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ENTERING Algeria from Tunisia without a guide? ENTERING Algeria from Tunisia without a guide?
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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Sean Howman, The Pamir highway in an unseasonably cold late October, Tajikistan

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Sean Howman,
The Pamir highway in an unseasonably
cold late October, Tajikistan



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  • 2 Post By Chris Scott
  • 1 Post By TodoTerreno
  • 1 Post By wickychicky

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  #1  
Old 7 Oct 2024
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Question ENTERING Algeria from Tunisia without a guide?
I think I've read 2 reports now where people have entered Algeria from Tunisia (Taleb Larbi) without a guide, since early 2023.
Is there anyone else, or do you know of anyone?
Most reports cover in and out by ferry, or in by ferry and out by land.

The 2 agencies I have spoken to have (obviously) said that to arrive by land you MUST have a guide booked from that point on.
We have just about missed our window for getting a visa in Frankfurt, but we will probably try to make some detours to put the application in anyway.

Costs are too high for us to have a guide that is with us all the time, and a rigid plan isn't our cup of tea.

We are close to make or break to include Algeria in December in our trip, but we soooooo want to go there! Sure, we can roll up at the border and try our luck, but when our mouths are watering already at the prospect of "touring" Algeria, it would be such a disappointment to not even get in!

Obviously from some point (.....?) south we need a guide, that's a given.

Anyone got any better suggestions or tips?
If I were posting on Insta or somewhere, it would be a survey: go for it // leave it out ?!
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Old 7 Oct 2024
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To enter without a guide do not contact agencies; arrange booked lodgings (certificate d'hebergement) to get the visa. Ferry or overland, it's the same. Only fly-ins get visa on arrival (because they are on an agency tour).

Or on the visa app, just say you are exploring the north in a campervan. This has worked for others on and off for years, but is unpredictable and will depend on consulate and nationalities. Then try and slip south (of In Salah/Hassi Messaoud) and see how far you get. They will only turn you back.

See: https://wherenextbarney.me/routes/ro...-by-motorbike/
or read similar info here.

If you can sweet talk checkpoints (speak French) you can travel right through the south. The north will have fewer hurdles as long as you give the right answers.

To 'roll up at the border and try our luck...' would be a waste of time, as it would anywhere in the world that requires visas in advance.
Algeria in not like other countries. More like Iran: difficult (without escorts) but worthwhile.
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Old 7 Oct 2024
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You´d need the visa in advance for entering Algeria from Tunisia, applications for visa better include a booking. I'd take the chance of a visa application at the embassy in FFM, even if its yet pretty close to your planned departure.

Somewhere in this forum s/one posted some time ago contact details of a woman running a guesthouse or hotel in Algier, who seems to play along the game of issuing booking receipts and/or invitational letters for the entire time of your month(s) long visa application, but she´s obviously fine with it, if you just pay or stay a (few) night(s) and freely continue your trip.
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Old 7 Oct 2024
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Scott View Post
To enter without a guide do not contact agencies; arrange booked lodgings (certificate d'hebergement) to get the visa. Ferry or overland, it's the same. Only fly-ins get visa on arrival (because they are on an agency tour).

Or on the visa app, just say you are exploring the north in a campervan. This has worked for others on and off for years, but is unpredictable and will depend on consulate and nationalities. Then try and slip south (of In Salah/Hassi Messaoud) and see how far you get. They will only turn you back.
Thanks Chris ... we are umming and ahhing a bit to be honest. It's a pain to go back to Frankfurt and delays our current journey even more. And somehow I've convinced myself from reading posts (rightly or wrongly) that Germany is particularly painful. "Ferry or overland, it's the same" is the new bit for me - thanks!. What I don't want is to rock up with a visa, to then be turned back, as our trip to get to southern Spain after that ends up costing almost (well not really) as much as booking a tour.

What turned out to be a little seed sown has turned into an itch that can only be scratched by actually going there :-)

PS My French is appalling... school O Level a zillion years ago
Last edited by wickychicky; 7 Oct 2024 at 17:11. Reason: forgot to add about French speaking
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Old 7 Oct 2024
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TodoTerreno View Post
You´d need the visa in advance for entering Algeria from Tunisia, applications for visa better include a booking. I'd take the chance of a visa application at the embassy in FFM, even if its yet pretty close to your planned departure.

Somewhere in this forum s/one posted some time ago contact details of a woman running a guesthouse or hotel in Algier, who seems to play along the game of issuing booking receipts and/or invitational letters for the entire time of your month(s) long visa application, but she´s obviously fine with it, if you just pay or stay a (few) night(s) and freely continue your trip.
Cheers Todo - I wrote to her last night and await her reply.
This was the post you refer to (so new readers can see): https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...algeria-103794
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