Adrar is a Saharan oasis town in southwestern Algeria, sitting at the edge of the Tidikelt plateau. It is a functional desert town rather than a scenic one — the kind of place you pass through on long hauls through the western Sahara rather than a destination in itself.
The most remarkable thing about Adrar is what lies beneath it. The surrounding oasis is laced with an ancient network of underground water channels called foggaras — a system of gently sloping tunnels that draw groundwater from the desert floor and deliver it by gravity to fields and gardens. In this region alone the foggaras once stretched some 2,000 km in total length. You can still find traces of them throughout the oasis, marked by the lines of small earthen mounds above ground that indicate where the tunnels run below.
The town centre is dominated by a large open square — the Place des Martyrs, an odd choice for a Saharan settlement, where shade and shelter are everything. In the midday heat it is simply a flat expanse of sun, useful mainly for the occasional official parade. Fifteen kilometres south, the old caravan town of Ksar Tamentit is the most worthwhile day trip from town.
Accommodation is limited but available: two reasonably comfortable hotels and a youth hostel. Eating options are much the same as sleeping ones — limited to what is near where you stay.