Algiers
Algeria
White terraces down to the Mediterranean, and almost no tourists
Photo by Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash
Photos by Azzedine Rouichi, Azzedine Rouichi, Azzedine Rouichi and Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Algeria
April to June, September to November
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 105mm in Dec
Where it is
36.75°N, 3.06°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Walk the Casbah with a guide — it is a maze and a UNESCO site
- See Tipaza, a Roman city on the sea, an hour west
- Ride the téléphérique to Notre-Dame d’Afrique
- Visit the Bardo for the prehistory and ethnography
- Sit out an afternoon on the seafront arcades
Algiers travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Algeria
Good valueThe dinar is closed and the parallel rate is substantially better than the official one, which is why most visitors bring euros in cash. Card acceptance is very limited and foreign cards frequently do not work at all — plan to run the trip on cash.
ATMs & cards
Machines are common but often reject foreign cards, and those that work dispense at the official rate. Do not build a trip around withdrawing money here. Bring euros in cash and change as you go.
Avoid these
- building the trip around withdrawing money — many machines reject foreign cards
Use these instead
- BNA
- CPA
- Société Générale Algérie
Bring euros in cash. Machines that do work dispense at the official rate, which is well below what cash fetches.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Algeria
Reasonably safeAlgiers itself is calm and violent crime against visitors is rare, but this is not a country set up for independent tourism. Most nationalities need a visa arranged in advance with an invitation or a tour booking, and several governments advise against travel to the south and the border regions entirely. Photography of official buildings is a genuine problem. Go with a local operator unless you speak Arabic or French and know what you are doing.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Casbah of Algiers — without a guide
- Photographing anything official or military, which is taken seriously
- Travel into the far south and the border regions, which carry standing advisories
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Algeria visa rules
Visa required in advance€85 or so
Almost every nationality needs a visa arranged in advance, and the application generally requires either a hotel booking through a licensed Algerian agency or an invitation from a resident. This is the single biggest obstacle to visiting, and it is worth starting two months out.
How to get it: Apply at the Algerian consulate for your country with a confirmed itinerary from a licensed local agency. Processing is slow and rejections without explanation are not unusual.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Algeria
LimitedRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for longer stays
Getting treated
Public hospitals are free but under-resourced, and private clinics in Algiers are the better option. Serious cases are commonly evacuated to France. Bring any medication you need, because supply is inconsistent, and hold insurance with evacuation cover.
Do not drink the tap water. Medical facilities outside the major cities are very limited, and the south is a long way from anything.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodChorba and couscous are the staples, and the pastries show the French century. Coffee culture is strong. Alcohol is legal but discreet and hard to find outside a few hotels.
Nightlife
Limited and mostly in hotels: this is a city of cafés, promenades and very good cakes rather than bars.
- Didouche Mourad — the evening promenade and the cafés
- Sidi Fredj — the marina, and what nightlife exists
- Bab El Oued — the seafront, and the crowds on it
Closing: 23:00–01:00.
Alcohol is legal but discreet; it is sold in licensed restaurants and hotels and almost nowhere else.
Getting around
Workable- YassirWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
Yassir the Algerian one
- From the airport
- Algiers airport to the centre 1,500–2,500 DA
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a negotiated taxi, and Yassir is what everybody under forty uses.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Algiers — 5 hours ahead of you
3 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–12:00 your time, 14:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 04:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 04:00–12:00 on yours.
The working week runs Sunday to Thursday.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Algeria
Why these are Algeria's numbers and not Algiers's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 71% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 71% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Algiers, so these are medians for all of Algeria. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Algeria, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Arabic
- Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
- Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
- Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
- Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
4 more phrases
- Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
- How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
- The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
- Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan
Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.
Religion
Sunni Muslim
Islam is the state religion and society is noticeably more conservative than neighbouring Tunisia or Morocco. Proselytising by non-Muslims is a criminal offence. Ramadan is widely and visibly observed.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet properly before any transaction — abruptness reads as rudeness
- Dress conservatively; this is more formal than Tunisia or Morocco
- Learn a few words of French, which is widely spoken alongside Arabic and Berber
- Ask permission before photographing anyone
Don't
- Do not photograph anything official — buildings, police, ports, borders. This is taken seriously
- Do not expect to travel independently without a visa arranged through an invitation or an operator
- Do not eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight hours in Ramadan
- Do not raise the civil war of the 1990s; it is recent and painful
Where to stay in Algiers
No Holistay rentals in Algiers yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Algiers on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Houari Boumediene ALG
30 minfrom the airport· 15 km as the crow flies
30 min to the centre.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
