Travel guide Algeria

If there is a country where you can experience sleeping under the stars - in a thousand star room as we will tell you! -it is Algeria. There is nothing better than to fall asleep under the canopy of the Milky Way, lulled by the muffled sounds of the camp or the village. Take advantage of the hotel terraces, especially to admire the view.

The oldest city center, in most cases a citadel(casbah in Turkish) of Ottoman origin. Algiers' citadel has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. However, it had almost disappeared, so badly had it been damaged by disrepair. Fortunately, the city began its renovation in 2005.

Here, everyone talks about camels, even though they only have one hump! The camel is the emblematic animal of survival in the Sahara and of the trade of the great nomadic Arab, Moorish and Tuareg caravans, used for transporting goods and for the camel milk that provides the essential protein in the nomads' diet.

Magical, especially when accompanied by the call to the fourth prayer (maghrib), when the first star appears in the purple sky. It's a moment to appreciate, a moment of great tranquility, even in the center of a big city. You can't get enough of it, and keep relaxing until you discover the starry sky.

According to a 2015 survey, couscous is one of France's top ten favorite dishes, ahead of sauerkraut! Prepared sensibly, it's a very healthy dish, with or without meat, that takes on all tastes from salty to sweet, and can be very spicy... There are dozens of types, one for each family we might even say.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil largely restored the reputation of the Algerian national team, which reached the Round of 16 for the first time in its history. More recently, Algeria also achieved a historic feat by winning the Africa Cup of Nations in July 2019 against Senegal.

Henna is used to create traditional, non-permanent tattoos on the hands and feet. Henna is obtained by powdering the dried leaves of the henna shrub(Lawsonia inermes). This true miracle product fades after a month on the skin and lasts longer on the hair.

"O, you who cross my threshold, you are the master and I become your servant", teaches an old saying. Boundless and unselfish, Algerian hospitality begins with the invitation to drink tea. Algerians open their doors with disconcerting speed, and the trick is to prove yourself worthy and not to take advantage.

The Kabyles assert their "imazighenité" while being very proud to be Algerian, even if they sometimes tend to call themselves Kabyles before being Algerian. With the new Algerian Constitution (2016), the Tamazight language becomes an official language, which delights the Kabyle community. A Kabyle flag also exists.

There are few full-time nomads left. The Chaambas have become sedentary, as have the Tuaregs, but it's perhaps nostalgia for a life organized around the camel caravan, herds of goats and the kheima, which was dismantled when the grass ran out, that drives some to work with tourists.

The market is in the Muslim tradition the center of the city with the mosque. In Algeria, the souk is above all a market that often has little to do with what tourists know in Morocco or Tunisia. No scam here! Souks in Algeria are real markets for locals where you can find everything.

Seemingly coming from the mists of time, the youyous of veiled women awaken the imagination of the Western traveller. These vocal stridulations, which signal festivities (for family celebrations, weddings, births, religious festivals, celebrations...) also accompany Berber and Arab folk songs today.