Touggourt is a Saharan oasis city in eastern Algeria, strung along a chain of palm-fringed salt lakes at the northern edge of the Grand Erg Oriental. For centuries it was a caravan hub connecting the Mediterranean coast with the deep Sahara, and the capital of a small independent kingdom that resisted both Ottoman and French control longer than most.
The old ksar quarter is the most interesting part of town — a dense cluster of sand-coloured buildings with a ruined palace and the tombs of the former kings of the Beni Djellab dynasty, beside the historic Sidi Salim Mosque. The central market is lively, trading in dates, spices, and desert roses (natural gypsum crystal formations found in the surrounding sand). Touggourt's palm groves are extensive and still produce some of the best Deglet Nour dates in Algeria.
The town is a useful staging point for visits to El Oued, about 160 km to the east, and for the northern fringes of the Grand Erg Oriental. The landscape between the two cities is extraordinary — flat, sun-blasted plains giving way to the first dunes of the great sand sea. Touggourt is reached by road from Biskra (about 230 km south) or by air from Algiers, with occasional flights on Air Algérie.