Hello everybody!
We are three young university-students from Switzerland and we will travel to Algiers (from Marseille, by ship). We will stay in Algiers from the date of 7th September for more than a week and then travel by train to Oran where we take the ship back to Marseille. We speak some French.
As I am a woman, but travelling with two male collegues, I wonder, if I have to consider some special rules of behaviour besides dressing a bit conservatively and not going out alone, especialy during night. I have read very different views about travelling to Algeria, and I want to respect the islam culture and not attract too much attention. The problem is, that I am a smoker, but I can try to stop smoking if it is not a good thing to do for a woman in Algeria...?
The second question: We have not booked any Hotel and will try to find a good Hostel or Hotel in Algiers when we arrive, maybe with help by a taxi driver. Is it a risk not to find free hotel rooms in September and does someone have an advice for a hostel or hotel in city center (not in the most insecure part of town) for around 15-25 dollars per night? We are not looking for a five or four star hotel, but just a nice and safe stay).
The third question: How much money is advised to take with us per person for 13 days, inclusive hotel? (in Euro, as there are few possibilitys to use credit cards).
The fourth question: We are looking for some people living in Algiers to meet. If somebody here is living in Algiers and has some time from the date of 7th September to 13th of September, it would be a great pleasure for us to get in contact.
Merci et Meilleures Salutations!
Joana
We are three students travelling to Algiers next month.Some questions
Hi Joana,
Welcome to Expat.com! 
I hope you get replies to your queries very soon.
I wish you good luck
hi i'm form algeria especially from oran....i can help you ..for your first questions i think you can smoke it's legal lol...but not in front of everybody there is some places where you can smoke......and i advice you to book a room because it's kind of hard to find at the last moment....you can take with you 500 euro will be good but if you want good hotels and everything you need around 800 or 1000 euro that's it .....and i'll be glad to meet you if you come in oran contact me on [email protected]
ramyjohn wrote:hi i'm form algeria especially from oran....i can help you ..for your first questions i think you can smoke it's legal lol...but not in front of everybody there is some places where you can smoke......and i advice you to book a room because it's kind of hard to find at the last moment....you can take with you 500 euro will be good but if you want good hotels and everything you need around 800 or 1000 euro that's it .....and i'll be glad to meet you if you come in oran contact me on [email protected]
Thank you very much for your answers!
At the moment we are having big problems with getting visa for Algeria. We need confirmations from the hotels and it is nearly impossible to get written confirmations from them. We are working on it since several says. Often, the hotels have only faxes and no email. One hotel in Algers promised to send a fax confirmation, but it did not happen. The problem is that the embassy of Algeria wants us to send the confirmation immediately, but it is not in our hands. All we can do is call and send faxes...
So it does not look very good for our trip to Algeria, :-(. It seems like we are not getting visa and we cannot afford expensive hotel where it would be no problem to get reservation- confirmations.
Anyway, in case we are allowed to come to Algeria finally, we will be happy to write you because we planned to go to Oran as well for three days (13-16 September).
Have a nice day!
Joana
essalam alikom Hi
well first of all welcome to Algeria I hope you will enjoy your visit to our country my name is kamel I am an Algerian national living in Algiers and work for the ministry of finance as for your questions I will start with the first one in fact you can wear light dresses ,jeans , T-shirt as well but not too short or too open or too tight , not all women here wear "hijab" the veil so no problem just wear what doesn't attract too much attention as for the behaviour do as you you are used to, just avoid kisses in public is case your lover is with you ,smocking for a woman is seen here as indecent act and not feminine so avoid smoking in public
avoid also going out at night
your second question : hotels there are so many hotels in Algiers of different categories 2 or 3 star ones so don't worry but the taxi drivers can be little bit greedy and take you for a long tour to see the city and look for a hotel with some extra money I mean not as he usually earns
your third question: the of use credit cards is very limited so you will have to use cash most of the time as for the amount of money you need here you have to know that Algeria is little bit expensive compared to Tunisia or Morocco so I recommend you to bring 700 Euro ear person one more thing the current exchange rate is 1 Euro=103,75 DZD but in the street market outside the bank you can get 140 DZD for 1 Euro it is guaranteed I can help you with that as you need an Algerian national to help with that this way is the best way to get more money than bank
The fourth question: if your are looking for non-Algerian so I can't help you if the contrary I mean local people yea , my holidays starts from 4 Th of September to the 4 Th of October so feel free to contact me see you soon best regards D.kamel
Dear Joana,
well, my point of view is completely different as a woman, I am a big smoker and used to smoke in my car, in coffees, restaurants and in oran even in some streets, pople will see that you are not Algerian, so that's ok, they might look at you as a curious thing but that's ok nobody will hurt you 
for hotels, I know many of them in Oran, very nice, easy to find, and in safe areas for only 1.700 DA - 12/13 EU max.
as I was living not far from a night club in Algiers (20 Mn) I was used to go back home at 4/5 in the morning with friends, wlking on streets as we did not have cars, without getting any trouble.. it depends of the areas and kind of places.
My best friend is used to receive people from foreign countries to ensure to them a nice stay and for free so if u get your visa please let me know, I will leave you his informations ( phone, mail ..) in private message, he would be happy to help !
as for the reservations, Al Aurassi Hotel is doing some reservations to get visa, otherwise, try with the hotels in Oran, usually they are more serious than hotels in Algiers.
for the dressing code, in Algiers it's a bit conservative, but short skirts, jeans, tops even tight ( Im a girl I know what Im talking about)
Regards,
Hanane
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