An oasis town at the western approach to the Grand Erg Oriental, about 160 kilometres west of El Oued. The town has French colonial architecture, an active date market, and a large palm oasis producing Deglet Nour dates. A useful stop on the route between Biskra and El Oued; more transit town than destination, but worth a few hours. The zaoua (religious lodge) of Sidi Mahdi near the centre of town is architecturally interesting.
Touggourt
A story
Touggourt sits at the northwestern fringe of the Grand Erg Oriental, where the dunes thin out into the salt flats of the Saharan plateau. The French built extensively here during the colonial period — the town has some fine early-20th-century administrative buildings along its central avenue, and the old ksar (fortified village) district survives in the older quarter. Touggourt's oasis, one of the largest in the northern Sahara, produces Deglet Nour dates, which are the premium variety — drier and more translucent than the soft varieties common elsewhere.