Indeed, the answer to our questions was either 'interdit' or 'comme vous voulez'. It was soon clear that there was not much to choose from though... (except departure times, lunch stops, etc.)

We understood that another group (with guide) did the Graveyard Piste the other way round (south to north), so it does not seem to be completely of limits.

The only problem with meeting the guide only in the south, is that the agency might get in trouble for leaving you unescorted, so they might be hesitant to organize this.

thanks for your report, good to read. The kidnap is a worry... giving out rewards for kidnapping is a bad development in an area with high unemployment.. I still wonder how they managed to kidnap the spanish tourist at assekrem and get him across the border without getting caught before.. quite a few tourists, guides and army posts around that area

Beginning of December 2024 we decided to try to get to South Algeria. As visa timings were very short, and it is in the south, we chose to go via an agent, one of the ones recommended by Chris Scott in sahara overland. With only two weeks before our travel date this was pretty ambitious, but we got it one day before travelling. We got an approval for boarding, not visa, and then went through the visa process upon arrival in Algers. Travelling by plane from Algers to Tam at this time of they year is a struggle... air algers doesnt have enough planes, so this flight is pretty fully booked (we couldnt book from netherlands). Our and our guide's hope was for no-shows... and they werent after 12 hours of waiting at the airport (there are direct and indirect flights to Tam), so we slept a bit at the airport and flew next day to Djanet at 0530 in the end, to go with a driver to Tam the next day and start our tour there.
We did Assekrem, and from there to the beautiful Tahifet wadi, Tazrouk. We had planned to camp around Serouenout, but our local guide said he wasnt keen to camp there due to illegal gold diggers. First time we heard about gold in algeria, so when we had cell reception we checked on the internet... and indeed its an issue with Mali and Niger gangs gearing up with locals to dig for gold at night. Military is doing lots of raids in the desert and its not funny of course to get caught in the middle of this. Its seems Bordj El Haouas is the epic centre, with lots of men from Mali/Niger waiting to be picked up for work, diesel generators and jack hammers on sale.. and fast petrol pick-ups around (it seems newer petrol toyotas are not allowed in algeria as they can outrun the police and military....but we always felt safe.
We visited 70km west of Djanet, north of the main road, some very nice scenery, off road/tracks ending around 40km west, easy to follow tracks there. Bit of wadi rum vibes in that area and seems to be on the day trip from Djanet with lots of traffic.
Overall no (real) CP encountered, whereas this Tam Djanet road was closed 2 years ago, and one year ago required escort. Travelling east. It still has two major dirt track sections, one starting 72km west of Idles for about 75km, then some 20km tarmac, then another 25km dirt track, and then tarmac all the way to Djanet.

Being a passenger, rather then driving has his pro and cons.. Pro is no stress, great food cooked three times a day, safety and no issues with police, plenty of breaks and lot of time to detox from our hurried lives and phone...and real value for money. Cons... less exciting... sometimes outright boring.. slowish driving offroad, and the guide is actually more a cook and points out where to drive and camp, than an expert guide on nature and history..

Last point to share is the local hospital/clinic in Djanet. I had climbed some rocks, fell on the way down and slit open my hand requiring 5 stitches. Local clinic was very efficient, but police will come straight away requiring a full report and our guide had to go to police station twice...maybe because of what happened last year in Djanet? Overall did a good job on my hand I can say two months later.

Will go back again, really keen to come with own car and arrange guide with car , from Tunisia south to djanet, Tam then west to Tindouf, mauritania, west sahara and up to Morocco. Our guide believes this is possible (guided in the south).

I am also from the Netherlands and would like some more info on the visa application in the Hague, as I plan a trip later this year. How difficult is the application without an invitation of an agency? How many hotel reservations are required? How long does the application take? Did the embassy ask extra documents for bringing your own car to Algeria? Thanks a lot