Algeria Travel Guide

The Casbah, Roman cities and the deep Sahara

Start in Algiers, built on hills above a wide bay. Its Casbah, a UNESCO-listed old town of steep lanes, Ottoman palaces and mosques, is best seen with a local guide, as the lanes are confusing and some parts are crumbling. Below it, the French-era city has grand boulevards, the Grand Post Office and the Notre-Dame d'Afrique basilica on a cliff. The Martyrs' Memorial towers over the bay.

Algeria's Roman ruins are among the best anywhere. Tipasa, an hour west of Algiers, sits on the sea among pine trees. Djémila, in the mountains near Sétif, is a whole Roman town on a ridge, and Timgad, near Batna, is a vast grid of streets, a theatre and Trajan's Arch. You will often have them almost to yourself.

Constantine, built on cliffs above a deep gorge, is spectacular, with bridges strung across the ravine. Oran, in the west, is lively and Mediterranean, the birthplace of raï music. Tlemcen, near the Moroccan border, has fine Islamic architecture.

In the north of the Sahara, the M'zab Valley around Ghardaïa has five fortified towns built by the Mozabite community from the 11th century, a UNESCO site whose architecture inspired modernist architects. Visits to the old towns are only with a local guide. Further south-west, Timimoun's red mud-brick town and Taghit's dunes are beautiful.

The deep Sahara is the highlight. From Djanet, agency trips explore the Tassili n'Ajjer, a UNESCO site with thousands of prehistoric rock paintings, sandstone forests and dunes. From Tamanrasset, tours climb to Assekrem in the Hoggar for one of the great sunrises on earth.