The Aïr Mountains — Aïr Tenere in Tamasheq — rise to the east and north-east of In-Gall, a granite massif standing 2,000 metres above the surrounding desert and one of the great Saharan landscapes. The mountains were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 (now listed as in danger) for their unique high-desert ecology and for the prehistoric rock art found across their valleys.
From In-Gall, day trips and longer excursions head east toward the foot of the range: the valley of Iférouane, the dunes of Temet at the contact between the granite and the Sahara proper, and the rock-art sites around Anakom and Tagueit. All travel into the Aïr now requires extensive military permissions and an experienced fixer; the area has been a haunt of armed groups since the 2010s.