Algeria and Tunisia Departs 14Th October 2021
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
a Algeria and Tunisia Departs 14th October 2021 Itinerary correct as at Jul 24, 2020 but subject to change. ALL flights to be confirmed. www.bluedottravel.com.au $12,990 pp Twin-share, econ flights Ex Syd/Mel Single supp $1,100 ALGERIA AND TUNISIA This tour combines two of northern Africa’s historical jewels - Algeria and Tunisia, which share common borders and intertwined history. Algeria is one of the most fascinating countries in North Africa, successively colonised by the Numidians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, Almoravids, Almohads, Spaniards, Ottomans and, finally, the French colonial empire. On this tour we will visit Tipaza, with its ruins of a Phoenician trading post, Roman port and Byzantine churches. We will see the perfectly preserved Roman cities of Timgad and Djémila which provide insight into sophisticated urban living in the wealthiest of imperial Roman provinces. The Roman ‘City of Bridges’, Constantine, is encircled by the dramatic gorge of Wadi Rummel and proffers a dramatic history set in an equally dramatic landscape. After a domestic flight we head away from the coast into the desert, beyond the limits of Roman control, to the ‘closed’ valley of the M’Zab, where a traditional way of life survives, little changed since medieval times when this was a remote refuge from war and religious persecution. With the Sahara as a backdrop, the ancient Ksars or fortified strongholds, with their surrounding mud brick villages still hold on to traditions that have endured the desert sands for centuries. Our tour of Algeria finishes back in Algiers the bustling capital, where the traditional Casbah is counterbalanced by a wonderfully engaging mix of Ottoman grandeur, French colonial chic and modern vibrancy. As large as Algeria is, Tunisia on the other hand is a small, diverse country. Located across the Mediterranean Sea from Sicily, with Algeria its Western neighbour. First settled by the Berber tribes, Tunisia like Algeria, has hosted several cultures. Sited close to present day Tunis, where our tour starts, the rich and powerful city of Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians in the tenth century BCE. Following its destruction in 146 BCE, Rome reestablished the city, which grew to a peak population of 500,000. Our tour of Tunisia will see us visiting Berber oasis villages with distinctive troglodyte houses, Roman cities with fine imperial monuments like el Djem’s huge amphitheatre, museums with magnificent antique mosaics, and beautiful Islamic buildings constructed over 1,500 years. Just one of these is Kairouan’s ancient mosque, which played a key role in the Islamisation of North Africa. We will also encounter the fascinating ribats of Sousse and Monastir, built to defend Islamic Ifriqiyya from European incursions. From blue seas to sandy deserts, seaside cities and fishing villages, jagged hilltops and canyons, salt lakes, lush oases, and the worlds greatest desert. These two countries offer lands of incredible hospitality and an intriguing and extraordinary history in an area that is rarely visited by English speakers making them both classic Blue Dot destinations! Itinerary correct as at Jul 24, 2020 but subject to change. ALL flights to be confirmed. www.bluedottravel.com.au Day 1, Thursday 14th October built boulevards and elegant apartments and villas, DEPARTURE Socialist-era monuments and public buildings, and an Depart Australia for Algiers. This evening we board our enduring Islamic heart ensconced in the steep, hillside Emirates flight for Algiers via Dubai ( flights to be Casbah. A welcome dinner is included in the hotel confirmed). Meals in flight. restaurant this evening. Overnight at Lamaraz Arts Hotel (or similar). D Day 2, Friday 15th October ALGIERS, ALGERIA Day 3, On our arrival in Algiers capital city of Algeria, we will be Saturday met at the airport and transferred to our hotel for an 16th October afternoon check in. After our long flight, the balance of the ALGIERS day is at leisure. Algiers, originally called Al-Jaza'ir, is built This morning we into the Sahel hills and runs for ten miles along the Bay of embark on a full day Algiers on the Mediterranean. This coastal location made it tour of Algiers. We perfect for the will transfer to the Barbary pirate upper part of stronghold it would Kasbah from where become in 1529 we begin our walking tour with a stroll through the narrowed CE, when the streets to visit the Centenary House designed in the early pirate "Redbeard" 20th century, offering a panoramic rooftop view over the expelled the bay of Algiers. We’ll then walk down streets filled with Spanish from the history, passing craft and artisan shops to visit Khedaouj El island of Penon, Amia Palace and the Mustapha Pasha Palace two Ottoman gaining control of era edifices which today house the Museum of Arts and the city for the Popular Traditions and the Museum of Calligraphy and the Ottoman Empire. Miniature, which we visit. We then continue, passing the The country's turbulent history is demonstrated in the city's Ketchaoua Mosque to The Palais des Rais (also known as richly textured architecture – the French colonised Algeria Bastion 23), a classified historical monument. Next, we in 1830 CE and stayed for 130 years leaving wide French- walk uphill to the Basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique (lady of Itinerary correct as at Jul 24, 2020 but subject to change. ALL flights to be confirmed. www.bluedottravel.com.au Africa), a Roman Catholic basilica inaugurated in 1872 CE. Day 6, Tuesday We then have free time to arrange our own lunch in a local 19th October restaurant. In the afternoon we visit the Hamma Botanical CONSTANTINE Garden and its different sections from French to English This morning we styles and end the tour by visiting the symbolic Martyr's depart on a half Monument, an iconic concrete monument commemorating day Setif tour to the Algerian war for independence, and its adjacent visit the Musee Museum. The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th d'Archeologie. anniversary of Algeria's independence. This evening we This is a small, meet in the hotel foyer and depart for our evening meal in a well put together local restaurant. Overnight at Lamaraz Arts Hotel (or museum offering similar). B/D insight into the regions’ history, particularly the Roman Day 4, Sunday 17th October period, from which artefacts and architectural remnants ALGIERS abound. After our visit we return to the hotel, have some free time for lunch and to check out, then in the afternoon Today we depart on a full day excursion to visit Tipaza, we continue our journey to Constantine and check into our Cherchell, and the Tomb of the Christians. We will leave hotel on arrival during the late afternoon. Dinner is served Algiers and travel west to the ruins of Tipaza (also called at the hotel. Overnight at Constantine Novotel Hotel (or Tipasa), originally a Phoenician trading post Tipaza became similar). B/D a Roman colony in the 2nd century CE. Later it became one of the most important Christian settlements in Northern Day 7, Wednesday 20th October Africa. With the coming of the Vandals and their Arian CONSTANTINE Christianity in 430 CE, most of the inhabitants fled to Spain. Today we depart on a full day excursion to Timgad and One the most interesting sites we visit at Tipaza is the Lambaesis. We start the day with a 2-hour drive to Timgad, Mausoleum built in the 5th century CE with 14 places for (Roman Thamugadi) today a World Heritage Site located sarcophagi, and the Museum, which is small but full of on the northern slopes of the Aures Atlas Mountains. valuable mosaics taken from the Basilica dating back to 1st Originally founded as a military colony by the Emperor century CE. After some free time to arrange our own lunch Trajan in 100 CE and designed for a population of around in Tipaza (known for its excellent seafood), we’ll continue to 15,000, the city quickly outgrew its original specifications Cherchell and the ruins of the former Roman port of and spilled beyond the grid in a more loosely-organised Caesarea. Cherchell was formerly a Phoenician, fashion, an excellent example of Roman town planning. Carthaginian, and Roman colony, and the capital of the Although only partly excavated, Timgad is spectacular in kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania. We’ll then return to both its scale and its setting. We explore the ruins then Algiers via a stop at the pyramid-like structure of the Tomb continue to Lambaesis where we visit our second Roman of the Christians, set on a hill with wonderful views over the town Lambessa. We tour the town to view the two triumphal surrounding countryside. The tomb actually pre-dates the arches, temples, aqueduct, amphitheatre, baths, and many Christian era and probably belongs to the pre- Roman era private houses. The camp of the third legion, charged with of the Numidian rulers. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. defending North Africa, was moved to Lambessa between Overnight at Lamaraz Arts Hotel. B/D 123 and 129 CE. The modern settlement was founded in Day 5, Monday 18th October 1848 CE by French agriculturalists attracted by the fertile SETIF soil. A large convict prison for French political deportees was established there in 1852 CE. After our visit, we’ll Today we depart Algiers and drive to Setif via Djemila, return to Constantine and our hotel. Dinner will be at a local Arabic for 'pretty town'. Situated 900m above sea level this restaurant tonight. Overnight at Constantine Novotel Hotel World Heritage Site is considered to be the most (or similar).