Tipasa is the kind of ruin that gives you the sea in one direction and the mountain in the other. A Phoenician trading post on this stretch of the Algerian coast became a Roman colony in the first century, and by the later empire it was a prosperous town with a harbour, a forum, villas and, when the city turned Christian, several large basilicas. The remains spread along a rocky shore, among pines, wild fennel and cactus, with the dark mass of the Chenoua mountain rising behind. In the western park you walk among foundations, mosaics and column stumps with the surf rolling in beside you.
The writer Albert Camus, who grew up in Algiers, wrote one of his best-known essays about the place, Nuptials at Tipasa, in which the ruins are overgrown by wild flowers and the stones are warm to the touch. Many visitors say that nothing has changed. The site was inscribed by UNESCO in 1982 for its mixture of Punic, Roman, early Christian and Byzantine remains, and it sits only a short drive from the capital, which makes it a classic day trip for Algerians as well as foreigners.
For a motorcyclist, the coast road from Algiers to Tipasa is one of the pleasantest in the country, with a series of gentle bends between hills, a sparkling sea and a lot of weekend traffic. Expect trucks, buses and cars that overtake without warning, uneven surfaces in places and occasional checkpoints. The best time is early in the day, when the light is clear and the roads are quieter. In summer the beaches fill up, and the parking near the site can be tight. A hat and water are essential; shade is scarce among the stones.
Tipasa town, with about twenty-five thousand people, has fuel stations, small restaurants and cafes serving grilled fish and mint tea, and a sea-view terrace is a fine place for a rest. Hadjout, further inland, is a bigger market town. The air smells of salt, pine resin and the warm herbs of the maquis, and the sound of cicadas fills the afternoon. The ruins are quiet enough to hear your own footsteps on the old paving, and the sunset over the Chenoua is a very good reason to linger.