Hi everyone!
We are traveling to the other side of the world since last August, from Portugal to New Zealand. Our route, or at least the beginning of it, is quite unusual, as it crosses North Africa, specifically Algeria and Tunisia. Due to the visa situation and the country's relative inaccessibility, not many people explore Algeria – especially by bicycle!
And since we managed to secure a one-month tourist visa and travel the entire country from west to east, and the availability of information about the related formalities and the reality of traveling in Algeria is minimal, we wanted to share our impressions!
First, the visa. It's not easy to obtain, as you have to get it in your country of residence, so visiting an embassy somewhere along the way is out of the question. We know because Mateusz tried once and they turned him away… but this time we succeeded. We applied for the visa at the embassy in Lisbon, and the entire process took only five days, but that's not a typical wait; we just got lucky. Typically, you wait a few weeks, even up to a month, and your passport spends the entire time at the embassy, so you're a bit stuck.
Applying for a visa requires a ton of paperwork: the application itself, passport copies, a detailed itinerary, hotel reservation confirmations for every night of your stay, and confirmation of entry and exit. We decided to book hotels with free cancellation, but these are usually more expensive options, so those 30 reservations would have cost a fortune. You can't just book and then cancel, because they check your current reservation at the border. But we always managed to get in a day or two beforehand, and in the end, we didn't sleep in any of the hotels we booked. 🙂
You need to make sure your route doesn't go much south or close to borders that they consider not safe for tourists. In that case we think they will not accept your Visa. You will need a letter of invitation or a travel agency for routes that the embassy will consider out of the touristic/safe path.
Ah! and we think they give you as many days as you book hotels to a max of 30 days – we did not met travelers that got more than that.
Furthermore, since we wanted to leave Algeria by land for Tunisia, we didn't have any ticket confirmation. Here, a very cheap (around 20 euros) flight from Annaba to Marseille came to the rescue; the plane, of course, left without us. We reached Algeria by ferry from Almeria, Spain. Ferries are often delayed, ours was two days, so you have to be prepared for that. The costs are also quite high even before entering the country: the visa alone costs around 100 euros, and the ferry costs a similar amount.
But once all that's taken care of, you can easily get into the country, and we must admit that despite the high costs and all the bureaucracy, it was worth it. Algerians are an incredibly hospitable people, and due to the lack of mass tourism, every visitor is very well welcomed. In every town, we were simply inundated with food, water, invitations to their homes, and small gifts – everyone wanted to welcome us and make us feel welcome. However, you should be prepared for the possibility of police escorts. We spent about 10 days dealing with the gendarmerie, and unfortunately, that was the worst part of the trip, but it's manageable.
If you'd like to see what this hospitality looked like check the video of our first days in the country. The next episode will include a bit of our escorts experience and our arrival to the doors of the Sahara desert: Bou Saâda. (YouTube channel: BiciCats)
And if any of you are also planning a trip to Algeria let us know if you have more questions! It's truly worth visiting, as it's rich in history, beautiful views, and amazing people.
Safe and tailwind rides!
Renata and Mateusz, BiciCats
If you want to follow our journey our social channels are here: "linktr.ee/bicicats"
by BiciCats