The Algerian Sahara

Algerian Sahara with Expert Algeria travel agency The Sahara amazes the first-time visitor with the variety of its landscapes.

There are the towering dunes of the great eastern sand sea, the Grand Erg Oriental; the ochres, greens, blues and whites of the pentapolis town of Ghardaia and the “one-eyed women” of Beni Isguen; the thousand-domed city of El Oued with its extra-ordinary camel market; and the isolated, intoxicating tranquility of the deep south – whether its Djanet and the Tassili or Algerian Sahara with Expert Algeria travel agency Tamanrasset and the Hoggar.

For much more information on holidays and vacations in the Algerian Sahara, please take a look at some our sample tours listed opposite, and visit our Sahara in Focus pages.

Tamanrasset & The Hoggar
Camels in Algeria Tamanrasset is the remote Tuareg capital of the Hoggar (or Ahaggar) region of the Algerian Sahara, close to the massive volcanic field of Atakor, the jagged peaks of Taguerguiste and Tizouyag and the guelta of Afilal. To climb to the peak of nearby Assekrem as night falls is to witness one of the Sahara’s most beautiful sunsets.
Djanet & The Tassili
Roman Algeria Algeria’s mountainous Tassili region, bordering Niger to the south, is distinguished by its towering dunes of sand, its sheer-sided canyons and its beguiling “forests of rock”. The Tassili – “plateau of the rivers” in Arabic – is also an open-air treasure-trove of more than 15,000 rock carvings and cave paintings.
Ghardaia & The M’Zab
Camels in Algeria Ghardaia is one of the pentapolis towns of the M’Zab Valley, about 60 minutes by plane from Algiers. Our Ghardaia itineraries visit the sites of the UNESCO World Heritage M’Zab, including the walled town of Beni Isguen – normally closed to foreigners – where the women, clad entirely in white, reveal only one eye to the outside world.
El Oued
Grnade PosteEl Oued – “city of a thousand domes” is one of the most bustling and colourful towns to be found anywhere in the Sahara.
Palace in The Sahara
Roman Algeria The Palace at El Oued presents four-star luxury in the middle of the Sahara, an oasis of tranquility and colour, with grounds so rich and fertile that there is even an English-style garden! The dunes surrounding El Oued are home to verdant date oases, enormous sand roses and – believe-it-or-not – plantations of potatoes.
Timimoun
Ghardaia According to the Lonely Planet to Algeria, “If you can stop at only one of the oases around the Grand Erg Occidental, make it Timimoun. It’s an enchanting place, full of distinctive red mud buildings studded with wooden spikes, and surrounded by ancient villages”.