Blida itself is a working Algerian provincial capital — the old French colonial grid laid over an Ottoman walled town, with markets, plane-tree avenues, and a handful of historical mosques. The medina has been heavily rebuilt since the 1825 earthquake but the central square, the Bois Sacré, and the rose gardens of the surrounding plain give the city its character.
Most visitors come for the mountains. Chréa National Park, in the Tell Atlas above the city, has Algeria's southernmost cedar forest, ski slopes that operate from December to March, and panoramic views back over the Mitidja plain. The Chiffa Gorges to the west are home to the country's most accessible troop of Barbary macaques.