Hi,

The reason you probably can't find much info on Algeria on forums like this is because the Foreign Office has been advising against travel to Algeria for some years now. It advises against ALL TRAVEL to some areas and advises agains all but ESSENTIAL TRAVEL for the rest of the country. In other words they discourage tourist and holiday travellers because of the current levels of terrorist threat due to the unstable political situation. It's worth bearing in mind that this means that the level of threat is assessed as being higher than that which applies to Libya. In other words they appear to consider Libya to be a safer destination than Algeria at the moment.

The reason for this is that at the time of the last elections in Algeria it looked as if the Islamist fundamentalist parties would win so the response of the Government was to suspend the elections indefinitely as a means of preventing them from taking power through the usual democratic processes. Since then various extreme Islamist groups have been carrying out terrorist attacks including kidnapping and taking hostage foreign visitors in an attempt to exert pressure on the Government to make them hold elections. Bearing in mind the context that gave rise to this situation one should assume that the objectives if not the methods of such groups are broadly supported by the majority of the population and this probably explains why the Government is being particularly ineffectual when itcomes to dealing with this terrorist threat. It also explains why Algeria is increasingly regarded as a very conservative country in terms of what is considered acceptable behavious and dress, especially for women.

So before going any further with planning for your daughter to visit her friends in Algeria I would strongly advise you to read the FCO's advise at the link below. You don't say how old she is but it suggests that Algeria is a potentially dangerous place for a young woman to travel to. I have travelled on my own elsewhere in north Africa and felt perfectly safe but Algeria is definitely on my 'no-go' list for the foreseeable future. It does not have, nor is it likely to have, a tourist industry for the foreseeable future.

SM

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618385585

Thanks so much for that info. I was wondering what could be the reason why no one seemed to go there and my knowledge of current affairs rather poor. She is only going to be 21 then - far far too young to cope with the problems that sound possible. I emailed her the links and your message so hope she realises its no Costa del Sol and so risky. Many thanks again!

Hi Coininban,

I'm glad to be of help and whilst I'm sure that the family of her friends would take good care of her, they aren't going to be always able to control what goes on when she's outside of the house - who can with terrorist bombers? As I said, I am familiar with Arab and Muslim culture but even so I wouldn't personally take the chance on visiting Algeria at the moment and think that for a 21 year old the culture difference can be a bit overwhelming on its own without all the other added complications in Algeria at the moment.

SM

As there is now a direct service between Marseilles and Algers on the ferry, I did toy with the idea of doing a self-drive holiday there. However, even the French government are warning their nationals not to go there (bitter memories of the 1961 war of independence perhaps) and although I am a 'seasoned' traveller with no problems so far in Muslim countries, I have accepted that this is not the right time to visit (though it's always best to try before tourism swamps a country).

I'm afraid that I too would advise your daughter not to go - and please reassure her that this has no bearing on her friendship and openmindedness.

Thanks so much again to you both. As I say I know absolutely nothing about the country except where its located. Its difficulties never heard about until today. I really hope she will realise what it involves now. Thank you both again, this board is truly a fount of knowledge!

Hi,

As Alsacienne says, your daughter shouldn't take this as any reflection on her friends (and after all it is Algerian nationals who are the main victims of most the terrorist activity) or herself and I would really encourage her to maintain the friendship. I'm still in contact with people I met in my student days and there really is no better way of getting to know a country, its language and culture than staying with a family, in fact I'm off to Cuba this summer to do just that and have opted to stay with a local family rather than stay in a hotel. Let's hope that the situation does change at some point in the future and that she can go and visit them.

Finally, it's worth bearing in mind that even Algeria's neighbours discourage people from visiting Algeria too at the moment. My understanding is that Tunisia, for example, despite the problems of trying to police a border that runs through the Sahara desert to the south, not only tries to maintain quite strict border controls but also tries to deter foreign travellers from making the crossing into Algeria from Tunisian territory.

SM

im a english women and im getting married to an algerian man this year,after we marry we will be travelling to algeria to visit/stay with his family and i have no worries at all,im actually looking forward to it and im looking forward to visiting all the sites. i know a couple of english women who are married to algerian men,some even married in algeria who travel a few times a year for holidays and i have never heard of any of them having any trouble there. to all you out there dont let the stuff you read put you off.
travel, enjoy and takecare.

Dear Dee05,

Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding - I and I'm sure everybody else on HolidayTruths wishes you well. And in the circumstances travelling to meet your new in-laws probably does count as essential travel :-) However, the fact remains that the Foreign Office makes it very clear in their guidance that they advise against holiday travel to Algeria. Everybody has to make their own decisions in the light of the available information and I can understand why you have decided to ignore the FCO advice. But it would appear from Alsacienne's post that the French authorities have issued a similiar warning to French nationals and that the FCO is, therefore, not alone in considering Algeria an ill-advised destination for Western Europeans at the moment. In the circumstances it doesn't seem appropriate for you to be advising otherwise - what if something did happen to Coininban's daughter?

SM

PS I see from your posts in the Tunisia forum that your wedding wil be taking place in Tunisia and not in either Algeria or here in the UK. I'm intrigued as to why this should be as Tunisia to date has never really been marketed or become popularised here as a 'wedding' destination compared to places like Cyprus for people from the UK. Is there a particular reason for deciding to get married in a neighbouring country rather than in Algeria itself? Is Tunisia a popular country for people from North Africa to travel to in order to get married and then honeymoon in? It's a lovely hospitable country so I can understand why that might be the case.