Is Algeria safe to travel?

Trekking, excursions and recreational trips by 4x4 or motorcycle are not possible without an authorised local guide and prior agreement from the local authorities, who only clear routes that the army keeps under surveillance; the same goes for any desert excursion. Itineraries have to be arranged through a local travel agency formally recognised by the Algerian government, which is required to notify your route to the security services in advance so that protection can be organised. Depending on the situation the authorities can close tourist routes or roads to traffic altogether, or make an escort compulsory.

Foreign travellers are obliged to report their presence, and any movement outside the province of Algiers, to the nearest Gendarmerie station or police commissariat. The authorities want that information partly in order to decide whether to assign an escort; if you are hosted by an agency or a hotel, make sure they actually file it for you.

Travel to the Algerian areas bordering Mali, Niger, Libya, Morocco — that border is closed — Mauritania and Tunisia is advised against in the strongest terms, and on the Tunisian side especially the rural and mountainous parts of Khenchela and Tebessa provinces. In the north the rural, mountainous and interior areas are also advised against, Kabylia included, and in particular the provinces of Ain Defla, Batna, Bouira, Medea and Tizi Ouzou.

The terrorist threat persists, concentrated in the southern and central desert regions, along the border strips with Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali and Mauritania, in the north-east and in the northern mountain belt. Attacks have struck the Mali border at Timaouine in 2020, Tebessa near Tunisia in 2021, where a homemade device killed five civilians, and the Hassi Tiririne checkpoint near Niger in 2022. Around Djanet, which the army protects heavily, a Swiss tourist was murdered in October 2024 and a Spanish tourist kidnapped in January 2025.

Petty crime occurs in urban areas despite the dense security presence, so take care in the cities, above all at night, and stay out of the outlying districts. In Algiers the ministry suggests visiting the Casbah only in daylight and in organised groups.

Northern Algeria, and the north-east in particular, is seismic, with recurring quakes since the 2003 Algiers earthquake and a magnitude 5.9 event in Bejaia province in March 2021. Wildfires break out in summer with no warning during extreme weather, and autumn and winter bring heavy rain and flooding, so check the forecast and civil protection advice in the cold months.