghardaïa and the M'zab valley, then Djanet and Tamanrasset by air with a licensed agency. April, May, October and November suit the north. The Sahara is for winter.

3 Algeria city guides

Each guide ranks the things worth your time, with a map and a daily budget.

Algiers

Africa · 10 picks

Oran

Africa · 10 picks

Constantine

Africa · 10 picks

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Algeria became the largest country in Africa in 2011, when South Sudan's independence split Sudan in two. At 2,381,741 square kilometres it is also the tenth largest in the world, and roughly four fifths of it is desert.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.

"Algeria is closed to visitors"

The realityIt is bureaucratic, not closed. The visa is a consular application with real paperwork and a wait of weeks, and that is the whole barrier. Beyond it are Roman cities you will have to yourself and a tourism industry small enough to be pleased you came.

"It is all sand"

The realityFour fifths of it is desert and the other fifth holds almost everyone. The north is Mediterranean, with vineyards, cork forests, ski slopes above Blida and 1,600 kilometres of coast. The Sahara is mostly rock, and the Hoggar is volcanic mountains past 2,900 metres.

"Nothing Roman survives outside Italy and Tunisia"

The realityTimgad is a complete Roman colonial town on a grid, laid out for Trajan's veterans and abandoned early enough to stay legible. Djémila keeps its forum and arch in the hills, and Tipasa runs Phoenician, Roman and Byzantine ruins along the sea. Three of Algeria's seven UNESCO sites are Roman.

"Everyone speaks French, so language is no problem"

The realityFrench will get you a long way and it is not the country's language. Arabic and Tamazight are the official pair, darja is what people actually speak, and Kabyle is the first language of the mountains east of Algiers. A few words of any of them changes the temperature of an encounter.

"You can see the Sahara on a day trip"

The realityGhardaïa is a domestic flight from Algiers and Djanet is nearly 2,000 kilometres south of the capital. The desert is a separate leg of the trip with its own season, its own operator and its own aircraft, and treating it as an add-on is how people end up seeing an airport.

Coffee nursed for an hourSelecto in a glass bottleFriday couscous at homeShared taxis that wait to fillArguing about 1982Mint tea poured from a heightSomeone else always pays

Cultural notes that actually help

Hospitality is an obligation here. An invitation to eat is meant, and refusing outright reads as a rebuff, so accept and eat lightly if you must.
Friday and Saturday are the weekend. Friday lunch belongs to family and couscous, and the working week runs Sunday to Thursday.
Cash runs the country. Carry small notes, because change for a large one is a real problem in a café or a taxi.
Ask before photographing people, and skip it entirely around government buildings, ports, airports and military sites.
Dress is relaxed in central Algiers and Oran and more conservative in smaller towns and in the south. Covered shoulders and knees keep every door open, and mosques ask for the same.
Alcohol is legal and low-key. It is sold in licensed shops and served in some hotels and restaurants, and it is not part of an ordinary meal out.
Greetings take time. Handshakes, a question about the family and a second question about your journey come before business, and cutting to the point reads as brusque.

Famous Algerian faces

The names behind Algeria's history, letters, music, cinema, sport and art. Pick a field.

Assia Djebar

Novelist and film-maker, the first writer from the Maghreb in the Académie française.

Khaled

Took raï out of Oran. Didi, in 1992, was the first Arabic-language hit across Europe.

Ahmed Ben Bella

Independence leader and first president of the republic, from 1963 until deposed in 1965.

Djamila Bouhired

FLN militant of the Battle of Algiers, sentenced to death in 1957 and reprieved.

Houari Boumédiène

Ruled from 1965 to 1978, nationalised oil and gas and made Algiers a non-aligned capital.

Kateb Yacine

His Nedjma (1956) broke Algerian literature open. Later he wrote theatre in darja.

Yasmina Khadra

Pen name of army officer Mohammed Moulessehoul, taken from his wife to evade censors.

Cheikha Rimitti

The mother of raï. Sang of drink and desire from the 1940s and was banned from radio.

Idir

A Vava Inouva, in 1976, took a Kabyle lullaby and Berber song around the world.

Warda Al-Jazairia

Paris-born to an Algerian father, a great voice of Arabic song for five decades.

Rachid Taha

Carte de Séjour's singer. His Ya Rayah plays at every North African wedding.

Souad Massi

Algiers songwriter whose Raoui (2001) set Algerian folk to acoustic guitar.

Merzak Allouache

Directed Omar Gatlato (1976) and Bab El-Oued City (1994), ordinary Algiers on screen.

Rachid Bouchareb

His Days of Glory (2006), on France's North African soldiers, won its cast a Cannes prize.

Noureddine Morceli

Three world 1500 metres titles and Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996.

Taoufik Makhloufi

Won the 1500 metres at London 2012 and took two silvers at Rio four years later

Rabah Madjer

Backheeled Porto to the 1987 European Cup and played in the 1982 win over West Germany.

Emir Abdelkader

Resisted the French conquest from 1832 and saved thousands of Damascus Christians in 1860.

Saint Augustine

Bishop of Hippo, now Annaba, and author of the Confessions. Born in 354 at Souk Ahras.

Albert Camus

Born at Dréan in 1913, Nobel laureate in 1957. The Outsider and The Plague are set here.

Zinedine Zidane

Son of Kabyle parents. Won the 1998 World Cup and coached three Champions League wins.

Yves Saint Laurent

Born in Oran in 1936. Ran Dior at twenty-one and put women into the trouser suit.

Riyad Mahrez

Captained the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winners. Premier League's best player in 2016.

Massinissa

United Numidia in the second century BC into a Berber state Rome had to negotiate with.

Mohammed Dib

Tlemcen novelist whose Algeria trilogy opened with La Grande Maison in 1952.

Jacques Derrida

Born at El Biar above Algiers in 1930. The philosopher of deconstruction.

Isabelle Adjani

French actor with an Algerian father, the only five-time César winner for best actress.

Hassiba Boulmerka

Won Algeria's first Olympic gold in 1992 over 1500 metres, under death threats at home.

Baya

Painter born Fatma Haddad in 1931, exhibited in Paris at sixteen, admired by Picasso.

Mohammed Racim

Revived the Algerian miniature in the twentieth century and built a school around it.

M'hamed Issiakhem

Painter of the war generation and a founder of modern Algerian art.

Must-try Algerian food

The classics first, then what each region cooks. Pick a category.

Couscous

The Friday national dish. Steamed semolina under lamb or chicken, vegetables and broth.

Rechta

Algiers' festive dish. Hand-cut noodles under a chicken and turnip sauce with cinnamon.

Dolma

Vegetables stuffed with minced meat in a white sauce. Ottoman in origin, cooked weekly.

Bourek

Thin pastry cigars of meat, cheese or tuna, fried crisp. Sold by the tray in Ramadan.

Mhadjeb

Semolina flatbread folded over onion and tomato, griddled flat and eaten on the street.

Chakhchoukha

From the Aurès and Biskra. Torn rougag flatbread drowned in red lamb and chickpea stew.

Karantika

Oran's chickpea-flour custard, cut in slabs with cumin, in a baguette with harissa.

Berkoukes

Large hand-rolled semolina pearls in lamb and vegetable soup. A high-plateau winter dish.

Grilled sardines

The coast's cheapest good lunch. Grilled over coals, eaten with bread, salt and lemon.

Fried calamari

Floured, fried hard and served with lemon and harissa. Usually the first plate to arrive.

Kalb el louz

Semolina and almond cake soaked in orange-blossom syrup. Ramadan's dessert, sold warm.

Lham lahlou

Sweet meat. Lamb with prunes, cinnamon and orange-blossom water, served as its own course.

Chorba frik

Lamb and tomato soup thickened with roasted green wheat. It breaks the Ramadan fast.

Tajine zitoune

Chicken or meatballs stewed with olives and mushrooms in a lemon and cinnamon sauce.

Mechoui

Whole lamb turned slowly over embers until the skin crackles. The centrepiece of Aïd.

Deglet Nour dates

The amber, dry-fleshed date of the Tolga oases near Biskra, and Algeria's best known.

Poisson au four

Whole bream or bass baked on potatoes with oil, garlic and chermoula, on every seafront.

Zlabia

Batter coils fried and soaked in syrup. In Ramadan the queues form for Boufarik's.

Makroud

Semolina and date paste diamonds, fried and honeyed. Constantine and Biskra both claim it.

Qahwa and mint tea

Coffee fills northern cafés at four in the afternoon. Mint tea takes over as you go south.

Selecto

Apple and caramel soda from Hamoud Boualem, an Algiers firm founded in 1878.

Know before you go

The essentials for planning an Algeria trip, visa first.

Currency

Algerian dinar (DZD)

Algeria runs on cash. Cards work at airline offices, larger hotels and some city restaurants. City machines take Visa and Mastercard. The dinar cannot legally be carried in or out.

Language

Arabic and Tamazight

Arabic and Tamazight are official. The street speaks darja, Algerian Arabic, and Kabyle in the mountains east of Algiers. French is everywhere. English is thin outside tourism.

Calling code

+213

Mobilis, Djezzy and Ooredoo sell SIM cards on sight of a passport. Coverage is good in the north and thin in the deep south, where agencies carry satellite phones.

Power

230V, 50Hz, plug types C and F

The round two-pin sockets used across most of continental Europe. UK and US plugs need an adapter, and US devices need to handle 230 volts.

Emergency

17 police, 14 civil protection

Police on 17 and civil protection, which covers fire and ambulance, on 14. The gendarmerie answers 1055 and is the right call on rural roads and outside town limits.

Time zone

CET (UTC+1), no daylight saving

Algeria holds UTC+1 all year, so it matches Paris in winter and sits an hour behind it in summer. Sunset is early for the latitude in June, which is worth knowing when planning a desert evening.

Visa

Required in advance for most passports

No visa on arrival. EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports apply at a consulate first, with bookings or an agency invitation, a return ticket and proof of funds. Allow weeks.

Getting around

Domestic flights, trains and shared taxis

Air Algérie and Tassili Airlines fly from Algiers to the northern cities and to Ghardaïa, Tamanrasset and Djanet. Trains run Algiers to Oran and Constantine. Shared taxis fill the gaps.

Desert travel

Booked through a licensed agency

The Tassili n'Ajjer and the Hoggar are national parks reached from Djanet and Tamanrasset, visited only with a licensed operator and a local guide. Book flight and agency together.

Tipping

Round up, in cash

Not obligatory, always appreciated. Round up in cafés, leave five to ten per cent for a good meal, and tip desert guides and drivers well. Always in cash.

UNESCO sites

Seven, from Roman cities to Saharan rock art

Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad was listed in 1980 and Tassili n'Ajjer in 1982. The rest are Djémila, Timgad and Tipasa, the M'zab valley villages and the Casbah of Algiers.

Friday

The weekend is Friday and Saturday

Offices, banks and many shops close, and Friday lunch is the couscous meal families eat at home. Museums and sites keep their own hours, so check before building a Friday around one.

Algeria travel FAQ

Do you need a visa for Algeria?+

Almost certainly, and you need it before you fly. There is no visa on arrival at Algiers, Oran or Constantine, and EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders all apply at an Algerian embassy or consulate. The file usually wants confirmed accommodation or an invitation from a licensed Algerian agency, a return ticket and proof of funds, and processing takes weeks. Start it before you book anything you cannot change.

When is the best time to visit Algeria?+

April, May, October and November for the north, when the coast and the Roman sites are warm and the rain has not settled in. For the Sahara, go from November to February, when days are clear and mild and nights are properly cold. Avoid July and August inland, with temperatures past 40°C and the whole coast at capacity.

How many days do you need in Algeria?+

Ten to fourteen. Three nights in Algiers with Tipasa as a day trip, then a choice: east to Constantine, Djémila and Timgad, or west to Oran and Tlemcen. Adding the Sahara means four or five days on top, because Djanet or Tamanrasset is a flight each way and the good part starts once you are out of town.

Can you travel independently in Algeria?+

In the north, yes. Trains, coaches, shared taxis and hire cars all work between the coastal cities, and the Roman sites are ordinary day trips. The desert is different: the southern national parks are visited with a licensed operator and a local guide, which is how the permits, the vehicles and the fuel actually get arranged. Check your own government's travel advice on the border areas before fixing a route.

Is Algeria expensive?+

No, and cash is the reason to plan. Food, transport and museum entry are cheap by European standards, while hotels in Algiers and organised desert trips are where the money goes. Cards are barely accepted outside airline offices and larger hotels, and the dinar cannot be bought before you arrive, so work out the whole trip in notes.

Algeria by theme

Themed Top 10s across the country.

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