With beautiful beaches, spectacular mountain and desert landscapes, and fine classical ruins, Algeria is one of the most “alluring” of Mediterranean destinations – and the fact it sees very few foreign visitors only adds to its charm, says Rob Crossan in The Daily Telegraph.
The country’s FLN government relies on oil and gas for export income, and has little interest in promoting tourism. There have also been “lingering security concerns” since the civil war of the 1990s, but the FCO has long advised that most of the country is safe to visit. And unless you’re very unlucky, you will find heart-warming hospitality wherever you go.
The capital, Algiers, is “enthralling”, with cuisine to “rival Beirut”, history that “outstrips Valletta”, and sunshine “the equal of Málaga”. And all this just two hours and 40 minutes from Heathrow.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Algiers was founded as a Carthaginian trading post in the fourth century BC, and the Romans, Berbers, Arabs, Ottomans, Moors and French have “left their mark”. Its kasbah is a maze of alleyways fragrant with the scents of “incense, baguettes and diesel fumes”, whose “high, flaking walls” bear murals of “fallen Leftist heroes”. Elsewhere, there are French colonial-era boulevards, botanical gardens, “Notre-Dame imitation churches” and a Beaux-Arts museum with works by Gauguin, Renoir and Monet.
A brief tour of the country might also include the charming seaside towns of Tipasa and Annaba, and the remains of Roman cities such as Timgad and Djémila, where the museum houses “gargantuan” mosaics featuring “affectionate” images of birds, lion hunting and horse racing. Finally, there are the endless dunes of the Sahara, which are best approached via the oasis town of Taghit, with its ancient, mud-walled ksar (castle) and “highly stylised” neolithic rock paintings.
Lupine Travel (lupinetravel.co.uk) has a seven-day group tour for £845, including guide and meals, excluding flights and visa costs.
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
American Psycho: a ‘hypnotic’ adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis classicThe Week Recommends Rupert Goold’s musical has ‘demonic razzle dazzle’ in spades
-
Properties of the week: houses near spectacular coastal walksThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, Devon and Northumberland
-
Melania: an ‘ice-cold’ documentaryTalking Point The film has played to largely empty cinemas, but it does have one fan
-
Nouvelle Vague: ‘a film of great passion’The Week Recommends Richard Linklater’s homage to the French New Wave
-
Wonder Man: a ‘rare morsel of actual substance’ in the Marvel UniverseThe Week Recommends A Marvel series that hasn’t much to do with superheroes
-
Is This Thing On? – Bradley Cooper’s ‘likeable and spirited’ romcomThe Week Recommends ‘Refreshingly informal’ film based on the life of British comedian John Bishop
-
A Shellshocked Nation: Britain Between the Wars – history at its most ‘human’The Week Recommends Alwyn Turner’s ‘witty and wide-ranging’ account of the interwar years
