Things to Do in Algeria

About Algeria

The scent hits first: cumin and wood-smoke drifting up from the alleyway grills of Bab El-Oued, mixing with the diesel of Algiers' white stair-stepped streets and the salt wind off the Mediterranean. Algeria isn't gentle; it announces itself. In the Casbah's 16th-century alleys, laundry drips above your head while boys sell cigarettes one at a time for 5 dinars ($0.04) from battered metal boxes. The call to prayer echoes off Ottoman walls and 1970s apartment blocks in equal measure. Down in Oran, the nights smell of orange blossoms and cheap beer, with raï music spilling from every doorway along Boulevard de l'ALN. Constantine's bridges — eight of them, some Roman, some French, one built by Gustave Eiffel — span the Rhumel gorge at heights that'll make your palms sweat, while the old city clings to the cliff edges like it grew there. The Sahara starts at Ghardaïa, where mud-brick towers rise from the sand dunes and date merchants sell amber-colored deglet noor for 400 dinars ($3) a kilo. This is a country where lunch lasts three hours, buses run on hope and handshakes, and the best restaurant in Algiers might be a grandmother's kitchen on Rue Didouche Mourad. It's also where you'll wait 45 minutes for a taxi that never comes, and where some roads are still closed to foreigners without a military escort. But when the sun sets over the dunes and someone pours you mint tea that took twenty minutes to brew properly, none of that seems to matter.

Travel Tips

Transportation: Domestic flights are your friend — Air Algérie runs daily hops from Algiers to Djanet for 18,000 dinars ($140) that save you 14 hours on the road. Between cities, SNTF trains are surprisingly decent: Algiers to Oran takes 4 hours for 1,200 dinars ($9) in first class, with tea service that appears when you least expect it. In Algiers itself, the metro works (a single ride is 50 dinars/$0.40) but the real move is learning the tram system — buy a rechargeable card at any station for 150 dinars ($1.20) and you're set. Taxis don't use meters; negotiate before you get in. Airport taxis will quote 3,000 dinars ($23) to the city center — walk 200 meters to the main road and you'll pay 800 ($6.20). Most drivers speak some French, very little English.

Money: Cash rules everything around you. Algerian dinars can't be bought outside the country, so you're hitting the airport exchange immediately upon arrival. Bring euros or dollars — the rate is currently 129 dinars to the dollar at the official Bureau de Change, 135 on the street (technically illegal, but everyone's doing it). ATMs exist but spurn foreign cards with the enthusiasm of a disappointed parent. Budget 2,500 dinars ($19) daily for modest meals and transport, double that if you're eating in proper restaurants. Credit cards work at exactly three places in the entire country — stick to cash. Street money-changers near Grande Poste d'Alger will give you better rates than banks, but count your money twice and don't flash large bills.

Cultural Respect: Algeria runs on salaams and kif-haalik greetings. Learn 'marhaba' and 'shukran' — the effort gets you further than fluent French. During Ramadan, don't eat or drink on the streets during daylight hours; locals are fasting and it's deeply disrespectful. Friday prayers shut everything down from 11 AM to 3 PM — plan around this. Women travelers: cover shoulders and knees in the Casbah and smaller towns; Algiers and Oran are more relaxed but pack a scarf anyway. Photography restrictions are real — don't shoot police, military buildings, or government offices unless you enjoy explaining yourself to bored soldiers. Tea invitations aren't optional — refusing coffee or mint tea is like refusing someone's grandmother's cooking. Accept graciously, drink slowly.

Food Safety: The street food will test your stomach and your courage, but it's where Algeria happens. Stick to stalls with high turnover — if the merguez sausages are sizzling and there's a line of locals, you're good. Fresh orange juice carts (15 dinars/$0.12) are everywhere and safe; the oranges come from the Mitidja plain that morning. Couscous etiquette: always eat from the section directly in front of you, use bread to scoop, and expect lunch to take three hours — the concept of 'fast food' never quite arrived. Bottled water is 25 dinars ($0.20) everywhere, but tap water in Algiers is treated and locals drink it. That said, your Western stomach might disagree. Dairy is fresh and unpasteurized — delicious but risky. Trust your instincts: if the oil smells rancid, walk away.

When to Visit

October through April is when Algeria makes sense — temperatures drop from the punishing 45°C (113°F) of summer to something human, hovering around 22-25°C (72-77°F) along the coast. March and April are the sweet spot: wildflowers carpet the Tell Atlas mountains, hotel prices are still 30% lower than peak season, and the Sahara becomes accessible without heatstroke. In Algiers, October brings the International Festival of Arab Cinema (dates vary, but usually mid-month) and temperatures perfect for wandering the Casbah without melting. Oran's November weather sits at a civilized 20°C (68°F) — warm enough for beach walks, cool enough that locals finally stop complaining about the heat. January sees the Sahara at its most dramatic: daytime highs of 18°C (64°F) in Djanet, dropping to 5°C (41°F) at night, which means you'll need both sunscreen and a jacket. Hotel prices in the desert drop 50% from November highs, but some camps close entirely in December-February. The ski season at Tikjda runs January-March — yes, Algeria has skiing, and lift tickets cost 2,000 dinars ($15), though the snow tends to be more enthusiastic than reliable. Summer (May-September) is brutal. Algiers hits 35°C (95°F) with humidity that makes walking feel like swimming, while the Sahara becomes literally uninhabitable — Ghardaïa regularly sees 47°C (117°F) and the heat radiates off mud-brick walls like an oven. Coastal cities empty as locals flee to family homes in the mountains. Ramadan shifts annually — in 2025 it runs March 1-30, which means shorter restaurant hours and empty streets during daylight. Worth experiencing once, but plan accordingly. Budget travelers: aim for October-November or February-March when flights from Europe drop to €200-250 roundtrip (versus €400+ in summer) and hotels in Algiers run 4,000-6,000 dinars ($31-47) instead of 8,000-12,000 ($62-93). Luxury seekers: the new Marriott in Algiers opens November 2024, and opening rates are 40% below normal. Families: July-August means school holidays but also 40°C heat — consider the mountain towns around Tlemcen instead of coastal resorts. Solo travelers: shoulder seasons offer the best balance of weather, prices, and the kind of spontaneous travel that Algeria rewards.