Algeria: A World Waiting to Be Discovered

Algeria’s northern edge is a long Mediterranean shoreline of bays, cliffs and fishing harbours, with mountains often rising straight behind the beaches.

Around Béjaïa, forested headlands drop into clear water; west of Algiers, the Roman ruins of Tipasa sit at the edge of the sea; and Oran opens onto its wide bay. Days here move at the pace of the coast: a swim, a seafood lunch, a walk along the corniche at sunset.

Algeria holds some of the most complete Roman towns in North Africa, their streets, theatres and baths still laid out across the land.

At Timgad, a colonnaded street leads to a triumphal arch in a city laid out on a grid. At Djémila, temples, baths and a forum follow a mountain ridge. At Tipasa, Punic, Roman and early Christian remains stand among the pines above the sea.

In Algiers, the Kasbah climbs the hillside above the bay in a maze of stairs, carved doors and hidden courtyards, below the white façades of the city that grew around it.

Constantine is built on a rock split by a deep gorge, its quarters joined by bridges. In the M’Zab Valley, the towns of Ghardaïa rise around their mosques, following a way of building passed down through generations.

Behind the coast, the Djurdjura range rises over the villages of Kabylie, with cedar forests, ridgeline trails and snow on the high peaks in winter.

Further east, the Aurès hide canyons, terraced villages and gorges lined with palms. Deep in the south, the volcanic peaks of the Hoggar stand above the desert, a landscape unlike any other in the country.

The Sahara covers most of Algeria, and it is far more than sand: dune seas that change colour through the day, oasis towns built of red earth, and stone plateaus shaped into arches and pillars by the wind.

Around Djanet, the Tassili n’Ajjer holds one of the world’s great collections of prehistoric rock art. In Timimoun, red ksour look out over the dunes of the Grand Erg. And at night, far from any city, the sky fills with stars.

Algerian culture weaves together Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian, Ottoman and Mediterranean influences, heard in its music, seen in its crafts and felt in its welcome. A guest is rarely left without a glass of mint tea, or a coffee and something sweet.

Every region has its own table: couscous in its many local versions, chakhchoukha in the east, slow-cooked tajines and bread fresh from the oven. Sharing a meal is often the best way into the country.