Tour Overview
| Duration | 11 Days / 10 Nights |
|---|---|
| Destination | Algeria — Algiers, Djemila, Constantine, Ghardaia, Tassili n’Ajjer |
| Price From | $1,856 per person (twin share) |
| Tour Style | Private Guided Discovery |
| Best Season | October — April (avoiding summer heat) |
| Data Source | RJ Travel Agency / verified 2026 pricing |
Itinerary Highlights
Day 1: Arrive Algiers — Africa’s Largest Country Opens Its Doors
Land at Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport. Your English-speaking guide meets you for transfer to your hotel. Algeria — at 2.38 million sq km, Africa’s largest country — is one of the world’s least visited destinations, and that is precisely its greatest gift. This is a country where Roman ruins stand in near-complete solitude, where the Sahara reveals 15,000 years of human art, and where the Casbah’s Ottoman palaces decay in poetic grandeur. Afternoon: orientation walk in Algiers’ French Quarter, with its whitewashed colonial arcades overlooking the Bay of Algiers. Overnight in Algiers.
Day 2: Algiers — The White City & UNESCO Casbah
Morning: the Casbah of Algiers (UNESCO World Heritage), a labyrinth of Ottoman palaces, mosques, and houses cascading down the hillside to the sea. Narrow alleys, hidden courtyards with fountains, and sudden views of the Mediterranean make this one of the most atmospheric old quarters in North Africa. Visit the Ketchaoua Mosque and the Dar Aziza palace. Afternoon: the Martyrs’ Memorial (Maqam Echahid), a modernist concrete monument commemorating the Algerian War of Independence, offering panoramic city views. Visit the Bardo National Museum housed in a Moorish villa, and the Notre Dame d’Afrique Basilica (1872) — “Our Lady of Africa” watching over the bay. Evening flight to Ghardaia. Overnight in Ghardaia.
Day 3: Ghardaia & M’zab Valley — Millennium of Berber Architecture
Full day in the M’zab Valley (UNESCO World Heritage). The five fortified towns — Ghardaia, Beni Isguen, Melika, Bounoura, and El Atteuf — were built by the Ibadi Berbers in the 11th century. Their concentric urban planning, with the mosque at the center radiating outward, influenced Le Corbusier and 20th-century modernist architecture. Walk through Ghardaia’s covered market where women wrapped in white haiks shop for spices and silver. Visit Beni Isguen, the strictest of the five towns, where the gates close at sunset and traditions have remained unbroken for a thousand years. The surrounding date palm oasis — 100,000 palms fed by an ancient irrigation system — creates a brilliant green contrast with the desert. Overnight in Ghardaia.
Day 4: Sebseb & Mansourah — Into the Sahara
Full-day expedition from Ghardaia into the desert landscapes of Sebseb and Mansourah. The transition from oasis to open desert is gradual and stunning — the palm groves thin out, the sand takes over, and the horizon becomes infinite. Explore rugged terrain, golden dunes, and the profound silence that makes the Sahara unlike anywhere else on Earth. Lunch in a desert camp. Learn about the Mozabite way of life and the remarkable adaptations that allow communities to thrive in this extreme environment for over a millennium. Sunset over the dunes. Return to Ghardaia for overnight.
Day 5: Tipaza & Cherchell — Rome on the Mediterranean
Morning flight to Algiers, then drive west along the Mediterranean coast to Cherchell, the ancient Roman city of Caesarea — once the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. The archaeological museum houses one of Africa’s finest collections of Roman statuary, including a magnificent Apollo. Continue to Tipaza (UNESCO World Heritage), where Roman ruins stand directly on the Mediterranean shore. The temples, forum, and amphitheater rise from wildflowers with the sea as backdrop — a setting that rivals anything in Italy, yet you may be the only visitors. The basilica of St. Salsa, a 4th-century Christian martyr, stands on a promontory overlooking the bay. Return to Algiers. Overnight in Algiers.
Day 6: Djemila — North Africa’s Best-Preserved Roman City
Morning drive east to Djemila (UNESCO World Heritage), ancient Cuicul. This is simply one of the best-preserved Roman cities anywhere — and virtually tourist-free. Founded under Nerva in 96 AD, Djemila sits on a mountain spur at 900m elevation. Walk the Cardo Maximus (main street) lined with columns, enter the remarkably intact Severan Temple, and climb the seating of the 3,000-seat theater. The museum’s mosaics — depicting hunting scenes, mythological tales, and daily Roman life — are among the finest in North Africa, perfectly preserved in their mountain setting. Afternoon drive to Constantine. Overnight in Constantine.
Day 7: Constantine — The City of Bridges
Constantine, Algeria’s third city, is built on a dramatic plateau 650m above the Rhumel Gorge — one of the most spectacular urban settings in the world. Cross the Sidi M’Cid Bridge (1912), a suspension bridge spanning 168m at 175m above the gorge — one of the highest bridges in the world when built. Visit the Palace of Ahmed Bey (1835), the last Ottoman governor, with its elaborate tile work and garden courtyards. The Casbah of Constantine, the old city, clings to the cliffs. Afternoon flight to Algiers, then evening flight to Djanet — your gateway to the deep Sahara. Overnight in Djanet.
Day 8: Tassili n’Ajjer — Prehistoric Art Gallery of the Sahara
Unforgettable day. Enter Tassili n’Ajjer National Park (UNESCO World Heritage) — a surreal landscape of sandstone arches, natural pillars, and canyons that cover 72,000 sq km. This is one of the world’s greatest open-air art galleries: 15,000-year-old paintings and engravings recording a time when the Sahara was green — elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and humans hunting and dancing across the stone. The rock art spans from 12,000 BC (the “Round Head” period of enigmatic human figures) through the “Bovidian” period of cattle herders, to the “Camel Period” when the desert became arid. Walk among the “Forest of Rocks” — wind-carved sandstone formations that look like giant mushrooms, arches, and alien landscapes. Overnight desert camping under the clearest stars you will ever see.
Day 9: Tassili Continued — Canyon of Engravings
Continue exploring the park’s deeper reaches. Visit the Sefar Plateau, the “Louvre of the Sahara,” with its extraordinary density of prehistoric paintings — the “Great God of Sefar,” a 6-meter-high figure, is one of the most important prehistoric artworks on Earth. Hike through narrow canyons where every rock surface tells a story. Learn about the Tuareg who have navigated this landscape for millennia, using star navigation and camel caravans. Afternoon return to Djanet for a hot shower and reflection on the extraordinary journey into humanity’s deep past. Overnight in Djanet.
Day 10: Return to Algiers
Morning flight from Djanet to Algiers. Afternoon at leisure: revisit the Casbah at your own pace, shop for Berber silver jewelry and carpets in the souks, or simply sit at a cafe on the Didouche Mourad boulevard watching Algerian life unfold in a country that has preserved its authenticity. Farewell dinner at a traditional Algerian restaurant featuring couscous, mechoui (roast lamb), and makroudh pastries. Overnight in Algiers.
Day 11: Departure
Breakfast, then transfer to Algiers Airport for departure. You leave with the rare distinction of having explored Africa’s largest and most undervisited country — a land where Roman grandeur, Berber tradition, and Saharan timelessness converge.
Included
- 10 nights accommodation (3-4 star hotels + desert camp)
- Daily breakfast + 5 dinners
- All domestic flights (Algiers-Ghardaia, Algiers-Djanet, Djanet-Algiers)
- Private English-speaking guide throughout
- All ground transportation (SUV in desert segments)
- All entrance fees (Djemila, Tipaza, Tassili, Ghardaia, Casbah, museums)
- Desert camping equipment (Tassili)
- Airport transfers
- Visa invitation letter assistance
