# Algeria Cultural Tour — 5 Days

> Five days across the heart of Algeria — the UNESCO Casbah of Algiers, the Roman coast at Tipaza and the M'Zab Valley, with a private licensed guide.

- Price: from €900 per person (private trip or small group)
- Duration: 5 days · 4 nights
- Starts: Algiers — Houari Boumediene Airport
- Best season: October–April (comfortable in the Sahara)
- Guides speak: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, German, Russian
- Visa on arrival at Algiers airport possible: yes (the programme includes the Sahara)
- Web page: https://algeriacompass.com/tours/algeria-cultural-tour/
- Book (request, no payment to enquire): https://algeriacompass.com/contact/?tour=algeria-cultural-tour

## Overview

This is Algeria in miniature: the white capital, the Roman coast and the desert, in five unhurried days. You walk the UNESCO Casbah of Algiers, follow the Mediterranean to the seaside ruins of Tipaza and the museum at Cherchell, then fly south to Ghardaïa to step into the M'Zab Valley — five fortified oasis towns built by the Ibadi Mozabites a thousand years ago. Coast, culture and Sahara, with a private guide and real Algerian food along the way.

## Highlights

- Walk the UNESCO-listed Casbah of Algiers
- Roman Tipaza and the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania
- Cherchell Archaeological Museum and Mediterranean views
- A Sahara afternoon around Ghardaïa
- The historic M'Zab towns, including El Atteuf
- Authentic Algerian food and everyday culture

## Day by day

### Day 1 — Arrival in Algiers

Welcome at Houari Boumediene Airport and a private transfer to your hotel. Settle in and rest; overnight in Algiers.
- **Houari Boumediene Airport**: Met inside the terminal by your guide and driven straight out — no queues at the taxi rank, no haggling on your first hour in the country.
- **The bay road into Algiers**: The coastal approach to the capital, with the white terraces of the city stacked in tiers above the harbour.
- **Central Algiers**: Check-in and an evening free to walk the seafront arcades and Martyrs’ Square at your own pace before the touring starts.

### Day 2 — Tipaza & Cherchell

After breakfast, drive the coast to the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania and the Roman ruins of Tipaza. Lunch by the Mediterranean, then the Cherchell Archaeological Museum. Return for the night in Algiers.
- **The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania**: A great stone drum on a hill above the sea — the 1st-century-BC tomb of Berber king Juba II and Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra of Egypt.
- **Roman Tipaza**: A UNESCO-listed Roman port strung along the Mediterranean — basilicas, baths and a theatre with the waves at their feet.
- **Cherchell (ancient Caesarea)**: Juba II's old capital, whose museum holds some of Algeria's finest Roman and Greek mosaics and statuary.

### Day 3 — Algiers city & flight to Ghardaïa

Explore the UNESCO Casbah, the Bardo Museum and the Martyrs' Memorial. In the evening, fly south to Ghardaïa for the night.
- **The Casbah of Algiers**: The UNESCO-listed Ottoman citadel — a steep white labyrinth of palaces, mosques and courtyard houses climbing above the bay.
- **The Bardo Museum**: Prehistory and ethnography inside a graceful Moorish villa, from Saharan rock-art casts to silver jewellery and everyday Algeria.
- **The Martyrs' Memorial (Maqam Echahid)**: Three soaring concrete palm-fronds raised in 1982 over the city, honouring the dead of the war of independence.

### Day 4 — Sahara around Ghardaïa

A desert day near Ghardaïa with a traditional lunch and time in the dunes. Overnight in Ghardaïa.
- **The palm groves & foggaras**: Gardens watered for a thousand years by the foggara — underground channels that make life possible in the dry valley.
- **A traditional Saharan lunch**: Taguella — flatbread baked in the hot sand — with grilled meat and mint tea, eaten under an awning at the dune’s edge.
- **The dunes near Ghardaïa**: An afternoon on the sand at the Sahara’s edge, with a traditional lunch under the desert sky.

### Day 5 — M'Zab Valley & return

Visit El Atteuf and the Sidi Brahim mausoleum, lunch in Ghardaïa, then fly back to Algiers.
- **El Atteuf**: The oldest of the five M’Zab towns, whose simple Sidi Brahim mosque so struck Le Corbusier that it shaped modern architecture.
- **The Sidi Brahim mausoleum**: Whitewashed and hand-moulded, almost sculptural — the cubist purity that drew European architects to the M’Zab.
- **The Ghardaïa market**: The tiered arcaded square beneath a pyramid-minaret, the M'Zab's bustling heart for a thousand years.

## Included

- Accommodation with breakfast
- Private transfers
- English-speaking guide
- Traditional lunches
- Desert excursion

## Not included

- International flights
- Visa fees
- Personal expenses
- Tips

## Questions

**Do we fly within Algeria?**
Yes — a domestic flight links Algiers and Ghardaïa; transfers are included.

**Is the M'Zab Valley UNESCO-listed?**
Yes — Ghardaïa's M'Zab was inscribed in 1982; modest dress and a local guide are expected.

**What's included?**
Accommodation with breakfast, private transfers, an English-speaking guide, traditional lunches and the desert excursion.

**Is this good for a first visit?**
Ideal — it samples the capital, the Roman coast and the Sahara in one trip.

## Booking & policies

- Request to book: dates are held free for 72 hours with no payment while availability, permits and flights are confirmed; a 20% deposit paid before arrival then secures the trip, and the balance is paid on arrival in Algeria. Payment by bank transfer, card or PayPal.
- 5% off when booked at least 60 days before departure.
- Free cancellation up to 5 days before departure, full refund. Within 5 days, committed costs may not be recoverable; the rest is refunded.
- If the visa is refused, everything paid to Algeria Compass is refunded.
- Visa: Consulate route: invitation letter 25 USD for a programme of at least 3 days with airport pickup and drop-off. Visa on arrival at Algiers airport for organised programmes that include the Sahara: authorisation 45 USD, plus the arrival stamp paid at the airport (by length of stay).