Destination: Egypt

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Desert & Oases

TWO WEEKS / AL-KHARGA OASIS TO SIWA

For two weeks of breathtaking sites and adventures, shun the cities in favour of getting swept up in deserts. Also take time to chill out and cool down in the stunning oases.



Taking inspiration from films such as Lawrence of Arabia or The English Patient, would-be desert rovers could disregard the country’s many Pharaonic monuments for a couple of weeks in favour of getting sand happy in the amazing Western Desert.

Begin your journey by taking a Nile Valley bus from Luxor to Al-Kharga Oasis, the southernmost and least attractive oasis in the Western Oases loop. It’s worth a day for exploring the Al-Kharga Museum of Antiquities and the profusion of Graeco-Roman temples, tombs and other interesting ruins.

From Al-Kharga Oasis make your way north to Dakhla Oasis for the experience of seeing the fascinating hivelike mud-walled settlements of Balat and Al-Qasr, and on north again to Farafra Oasis and then Bahariyya Oasis. Either of these latter two oases is the place to organise trips out into the stunning White Desert, with its strangely shaped rock formations.

Real desert addicts can then negotiate a fee (E£500 to E£600) to strike due west across several hundred kilometres of open desert to Siwa Oasis. (The alternative is to travel by bus back to Cairo, change for Alexandria and change again for Siwa – more than a day’s travel.) Perched on the edge of the Great Sand Sea, Siwa, renowned for its dates and olives, is the base for some of the most stunning yet accessible sandscapes in Egypt, although you will need to hire cars and drivers to reach these areas.