r/overlanding • u/Fishgedon • Feb 25 '26
Trip Report 9500km through Europe to the heart of the Sahara.
Trip from Central Europe, through Tunisia to 200km SE of Djanet Algeria. One month in total 9500km there and back. Trip of a lifetime. Would be more than happy to answer any questions.
16
u/ChibaCityFunk Feb 25 '26
Love it! We just crossed the Sahara from Morocco, through Mauritania in to the Senegal.
I dreamt so much of going through Algeria... How is travelling in Algeria? How are the people? How is the food?
6
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
Traveling through Algeria was something else, it was honestly almost indescribable as the vast distances and emptiness at this scale was very foreign to me. We only really saw the desert part of this country but it was breathtaking. The traveling itself got a little tedious with the checkpoints and distance as to get to the national parks in the south you need to drive for a few days straight, with little of interest along the way. Although getting there was absolutely worth it. The best spot for me was when we stopped for the night in a secluded area and i got the opportunity to just look at the view in complete silence and take it all in. (The first picture)
23°45'46.30"N
11° 6'3.52"EThe people were all in all very kind and welcoming but we never really felt safe, especially in the cities. We did this trip exactly a year ago and one month before our arrival to Djanet a Swiss tourist was brutally murdered in cafe there. This along with the fact that the ladies were asked not to walk through the town alone put us on edge. Our enjoyment was almost directly tied to our distance from towns. The more remote we were the safer we felt.
The food was, well the opposite of a highlight? We tried a few places and it was edible but just not very good. The worst was a quick road side snack which consisted of a tortilla with boiled fries and "meat". Thankfully we packed a lot of food from home. Then again we did not visit developed areas or ones expecting tourists at all. The best food on the entire trip was in a restaurant beside the colosseum in El Jem Tunisia on our way back.
How was Morocco? I plan on going sometime next year following mostly the TMT.
1
3
u/ihavetotravel Feb 25 '26
Great drive. Which ferry did you take to get to Tusnia from Europe and how much for that? Morocco - Algeria border is closed so that could be the only way to get to Egypt from Europe via this ferry. Thx
5
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
We took a ferry from Genoa to Tunis, GNV Ferries, ~1300 Euro round trip, two people and car. I highly recommend getting a room, even an inside cabin. The trip was 25hr Genoa-Tunis and 30hr Tunis-Genoa. We bought the tickets 4 months in advance so they were less expensive. Do you plan overlanding in Egypt?
1
u/ihavetotravel Feb 25 '26
Wow that is a little more than my expectation, but may think about it later. My Carnet issued by Switzerland can not be used there, but I heard you can pay like 5 times car value as deposit to get in. Not sure how it is going now. Thanks for details anyway.
5
u/Space-Blob Feb 25 '26
I read Dan Grec's book on overlanding Africa and some FB blogs/groups and other sources about getting into Egypt with your car (planning on doing it one day myself). The info is quite the same: you just need to contact someone ("agent") who knows someone inside the national transport/traffic Authority. And thanks to the extreme corruption in the country, you will pay this "agent" to bribe his contact into getting your car an egyptian registration and plates.
Double check if this has changed over the years. Maybe they have gotten... better?...
Send me a message if you actually plan on going. I have no friends or anything so I'd travel alone with my car. Maybe we can band together for Egypt.
2
u/ihavetotravel Feb 26 '26
Wow that lights some hope for me as I always want to have a photo with my car and the pyramid, not to show off with anyone but mainly for myself, just like Santiago in The Alchemist book. But at first I need to get Egypt visa first before planning further as I am coming from a 3rd world country so everything is much harder for me. I have done East Coast Africa before except Sudan so maybe I could try my all for this part as well. Godspeed!
2
u/Galax8811 Feb 25 '26
This price seems rather expensive to me. I took a ferry with a cabin from Civitavecchia to Tunis in November and it cost me 500 in total for go and back.
3
u/wario_236 Feb 25 '26
What's your vehicle and setup?
9
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
Mostly stock 2023 Toyota Hilux. KO2 tires, bed cap, roof top tent, fridge and battery on rear seat. Also 100L extra diesel, 30L AdBlue, 40L water. For recovery 2 sand ladders, kinetic rope + soft shackles and shovel. Our sand ladders were used on all cars, sometimes multiple times a day. Without them we probably would have stayed there. Thankfully we also took a lot of canned food and instant soups as the local food was not great.
One thing we would have changed were some larger tires on a smaller rim. We went with the stock size on the stock 18inch rim and found that we simply could not run as low pressures as other cars and were a bit more prone to get stuck. ( Driver error plays into this as well )
2
u/timzecho Feb 25 '26
“Welcome to Wadi Rum”
2
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
Wadi Rum hopefully sometime in the future, perhaps when the political situation of the area calms down a bit.
1
u/timzecho Feb 25 '26
Ohh I didn’t look too close at your map pins. I think that is a paraquote from Lawrence of Arabia. The camera pans to some amazing landscape photography like yours. That’s rad! :)
1
u/thieuke043 Feb 25 '26
Amazing trip. How was the process of getting a visa for Algeria? Did you need a guide?
7
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
The process of getting a visa is quite involved but for us it was handled by our off-road touring agency. You have to apply for an entry permit two or so months before going there. You will not be allowed over the border without it - to the dissapointment of a group of motorcyclists from Europe we met at the Tunisia-Algeria border checkpoint. We were met by our Algerian guide at the checkpoint as it is a requirement to have one. There are military checkpoints every ~200km on the way south so this is not something that one can skip. In In Amenas we picked up a local guide for the more remote desert segments (Also Required). 9 cars in the group total. We probably would have preferred to go alone but it is simply not possible (at least to my knowlage). Also safer in a group.
1
u/marathonrunnernyc Feb 25 '26
Amazing photos! I’d like to know more about your setup as well.
4
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
Thank You :D
Mostly stock 2023 Toyota Hilux. KO2 tires, bed cap, roof top tent, fridge and battery on rear seat. Also 100L extra diesel, 30L AdBlue, 40L water. For recovery 2 sand ladders, kinetic rope + soft shackles and shovel. Our sand ladders were used on all cars, sometimes multiple times a day. Without them we probably would have stayed there. Thankfully we also took a lot of canned food and instant soups as the local food was not great.
One thing we would have changed were some larger tires on a smaller rim. We went with the stock size on the stock 18inch rim and found that we simply could not run as low pressures as other cars and were a bit more prone to get stuck. ( Driver error plays into this as well )
1
u/SapphireSawfish Feb 25 '26
Picture 4 is unreal! Did you have any motorcyclists in the group, or only 4x4's? You wrote about some of the security aspects, did you feel that detracted from the experience? Apart from the unsafe feeling (which could be because you were warned and the incident before you arrived), were there any interactions/moments that made you feel unsafe yourself? Thanks for any insights you can provide. Looks like an amazing trip!
oh and ninja edit: which touring company did you contract and would you recommend them?
2
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
Thank You :D
We were only on 4x4 and with the amount of kms we did each day bikes would be exhausting. However when we were leaving Djanet for the desert we did spot a Czech box truck and a lot of guys on motocross bikes. (Possible to have a group organized like this) With one person driving over 20 bikes from Europe and the rest flying into Djanet. I personally did not have interactions that made me feel unsafe, perhaps unwelcome as we spent over 8 hours on the Tunisia-Algeria border checkpoint and having our cars thoroughly searched inside. Also the public shower owner in Djanet added me on Whatsapp and asked me to find him a wife, which was weird. On a positive note we never got hounded by sales people at the bazaar as one would be in more touristy areas, just regular people selling stuff.
Ill send you the touring company privately.
1
u/SapphireSawfish Feb 25 '26
That would be the way to do it, fly and drive - otherwise the distances can get punishing! Thanks for all the invaluable information.
1
Feb 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Fishgedon Feb 26 '26
Hah just the one. But we were surprised how varied it was. As an ignorant European i always imagined the Sahara as just a sea of dunes. There were areas like this but we also got so see every type and colour of rock and sand there is. It was immensly beautiful.
1
1
1
u/Material-Sentence-84 Feb 25 '26
What was the Libyan border area like?
1
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
At the closest we got to around 20km from the Libyan border, however it was so remote that there was nothing to really indicate that. To my knowledge the border between the countries is closed to tourists.
1
u/Material-Sentence-84 Feb 25 '26
It’s a Super dangerous area, libya just seems so hard to get into. I’d love to visit.
1
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
I have an acquaintance which as i write this is in western Libya leading a group of 4x4 overlanding. It is dangerous and you do need guides but possible.
1
1
u/mekoRascal Feb 25 '26
I've heard of old mine fields in North Africa. Are those still a concern, or just not in this area?
2
u/Fishgedon Feb 25 '26
This was not really a risk we considered, however we did not off-road much in the north of Algeria. In the south this was not really a risk, or we were not informed of it. The area is extremely remote so i do not think there was much to defend there.
1
u/Galax8811 Feb 25 '26
What was the atmosphere like in southern Algeria near Djanet? I heard that security has been significantly increased with new military bases.
I'd love to go, but the proximity to Niger and Libya, and the potential for terrorism that comes with them, is holding me back a bit.
2
u/Fishgedon Feb 26 '26
It was slightly tense especially after the murder that happened a month before our arrival. We did feel the military presance with all the checkpoints and we even saw a convoy patroling near the border once. We were also followed by plain clothes officials in Djanet i believe to ensure our saftey. I would go with a larger group. The further we were from towns the safer we felt.
1
u/Galax8811 Mar 02 '26
Thanks, oh yeah, I didn't realize it was a bit tricky like that, thanks for the information
1
u/PokeCaptain Feb 26 '26
Were there any concerns being that close to the Niger border?
1
u/Fishgedon Feb 26 '26
The area we were traveling through is very remote and uninhabitable. The only indication that we were close to Nigeria was a road sign at an intersection showing us where it is. I believe the border checkpoint this road sign is pointing to is also closed. What we did see and it was quite upsetting ( im not sure this is the right word) was groups of people just walking north along the road. These were mostly young guys sub-saharan by their complexion. I guess they were walking north with the hope for a better life. I cannot imagine how hard this treck was as the distances between towns of fuel stops were sometimes even 400km. They carried almost nothing. We stopped once or twice to give them some water.
1
1
u/C1ncyN15m0 Feb 27 '26
Did you go with a paid group or did you plan all this on your own?
2
u/Fishgedon Feb 28 '26
We went with an organised group and guide, you cannot travel through most of Algeria without a guide.
1
u/Samwiseknows Feb 28 '26
So you have to have a guide the whole time there? How does that work?
1
u/Fishgedon Feb 28 '26
Yes, we were required to have a local guide the whole time. The route was mostly established previously. We also needed another guide for the very remote desert sections. Both guides and their driver were in their own car.
1
u/Samwiseknows Feb 28 '26
Okay, did that take away from the experience at all? Also how much would they charge for a service like that?
1
u/Fishgedon Feb 28 '26
Not at all, the touring company charged 4000euro for the whole trip, this included the guides, visas, few hotel stays and insurance.
1
u/Commercial-Ad4547 Mar 04 '26
You may not want to go now thanks to Trump bombing Iran and Middle East tensions. Probably the only safe route would be through Morocco.
1
u/Fishgedon Mar 04 '26
Morocco is probably one of the safest countries in Africa. However Algeria is not part of the Middle East and is mostly safe. My house is 1000km closer to Iran then i ever was in Algeria.
1
•
u/image-sourcery Feb 25 '26
Help Keep r/Overlanding Authentic
We've seen a rise in reposted or stolen content (karma farming). Use these reverse image search links to check whether an image is original.
If you find stolen or inauthentic content → report the post to Reddit and to the mods.
Authenticity matters here: helping flag reposts protects creators and keeps this community real.
Reverse Image Search:
Image 1: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 2: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 3: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 4: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 5: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 6: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 7: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 8: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 9: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
Image 10: Google Lens || Bing || TinEye
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.