hi.

I just ask algerian embassy in Poland about visa to south alg.

They answered me that, if I take my own car or motorbike I don't get a visa.
Only travel agency car can be used.

in other embassies are the same?

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GZ

Fly-ins only? Sounds a bit extreme - I've never heard of that before (though even then, 3 out of 10 fly-ins from various countries failed to get a visa/the right visa for my camel group last Dec).

Each consulate seems to have its own rules.

Ch

The vibes I'm getting on the grapevine is that due to the repeated misconduct of a couple of irresponsible idiots on the Bamako rally, it is practically impossible for anyone with an Eastern European passport to get a drive-in visa.

A request for information or experiences;

I want to do a road trip across Algeria. My current concern is the visa situation.

How do I submit an itinerary that does not include flights or exact dates of arrival/departure?

Is it necessary to book all hotels or ok to start with a couple and leave the rest?

Is it easy enough to make phony hotel bookings purely for the purposes of obtaining the visa?

Cheers.

Pete

Hi Pete,
if by road trip you mean in your own vehicle (other than pushbike), then you will need a fixed date of arrival and departure (off a Med ferry or at the Tunisian border) so that your escort can meet you there. One or two have managed over the years (pre Arab Spring) to get away, but it seems a matter of luck and maybe nationality.

I imagine your itinerary will also be dependant on where you're allowed to go unescorted (not down south, whatever your nat) and where you'd be advised not to go (a foreign-plated vehicle in parts of the Kabylie in the northeast may not be a good idea).

From your hotel booking questions it sounds like you might be hoping to stay up north and dodge the agency-invite requirements (to get the visa) with the mandatory escort rule (once there). Not sure you will get away with it, otherwise we'd all be trying it to save €50-100/day.

Where that works, I would say the latter.

I rarely hear of it working these days, despite this seemingly simple requirement being stated on some consulate websites.
I also think it depends on where yoiu apply for your visa (the consulate in your home country).
If you are a Brit arriving with a vehicle and apply with just a hotel booking or two, I dont think the guys at Hyde Park Gate will go for it. They will say you need an invite from an agency (or some other official body in Alg - usually for business travel). That invite is effectiively a 'Certificate de Hebergement' (CdH) which is the same as a hotel booking. Formerly a fax was sufficient, now some ask for originals sent by DHL from Alg - more expense.
But of course you won't get the agency CdH without their escort - or it's extremely unlikely - as it's said they are responsible for you in Algeria.

Other consulates will have different regs - some will 'slow track' your app until it's just too late, while for example I believe a Portugal app was easy for one guy here who rode his moto unguided (north of the 'escort line' - more or less In Salah parallel).

One way might be to book a few days tour with an agency, and then try and split to do your own thing (while staying up north).

If you aren't travelling in your own vehicle I get the feeling all the above might be easier to pull off, although the last few times I arrived at Alg airport they ask me where is my guide/who is my agency? I always have one of course; we meet up in Tam or wherever after a domestic flight, but on other occasions I could have slipped out of the airport, especially if you look 'businessman-like'. Getting the visa is the key.

For a cancellable hotel booking you might try online with the Mercure at Algiers airport (from about €80? part of Accor group, very few of those in Alg), but I dont know if their printed email conf will wash as a CdH at the Brit consulate. Nothing to lose I suppose as you can cancel it.

There aren't many countries in the world (3?) which make getting a visa for unescorted independent vehicle travel as difficult as Alg, but once in a while people manage. I think a lot depends on the consulate and the state of relations with them and the host country.

fyi, currently only overland access seems to be Tunisia. Maroc long closed, Libya the same (for foreign tourists), north Niger currently closed for tourists, same with north Mali of course and Mori too.

Ch

Hi,

currently the possibilities for trips off tarmac are very limited in Algeria, more than ever (I don't know about the northern part of Algeria):

Possible:
- Tam-Assekrem, sometimes with Escorte
- Erg Thiodaine, Afara plain
- Tamadjert, Oued Aharar .
- Tadrart, Tassili N'Ajer, Erg Admer

Not permitted:
- Driving off piste (not permitted for Algerians too)!
- Ahnet!
- Erg Oriental, Erg Occidental, Erg Tiffernine
- Tam-Djanet
- Tagrera, Mts. Gauthier

For fly-in tours there are still many possibilities (in Hoggar, Djanet/Tassili N'Ajjer, Immidir).

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Yves

Hi,

Can you tell since how many time Ahnet is forbidden? Are you sure about that?

About Tassili, do you know if it is possible to drive from Tamedjert to Illizi without going to Oued Aharar and Afara: that is going almost north (via Oued Samene?) toward Erg Issaouane (without going inside the erg) then going East to Illizi along this erg?
About Thiodaine surroundings, is it possible to reach Ahellegen and In Azaoua (North West of this erg, cf IGN1/1.000.000) and from where ? Also, is it possible to make a loop around Thiodaine ?
And do you know if it is possible make a trip from Illizi to Dider (or Iherir) with driving along Oued Imirhou?
Sorry for these numerous questions , I'm trying to plan a trip in Algeria for next October (15 days in Algeria), before everything will be closed.
Thanks for your replies.
RR.

Can't picture where aharar is right now but if I understand you correctly, there is a slow rocky route north from northwest of erg tio through the tassili onto the east-west erg isa route. Never done that bit but I recall one of the 2003 groups were caught on this route.
Once on the erg east side there is another rocky track east over the jebel via erg amastane to ain el hadjadj well and the well known 'graveyard piste' to ilizzi - but that is long closed afaik, since 2003 grabs all happened in that area.

As for tarat piste, even short cut down imirhou I would have thought not permitted nor a good idea. They are still trying to smuggle arms out of Libya, towards north Mali I imagine, or maybe northeast alg.

Still, with the open areas Yves described I still think you could do a good tour, as long as you can get off the tsh well before tam.

I recently read a book from the early 80s where the guy was told off for off piste driving which was then also interdite. I suspect it was always forbidden but they just turned a blind eye and of course could not police it anyway. And it's not like you can drive off piste that far in SE alg before you hit a track, that is part of the appeal there.

Ch