You need an Algerian tour guide - otherwise you get in trouble with the police in the moment you arrive at the airport of Algiers and there is no one who takes care for you. Just yesterday i was with three asian guys in Constantine and we went to Timgad my favorite ruins in Algeria btw , on the way there we were stopped in a check-point by a policeman and luckily i am a local and could manage to cope on by myself even if we werent on a tour , but i believe he assumed i am the tour guide so he just checked the car papers and let us go and wished us a nice time :p.
I do understand that you might have experience travelling to other countries on your own , but trust me , you'll enjoy more Algeria if you can manage to travel with a local friend or a tour guide eventually which the most hassle free way!
That clears it up. We will be on a 15 day desert safari in the south, but want to arrive days early and spend time in the north. Several are mentioned on TA. Do you have any suggestions? Airbnb : i'm not really sure if we have the culture of Airbnb in Algeria now!
Host : if you have a friend who accepts to host you , it should be fine , but then he also needs to register you at the police station by providing a copy of your passport. Thank you. I can book AirBnBs on line using credit cards. There are many in Algiers. We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. As I know so until you want not go south of Ain Salah you not need to have a guide.
And of course if you want to go to some of Ergs or so where you need to have a guide for to not go lost. But otherwise you not need it. I rented the car in Algiers traveled quite a lot in the country 3 weeks until Ghardaia and never had been stopped by police because I not have a guide.
