Egypt Adventure: Pyramids, Deserts and Oases

Get ready to explore Cairo! A chaotic but charming city. Here you can visit the Citadel of Salah el Din. From here you have a wonderful view over the skyline of Cairo. Besides this, the citadel houses the Mohammed Ali mosque with its four recognizable minarets.

Afterwards you can visit the busy Islamic quarter, this is within walking distance from the mosque. You will finish your day at the largest market in Africa, the El Kahlili Soukh, an unforgettable experience. Today you can also visit the Egyptian Museum, one of the most famous museums in the world. After your visit you will understand why.

Today you will leave the capital behind and visit the Pyramids of Giza, just outside Cairo. The Pyramids of Giza are a UNESCO Site and house three great Pyramids, of which the Cheops Pyramid is the largest. The Cheops pyramid is the only one of the seven classical wonders of the world that can still be visited today. You will visit the Pyramids of Cheops, Kephren and Mykerinos.  The Giza Pyramids need no introduction, the largest and most famous monuments of antiquity and the sole surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.  Finally, you will visit the famous Giza Sfynx.

Today you leave the crowded city behind and go on an expedition to the Oases hinterland of Egypt. You will enter the land of the Bedouins, who still live as nomads in the desert. From Alexandria you head towards El Alamein, El Alamein is mainly known for the battles that took place during the Second World War. Afterwards you drive inland towards the Oasis of Siwa. The Amazighs, a group of isolated people live in Siwa, they have their own language and culture. In addition, you will also find the Amun temple which is known as the temple of the Oracle. You can also find the Mountain of Death here, where many tombs from the 26th Egyptian dynasty can be found. From the top of the mountain you have a beautiful view over the oasis. The Siwis, as the population is called, live in mud-brick houses and are unlike the Amazighs no Bedouins.

Today you have a day free at leisure to gather all your impressions and relax in the Bahariya Oasis. You can cross through the desert with a 4WD, ride a camel or visit the local bazaar in Al Bawiti, the largest city in the area.

From Al Bawiti, the largest town in the Bahariya Oasis, you travel towards the smallest of three Western desert oases: Farafra. This oasis has only 5000 inhabitants and over a hundred natural springs. Bir Satta, Bir Sab A and Ishrin are the best known natural springs. Which you will also visit during this trip. You have now arrived in the White dessert, where the nature is completely different from other areas that you have seen so far. The white desert is also known as Sahara el Beyda and is famous for it’s rock and chalk formations.

After visiting Farafra, you head towards the last desert stop of this trip, Dakhla, Along the way you make a stop at the village of Abu Minqar. You travel through a very thinly populated area of Egypt and you will be alone in the desert for hours. On the way from Farafra to Dakhla you will see beautiful rock formations and an extended desert surface. This five-hour tour is known as one of the most empty and quiet areas in Egypt. Stop for a moment in the middle of the desert and step out of your car, all you hear is the wind.

As soon as you get closer to Dakhla, things change quickly. The city is one of the longest inhabited cities in Africa. Just before you arrive in Dakhla you arrive in El Qasr, famous for its Fort. This fort has been rebuilt by a group of Dutch archeologists. The entire fort and surrounding mud-brick village has been restored to its former state.

You are slowly returning to the more civilized world. You leave Dakhla and head to the most southern Oasis of the desert, El Kharga. On the edge of the desert you will have another overnight stay. El Kharga is a well-known stopover on the route to Luxor, it is a large city with more than 50,000 inhabitants, so you no longer express the real oasis feeling here. In El Kharga you can visit the Hibis Temple and El Bagawat, a Christian cemetery. You will come across many different sites along the way today. For example the Temple of Nadura, Qasr el Zayan and Ain Um Dabadib.

The great desert adventure ends today. You leave the green oases behind you and head to the banks of the Nile. Via Qasr El Dhueita, with its ten meter high walls, you travel towards Luxor, also known as the open air museum of the world. When you arrive in Luxor, you have the rest of the afternoon at leisure to relax by the pool and take in the impressions of the past few days.

Unfortunately your trip has come to an end. Would you like to extend your trip? We have a few suggestions: Go diving or snorkling in the Red Sea or simply enjoy the beach on the Meditteranean Sea. This trip can also be combined with another destination. One of our local representives will pick you up at your accommodation and bring you to the airport for you flight back home.