Algeria Guided Tour: From the Mediterranean to the Sahara
Below you will find a sample Expert Algeria itinerary of a tour that combines the antiquities of northern Algeria with the UNESCO site of Ghardaia and the desert city of El Oued.For comprehensive details and photos of the Algerian Sahara, please see our Sahara Desert page; and for Algeria’s Roman sites, see our Roman Algeria portal.
Most of Expert Algeria’s tours and circuits are made-to-measure and are accompanied by qualified guides. Tours last from three days to three weeks and can be designed for between two and thirty participants. Please contact us for further details of all our Algeria tours and itineraries.
This 15-day programme ranges across Algeria from the Mediterranean to the northern Sahara.
Highlights include the UNESCO sites in and around Mediterranean Algiers, home of one of the world’s oldest casbahs; the Roman antiquities of Timgad, Djemila and Tipasa; the M’Zab Valley, where the walled town of Beni Isguen, deep in the Sahara, is normally closed to foreigners; and El Oued, the Saharan “town of a thousand domes”..
Day 1
Arrive
Algiers and transfer to hotel overlooking port in central Algiers for two nights. Afternoon: Algiers on foot including Place des Martyrs (17th century El Djedid Mosque), Place Emir
Abd-el-Kader (panoramic square), neo-Moorish Grande Poste, colonial Algiers.
Day 2
Tombeau de la Chr�tienne (Mausoleum of Mauritania), Cherchell (Roman port of Caesarea) and UNESCO World Heritage site of
Tipasa: amphitheatre, 4th century basilica, forum, museum. Dinner in former Turkish baths.
Day 3
Bardo Museum (housed in neo-Moorish villa), Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts, UNESCO World Heritage
casbah
(including lunch in private courtyard) with visits to mosque and Arts and Crafts Museum. Continue to Algiers airport for flight to Annaba and transfer to four-star hotel overlooking Mediterranean for two nights.
Day 4
19th century Basilica of St Augustine followed by ancient settlement of Hippo Regius (seat of St Augustine) and visits in Annaba (cours de la
Révolution, corniche, Cap de Garde).
Day 5
Delightful Roman site of
Tiddis (monumental gate,
baptistery) then Constantine: museum, kasbah, suspension bridge, Palace of Ahmed Bey. Overnight in Constantine.
baptistery) then Constantine: museum, kasbah, suspension bridge, Palace of Ahmed Bey. Overnight in Constantine.
Day 6
UNESCO World Heritage site of
Djemila (ancient garrison of Cuicul): forum, temples, basilicas, triumphal arches, superb mosaic museum followed by
Setif (archaeological museum with splendid Bacchus mosaic) then continue to Batna for two nights.
Day 7
Whole-day excursion to UNESCO World 
Heritage site of Timgad (huge library, colonnaded streets, temples, amphitheatre, arch of Trajan, basilica) then Roman garrison town of Lambaesis (amphitheatre, praetorian guard) and Medracen (Numidian royal tomb).
Heritage site of Timgad (huge library, colonnaded streets, temples, amphitheatre, arch of Trajan, basilica) then Roman garrison town of Lambaesis (amphitheatre, praetorian guard) and Medracen (Numidian royal tomb).
Day 8
Spectacular gorge of Tighanimine, Troglodyte village of Rhoufi, El Kantara (“Calceus Herculis”), Biskra (lunch in private palm grove) then continue through Sahara to El Oued (“town of a thousand domes”) for two nights.
Day 9
El Oued (camel market) and Gumar (Zaouia Tidjania school of Islam, museum, Jewish heritage) followed by relaxing afternoon at hotel (swimming pool, sand dunes, verdant gardens).
Day 10
Touggourt (center of date trade), Temacine (visit to Zaouia) then continue across desert to Beni-Isguen for three nights in hotel situated in remote palm grove.
Day 11
UNESCO World Heritage site of M’Zab Valley including Ghardaia: old town, market square, “four-fingered” mosque, tombs, date farm.
Day 12
Morning at leisure in palm grove followed by walled town of Beni Isguen (normally closed to foreigners).
Day 13
Return flight from Ghardaia to Algiers and transfer to hotel for two nights. Free time for shopping.
Day 14
Monument to the Fallen, War Museum, Muse des Beaux Arts (one of world’s great “undiscovered” art galleries), Jardin d’Essai (with lunch). Farewell dinner.
Day 15
Transfer to Algiers airport for return flight.
