How to spend the perfect weekend in Algiers

Since starting life as a Phoenician trading post in the sixth century BCE, Algiers has passed through the hands of the Romans, Amazigh, Ottomans and French. All left their mark on the capital, forming a city of multiple architectural styles stacked up around hillside boulevards and alleyways that arc and dip with the folds of the lan

French influences still run through modern Algiers. Cafe culture is taken seriously here and the city’s bakeries overflow with baguettes from first light. Today, however, Algeria is fiercely independent. In the capital, museums and monuments honour those who fought and died in the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), which ultimately brought to an end 132 years of French rule.

History’s traces remain outside the city, too. Behind a shoreline brushed with Mediterranean blues, the Algerian countryside is scattered with the relics of Roman conquest. Touring Algiers and its surrounding area is easily doable in a long weekend, thanks to three-hour direct flights from London.

Day 1: Rock the casbah

Morning
Steep steps and winding alleyways snake through a living, breathing hub of daily activity in Algiers’ 10th-century Unesco-listed Casbah. Explore the market stalls and workshops of carpenters, metalworkers and artists before heading to the Ali la Pointe Museum, set in one of the prettiest parts of the Casbah. The walls surrounding it are adorned with murals of Ali la Pointe — one of the leading figures of the resistance movement, martyred by the French during the War of Independence. The museum’s single room, decorated with Algerian flags and photos of the national hero, serves as a shrine.

Afternoon
Tuck into a bowl of rechta (spiced noodles) under the vaulted ceiling of Restaurant Dar Bab Azzoun on nearby Bab El Oued Street. Walk off lunch with a short stroll to admire the neo-Moorish facade of the Grande Poste d’Alger, an early-20th-century building. Closed in 2015, it’s being turned into a museum honouring the country’s postal history. Spend the rest of the afternoon at the Botanical Garden Hamma, full of shaded walkways and heavy with honeysuckle scent. The tangled vines of a huge Australian banyan tree here were used for jungle scenes in the 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man.

Evening
Before dinner, delve further into Algeria’s past at the Bardo National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography (closed Sundays). Photographs and artefacts explore the numerous neolithic sites within its borders. Just two minutes’ walk away is Le Bardo restaurant, with warm lighting, a soft jazz soundtrack and a local Algerian wine list. The Saint-Augustin Grenache goes beautifully with Bardo’s oven-roasted steak.

Day 2: Hit the road

Morning
Hire a driver and guide to explore the archaeological treasures that lie beyond the city. Fifty miles west of Algiers, past olive groves and lime-tree orchards, is the Archaeological Museum of Cherchell, built on the remains of a Roman palace. It displays a collection of marbles, mosaics and minutiae of the Roman era. As you return east, scan the countryside for crumbling Roman settlement walls and, five miles beyond Cherchell’s limits, an aqueduct threading through the hills.

Stop next at Tipaza, a town founded by the Punics as a trading post, later taken over by the Romans. Grab a seat on the terrace of Restaurant Terraza, overlooking the harbour.

Afternoon
From the harbourfront, it’s a five-minute walk to Tipasa Archaeological Park, where the remains of the Roman city of Tipasa stretch down to the turquoise sea. The ruins, including an amphitheatre, a basilica, temples and more, bring to life a city that had its heyday from the second to the fourth century.

When you continue back towards Algiers, you’ll be able to spot the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania on a hilltop seven miles from the modern settlement of Tipaza. It’s not possible to enter the tomb, believed to be the resting place of Queen Cleopatra Selene II (daughter of Cleopatra), but it’s still an atmospheric site to circle on foot. A pyramidical upper section — constructed using similar techniques to those employed at Giza in Egypt — sits atop 60 Greek-style columns, reflecting the mausoleum’s location at the intersection between North African and European kingdoms and cultures.

Evening
Back in Algiers, ride the cable-car up to the Martyrs’ Memorial. It commemorates Algerians killed by the French in the War of Independence and is illuminated green, red and white after dark, to match the Algerian flag. The three standing concrete blocks of the monument — designed to resemble palm leaves — dominate the city’s skyline. At its base is the National Museum of Moudjahid, which displays photos and artefacts charting Algeria’s struggle for independence.

Have dinner at Caracoya on Rue Ben Messaoud, where stained-glass lanterns and a courtyard fountain reflect the North African location but the menu is decidedly French, taking in classics like escargots and entrecôte.

Six spots for the best of cafe culture

Stah El Bahdja: The entrance sign of this Casbah cafe points you into a carpenter’s workshop, but don’t let this put you off. Beyond the woodwork, a winding staircase takes you up three storeys to a rooftop seating area where you can sip mint tea while admiring views across the Bay of Algiers. Rue Sidi Driss Hamidouche

Fémoka Coffee: Located next to the city centre’s main shopping street, Rue Didouche Mourad, this artisan coffee house buzzes with a hip young crowd getting their caffeine fix. A colour palette of espresso, latte and macchiato browns dominates the interior. Sip fresh roasts made from Ethiopian, Colombian or Brazilian beans, or buy a bag to take back home.

Milk Bar: Famously bombed during the 1950s battle for independence, this recently renovated spot on the corner of Emir Abdelkader Square plays proudly on its involvement in the revolutionary movement. Today, art deco lettering and a monochrome colour scheme give the setting some style. Sit with a milkshake on the shaded terrace out front, under a bronze statue of the 19th-century military leader who gave the square its name. Rue Larbi Ben M’hidi

Café El Olivo Verde: Large windows brighten an earthy colour scheme of terracotta, cream and, of course, olive green at this coffee bar on Boulevard Colonel Bougara. The menu is brief but high quality. Early risers also come for breakfast omelettes.

Pâtisserie La Casbah: Catching the eye of passers-by with its rainbow-coloured window display of wafer-light macarons, this patisserie is popular for its wide range of sweet treats. Most are taken away to be devoured but there’s a tiny cafe area inside; head there for the sweet, syrupy favourite kalb el louz — a traditional Algerian dessert made from semolina and almonds and scented with orange blossom.

Le Audin: A youthful clientele flock to this tearoom on Rue Didouche Mourad, surrounded by French colonial architecture. Sit in the shade of the trees out front or find a spot in the leafy interior and enjoy a cup of sweet herbal tea.