19. Mostaganem — The City That Time Left Gently
Mostaganem sits on a clifftop above the Mediterranean in western Algeria, a city of 200,000 that somehow retains the texture of a town. The old Derb quarter — the historic Arab city that predates the French period — is a labyrinth of white-washed alleys, wood-carved doorways and neighbourhood mosques still half-covered in original tilework. Unlike the better-known medinas of Tlemcen or Constantine, it is almost entirely unvisited by outsiders and entirely unhurried by their absence.
The cliff walks around Mostaganem offer some of the most vertiginous Mediterranean views in Algeria: white walls above blue water, fig trees growing from limestone cracks, the distant mountains of the Dahra range behind. The beaches at Salamandre and Stidia, just outside the city, are local summer institutions. The region produces serious wine — the hills of the Dahra and Mascara ranges to the south have been vineyards since Roman times and remain so, despite everything — and local cuisine makes exceptional use of fresh seafood and the fat olives of the interior.
