Sorry "MagicBus" (what a name! You've got another?),


I crossed mybe 20 times this borderline by several frontiers posts. I cannot see any specific questions in your post! If you will get a visa, go (but not by Thaled Larbi) to Argelia (no fault, only "L'Algerie in spanish").


Ferdi

Hi. Thanks for the reply. These were the questions in my original post. Your input would be great (I have a UK passport). Thanks!

“Here are my questions to anyone who has done something similar.

If we get the the border (Oum Teboul) with a visa and evidence of hotel booking in Algiers, will we still be expected to have a guide/escort?

Would it hurt our chances for a visa if we mentioned a land border crossing in a camper, or is it better to put that up front?

I’m assuming wild camping in the North isn’t really a thing, does that mean we will be obliged to book somewhere for every night in advance?

Maybe I’m overthinking it, but there isn’t a whole lot of info out there!”

Your questions are answered more then sufficient by Chris Scott!

Hi Ferdi. As always, Chris was kind enough to offer some helpful thoughts, but by his own admission he hasn't been that route for "many years" and suggested others may have more up to date information.

That is what I am looking for. Things seem to have changed in Algeria in recent years regarding tourist access but there is little recent information out there. So if you have recent experience, please feel free to share it - particularly if you have recent experience of applying for an Algerian visa in London and taking a UK vehicle across. If you can give an overview of crossing the border in your own car, and what accomodation bookings were required (if any), great. If you have wildcamping experience in Northern Algeria, again it would be great to get your experience of it. If you don't, I'd love to hear from someone who has.

Thanks

It answers some; have a closer look.

Cantone (in a camper last March) were never required to use hotels in Algeria, nor moved on from well chosen free camping spots in the north.

They were never escorted in the north (south may be another matter).

Thanks Chris. Yes, I noted that. The difference is, that they crossed the border in the south before heading north and as we know, what may be required at the border is not always required once you are in. I'm intending to cross in the north from Tunisia with a tourist visa. The requirements for a tourist visa are: "Invitation letter "Accommodation certificate" duly certified by the local authorities in Algeria (town hall) bearing the name and address of the person inviting you and their relationship to you or, when applicable, an official invitation with itinerary from a travel agency in Algeria or a confirmation of a hotel booking." It was good to see that Cantone had an easy border crossing in 2022 from Tunisia, but presumably with German passports, for which the requirements may be different.

The visa process in the UK also seems to assume that you will be flying in to join a tour, which I won't be. So I'd love to know from someone who may have done this recently whether in both the application phase and on the northern border with Tunisia they were required to present paperwork for every day of their intended visit. Reading reviews from around the web, some were, some weren't but most experiences are from some years ago. If anyone has recent experience of this specific situation, I'd love to hear it.

Visa is always the stumbling block and there will be a certain around of winging it if not a regular airport arrival, but if you have an invite from an agency, it's sorted. I take it they know you are arriving overland but flying down south, so there will be some gaps in their approved itinerary.
If you are unsure, get a hotel booking in Annaba, a shorter drive from the Tunisian border.
Or simplify things further by crossing from Spain to Oran overnight and eliminate the Tunisia > Algeria border issue. Book the Ibis in Oran, do your northern road trip then southern tour, and exit via Tunisia back to Europe, if you wish.

You will never get a concrete answer on Algeria which is why few overland independently there. Some swan around the place like Cantone (Swiss, fyi), others get lumbered with gendarmerie escorts. Much depends of your travellers' nous and spoken French but lately the north has been escort free.

Thanks for the Annaba tip. We will definitely be coming from Tunisia so the ferry is not an option (juggling Schengen days too). Good to hear that lately the north has been escort free - I hope it still is when we get there. If anyone knows different (or has recent experience) it would be good to hear. Thanks!

MagicBus, I’ve only exited into Tunisia but I have entered via port at Algiers and Oran (twice), this year and in 2023, by motorbike, solo and unguided.

The only paperwork required was the visa. However when doing your passport checks they do need an onward address for their forms. Others have reported they will also ring any hotel or individual you list. I can’t think of any reason why this would be different to a land border crossing.

My approach has been to go in with a booking for the first night, and take a hit on the cost of doing so if you don’t use it.

Beyond that, and having spent 3 months travelling around the north and south in recent years, the experience is as Chris says - the one bit of solid, fact based advice I would impart is not to rely on any certainties here because there are none; some people get out under escort, others don’t; there’s no clarity on why that’s the case. That’s not much help but that’s the way it is.

Good luck with it all.

Ed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Ed. Many thanks for that. Presumably you were able to get the visa with only one night booked? Did you need to get an Algerian agency to book it (in order to meet the specifics of the application form) or was booking.com (or similar) enough?

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I appreciate that nothing is hard and fast here, but the recent experience of others does help fill in the gaps a bit.

Best

Richard.

Hi Richard (thanks for the name!),


please, never despread such a "thread" once again - the alg. authortities can read very carefully - they are very well educated! Argelia is sensitive! And "idiv. tourism" will go by such "innocents" questions down to zero - immediately (they were skilled/trained by "Germans" DDR-RDA) - and I hope, you would understand, what I mean. There are many other channels - email, PN and others - not so public, please use that! (I also want to go there, the 21th time or so, nice country - Insha-Allah).


Ferdi

Read back through this thread and you’ll see plenty of people getting visas to do “indiv tourism” as you put it. The Algerian authorities are clearly aware of independent travellers and seem to tolerate them to some degree and in some areas. I’m not sure what “despread” means. This is an information hub and I’ve been seeking information. It’s a shame that for all your visits to Algeria your only contribution has been to criticise my questions. Unless you have something constructive to offer. I’m not going to respond further. Enjoy your travels.