Albert Camus came to Tipasa as a young man and wrote about it in an essay called Nuptials at Tipasa, which describes the wild thyme, the sun on the ruins and the sea as a kind of marriage between a person and the world. He wrote that in spring, Tipasa is inhabited by the gods and the gods speak in the sun and the scent of absinthe plants. Anyone who has walked here on a bright day in April will know what he meant. The ruins lie scattered along the shore between pine trees and the water, with the great mass of the Chenoua mountain behind.
Tipasa began as a Phoenician trading post and later became a Roman colony, and the ruins on show date mostly from the Roman and early Christian periods. The eastern archaeological park holds a basilica and a necropolis, with a hill rising above the sea, where the Basilica of Saint Salsa, a martyr of the fourth century, looks over the water. Paved streets, remnants of a theatre, a forum and a series of villas show the ordinary life of a small provincial harbour town, which exported grain and fish and later became a stronghold of Christianity. UNESCO listed the site in 1982.
The coast road from Algiers is a pleasant ride, about seventy kilometres west, with the sea on one side and low hills on the other. It passes through resort towns and small farmland, and the surface is mostly good, though traffic thickens in summer, when many Algerians come to the beaches. On the way, you may see the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania, a large round stone tomb on a hill, built for a Berber king and his Roman wife around the time of the birth of Christ. It stands on a rise, visible from a long way off.
Tipasa is a town of about twenty-five thousand people, with fuel stations on the main road and restaurants along the harbour serving fresh fish and sea urchins in season. The fish is simply grilled and served with lemon and bread, which is all it needs. Midday is hot, and shade is limited among the ruins, so start early and bring water and a hat. The best months are April, May, October and November, when the light is soft and the thyme is in flower.