Algeria itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

Match the length to the blocks you can actually reach. The north and the Sahara are separate trips joined by flights, and the Sahara only runs October–March. Anything under 10 days should stay north.

Three nights in Algiers covers the Casbah with a guide, the Great Mosque, Maqam Echahid and the Jardin d'Essai, plus a day trip west to Tipasa's Roman ruins on the coast. Then three nights in Constantine: one day for the gorge bridges and the old town, one day for Djemila, one for Timgad. Both Roman sites are long day trips by car with a driver, so book the car the day before and leave early.

The last night back in Algiers is buffer, not sightseeing. Domestic flights and road times slip, and the airport is outside the city. If you only have 7 days, this is the itinerary that works; a Sahara block would consume the whole week and leave you with no north at all.

Two weeks lets you keep the 7-day north loop and add the M'zab valley and one Sahara block. Algiers 3 nights, Constantine 3, then fly to Ghardaïa for 2 nights in the pentapolis towns, then fly to Djanet for 5 nights in Tassili n'Ajjer with an agency, and finish with 1 night in Algiers before departure.

This version includes the north, so the Sahara visa-on-arrival route does not apply: you need a full visa from an Algerian consulate before you fly. Book the agency before anything else — it arranges the Djanet permits, the escort and the camp logistics, and its dates decide yours.

Three weeks is where Algeria stops feeling rushed. Keep the 14-day spine and add Oran for 2 nights on the western coast — Santa Cruz fort, the port and raï music — either between Constantine and Ghardaïa or at the end via a flight back to Algiers. Add a night or two in Ghardaïa so the M'zab towns are not a single blur.

You can also swap Djanet for Tamanrasset and the Hoggar, including Assekrem, if your agency runs that block in your dates. Do not try to do both Saharan blocks in three weeks: each is 5–7 nights plus a flight day, and the transfers between them are long.

Season decides the shape. The north is best April–June and September–November; the Sahara runs October–March and closes in the summer heat. A trip that tries to combine both outside those windows will lose one half.

Fly between blocks. Algiers–Constantine, Algiers–Djanet and Algiers–Ghardaïa are short flights; the equivalent road legs take most of a day. Build a buffer night in Algiers before any international departure.

The Sahara is agency-only. Permits, escorts and camps are arranged through a licensed operator, and the agency letter is what makes the Djanet or Tamanrasset visa-on-arrival route possible. Independent desert travel is not an option.

Check your visa route against your itinerary before paying for flights: a north-plus-south trip needs a full consular visa, which takes time. Carry cash for drivers, guides and small hotels outside the cities.