http://www.lonelyplanet.com/algeria/tamanrasset
Them Tuareg people are some tough bastards, but very sweet after you get to know them. Seems like every one of them is a musician, and the streets and alleyways are filled with music...or at least they were.
There was recently a real good movie with some Tuaregs, among others, in conflict with militant Islam around Timbuktu in Mali, which is south across a couple of the Saharas from Algeria...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3409392/ (Timbuktu)...
If you don't want it rough, then Italy's beautiful...those multi-venue trips are too much like work for my taste...we've leased apartments in Umbria for a month...also in Spain but now they outlawed bullfights in Catalonia there's no reason to go back to Barcelona now...staring at Gaudi's gets old fast.
http://www.untours.com/ Used them several times, reasonably priced, no complaints. Hope you make some memories. Good ones.