Once a popular holiday destination on a par with neighbouring Morocco, Algeria’s tourist industry all but disappeared when bitter civil war broke out in 1992. After a decade of conflict the situation improved slightly, and some access to the southern Sahara region has been possible in the last couple of years. However, independent travel without a vehicle is almost nonexistent, and after the tourist abductions of 2003 self-drive travellers need to be very aware of the risks involved.
This dearth of visitors is a great shame, as Algeria is one of the most fascinating countries in North Africa. In the dramatic Unesco-listed Tassili N’Ajjer and Hoggar regions, near the town of Tamanrasset, tribal culture is very much alive, and the day-to-day hassle common to many Arab countries is conspicuously absent. Algiers contains a livid mix of tradition and modernism, its colonial past maintaining a presence. Timimoun embodies the storybook oasis town of the Sahara, and the welcoming town of In Salah is split in two by a creeping sand dune.
Borders Niger and Tunisia open; Morocco closed; Mali, Mauritania and Libya crossings not advised
Visa US$40 to US$50 for one month
Time GMT/UTC +1
Telephone Country code 213; international access code 00
Money Algerian dinar (DA); US$1 = DA71
Seasons In the north: wet (October to March), dry (June to September); in the south: hot (March to October), cool (November to February)
Area 2.3 million sq km
Population 32.9 million
ATMs None
Capital Algiers
Budget US$35 to US$40 per day
Languages Arabic, Berber, French
