so far , Algeria was far from being on my wish list of countries to be visited
Until i watched this documentary, which makes thinking the country is amazing

https://www.google.fr/search?q=youtu...hrome&ie=UTF-8

It's not Morocco or Tunisia. i understand you have to deal with visa bureaucracy, so so reliable internal flights, remainings of hot spot unsafe/terroriste area, the country is huge

But it looks like there are wonderful areas, especially the Hoggar and other Sahara areas

has anybody first hand of experience for planning a desert intro one week stay ?
I guess it s hard to avoid a tourist guide/agency in these areas
Any recommendation ?
Choukrane!!

I don't have firsthand experience but talked to people who went and read a lot. It seems Algiers is safe enough for a trip - especially if you speak French.

Trips outside the city carry a huge risk of kidnapping and roadside attacks. I would not do it.

I visited Algiers the end of May and loved it. People were friendly and the weather was great. Didn't get out of the city though. I found the visa process to be painless. I am a US citizen and got a 2 year multi-entry visa in 9 days.

Air France had a random sale last November for Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, and I talked my friend into a 2 week trip to Algeria. It was $455 roundtrip for August, so why not, right?

I can't stand touts/scams/ tourist traps, and I was wary of Morocco and Tunisia. So, we picked Algeria. Visas, though annoyingly required, were not very challeging to get, used VISAHQ in NYC and it was back to me in a couple weeks. Their online forms were quite easy to deal with. I also got a 2-year, Multiple Entry visa.
Little did I know how few western tourists actually make it to Algeria when we booked this! There are literally NO English language travel guides that have been written in the past 10 years. The Bradt guide, which has lots of info about Roman ruins that are all over Algeria, was published in 2007. That's the newest one!
Anyway, I will report back here when I get back. Wish me luck!

We depart a week from today, Monday the 14th.

Enjoy and looking forward reading you
will you go in the deep south?

We will go to the desert, but just on the far Western part and not very deep south.
The plan is 3 nights Algiers (day trip to Tipasa and also a one day full day city tour), then leaving for 3 nights in Taghit/ Beni Abbes, then over to Constantine for 3 nights with visits to Timgad and Djemila, then back to Algiers.
Should be interesting at least!!

Blogger Caroline Lupini had a great time there. I plan to visit later this year using the guide she used. Very reasonable prices.

I just did a long search for that and nothing came up. Do you have a link to her article/stories about Algeria? Thanks!

Got back in late August from the 2 weeks in Algeria:

Algiers 5 days total, did a day trip to Tipasa and a city tour of Algiers.

Constantine for 3 nights, stayed in the amazing Marriott hotel and did day trips to Tiddis, a deserted small Roman Ruins about 20-30 min from the city, and then also a trip to the magical Djemila, a 90-minute trip from the city. A stunning, huge, also-deserted Roman Ruin.
We did not have a chance to get to Timgad, which I'm told is just as big as Djemila.

Sahara Desert 4-day, 3-night trip. Flew to Bechar, then had a local guide for just about the whole time. Stayed at the very comfortable Hotel Saoura Taghit. Did a day trip to Beni Abbes and went swimming in the local spring water pool, did camel riding, dune climb, camel herder visit, walked around the town, sat by the hotel pool. This was in August: 115 degrees F every day, but actually tolerable and absolutely zero, zero foreign tourists in the entrie 4 days.
Kidnappings? Well, if you're working for a petroleum company in the desert, then 4 years ago you might have had a problem. But that was the only incident in the last 4 years. I couldn't guarantee your safety, but I can say that I felt absolutely safe the entire time we were there.
When driving between desert cities, you have to register with the local police office in both your departure and destination towns, so the police know you made it ok. Even Algerians have to do that. However, one interesting thing is that foreigners travelling between desert cities also get a (free) military police escort SUV trailing your car. It was weird at first but actually the guys were nice and said that (at least in Taghit area) nothing had happened for 20 years.
So, it's up to you but at least for me, I've already got plans to return and see more. There are NO TOURISTS AT ALL-- in our 13 days doing almost exclusively touristy things, we met TWO tourists-- a British woman and her son-- and otherwise we were treated very well and as special guests.