Become a host in Biskra

Where travelers stay — Biskra

Biskra, the "Gateway to the Desert," is one of Algeria's most famous oases. Sitting at the transition between the Aurès to the north and the Sahara to the south, it is renowned for its palm groves — a million date palms — producing the Deglet Nour date, considered the world's finest variety. Biskra once captivated Henri Matisse, who stayed in 1906 and found inspiration for his saturated colors. Andrew Carnegie built a legendary hotel here, and Cardinal Lavigerie made it a colonial outpost. The city combines an ochre old medina, lush gardens at the desert's edge, and direct access to the spectacular El Kantara gorges — the "mouth of the Sahara."

• 📍Sidi Okba Mosque — First mosque of North Africa (7th century) 18 km away, ancient burial site of the Prophet's companion
• 📍Biskra Palm Groves — A million Deglet Nour palm trees, oasis gardens crossed by foggara irrigation channels
• 📍El Kantara Gorges — Spectacular defile at the foot of the Aurès, nicknamed "the mouth of the Sahara" by Eugène Fromentin
• 📍Old Biskra (Bab Darb) — Ochre old medina with winding lanes and traditional mud-brick houses
• 📍Sahara Museum — Archaeological and Saharan ethnographic collections, oases and palm groves
• 📍Hammam Salihine — Hot thermal springs (~50°C) 8 km out, frequented since Roman antiquity