A thousand-year-old urban landscape: walk the lanes of Ghardaïa and Beni Isguen with local guides and stay in a traditional house.
About 600 km south of Algiers, the M'zab Valley holds five fortified towns built by the Mozabite community between the 11th and 14th centuries: Ghardaïa, Beni Isguen, Melika, Bou Noura and El Atteuf. Each rises in a pyramid of houses around its mosque, with its own palm grove below. The valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With an official local guide, you walk the lanes of the old towns, visit the souk and the great mosque of Ghardaïa, attend the evening auction market of Beni Isguen and discover the ingenious system that shares flood water between the palm gardens.
Stays are in a traditional house, and SEFAR Aventure arranges flights or road transfers from Algiers. Dress modestly, and note that photographing residents is not permitted in the holy towns. The circuit runs over three or four days.
Flight from Algiers and transfer to a traditional guesthouse.
Guided walk through the market square and up to the great mosque, then the cemetery and mausoleum of Melika.
Visit of the holy town with an official guide, the Boulila tower and the evening auction market. On a 3-day version, days 2 and 3 are combined.
The oldest town of the valley and its palm groves, then transfer to the airport.
A valid passport (6 months) and an Algerian visa or visa-on-arrival authorisation are required. We send the invitation documents you need once your booking is confirmed.
Ghardaïa & the M'zab Valley
A week in the Saharan north: the five ksour of the M'zab, its palm groves and markets, sunset in the dunes of Sebseb and the lake oasis of El Goléa.
Algiers
Four days in the white city: the Casbah's palaces, the bay from Notre-Dame d'Afrique and the Roman ruins of Tipaza by the sea.
Tassili n'Ajjer
Five days on foot and by 4x4 among the sandstone towers of the Tassili n'Ajjer and the prehistoric frescoes of Sefar, with SEFAR Aventure's Djanet team.
Tamanrasset & the Hoggar
Volcanic peaks, Tuareg camps and a night near Charles de Foucauld's hermitage to watch the sun rise over the Hoggar mountains.
The Sahara regions
Golden dunes rising behind a palm oasis, a night in a bivouac camp and the restored ksar of Taghit — the western Sahara at its most accessible.
Tassili n'Ajjer
Red dunes, natural arches and engraved canyons on the Libyan border: the Tadrart Rouge, the most photogenic corner of the Algerian Sahara.
