Mediterranean winter resorts : a practical handbook to the principal health and pleasure resorts on the shores of the Mediterranean, with special articles on the principal invalid stations by resident English physicians / by Eustace A. Reynolds-Ball.

  • Reynolds-Ball, Eustace A. (Eustace Alfred), 1858-1928.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mediterranean winter resorts : a practical handbook to the principal health and pleasure resorts on the shores of the Mediterranean, with special articles on the principal invalid stations by resident English physicians / by Eustace A. Reynolds-Ball. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    climate is very similar to that of Egypt. 1 he one great defect of the Egyptian climate is, however, also possessed, though to a less extent, by Biskra—namely, the great extreme between day and night temperature ; and this lack of equability is the great drawback to Biskra as an invalid station. This Saharan resort, indeed, bids fair to become a very fashionable winter station, rather to the regret of many visitors, who fear that this unique “ City oi the Palms ” will lose its individuality, and become almost as conventional as aristocratic Cannes or Pau, where the visitors’ lists suggest a page from the Almanac de Gotha. Putting aside the comparative merits of these winter quarters as medical stations, in one important respect Algeria differs from the Riviera as affording far more scope for the average tourist and traveller than this conventional and crowded region. Algeria, with its grand natural curi- osities, its wealth of Roman remains, its mosques and koubas, its picturesque scenery, and its delightful climate, makes an ideal winter playground for the non-invalid visitor. As a winter touring-ground it is beginning to hold a similar position to that held by Switzerland or Norway among summer holiday-makers ; and, though not cheap according to the European standard, it is perhaps one of the least expensive of the extra-European winter quarters within a reasonable distance of London. In short, to sum up the conclusions of this comparative survey of the two great rival winter resorts, Algiers, both economically and socially, as well as climatically, seems to have almost attained the desired juste milieu. In climate it stands midway between the dry and stimulating Riviera, and the warm, moist, and relaxing Madeira. In the matter of living, expenses, hotels, etc., it is on the whole some- what dearer than the Riviera, but decidedly cheaper than Egypt. Then, socially speaking, Algiers, without any pre- tensions to being a particularly fashionable or aristocratic