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Siwa Oasis trips from Cairo

Siwa Oasis trips

Our only trips with nights away. Siwa is too far from Cairo for one day, so we go for 2, 3 or 4 days: private, with your own car, driver and guide, and a lodge in the oasis.

Trips: 3
Pickup: Hotels in Cairo and Giza
The road: About 750 km each way

The Temple of the Oracle of Amun on its rock at Aghurmi, Siwa — The Temple of the Oracle at Aghurmi, Siwa

Showing all 3 trips

The mud-brick ruins of Shali, the old town of Siwa

2 days, 1 night

Siwa in 2 days

El Alamein · Shali · Oracle Temple · a salt lake

Private
Lodge + meals

Approx., per person$290

Sand dunes of the Great Sand Sea near Siwa

3 days, 2 nights

Siwa in 3 days

El Alamein · Oracle Temple · Cleopatra's Spring · Great Sand Sea by 4x4 · Shali · salt lake

Private
Lodge + meals
4x4 safari

Approx., per person$560

Sunset over the lake at Fatnas Island, Siwa

4 days, 3 nights

Siwa in 4 days

El Alamein · Shali · Oracle Temple · Fatnas sunset · a day in the Great Sand Sea · salt lake

Private
Lodge + meals
4x4 safari

Approx., per person$590

In the oasis

What you'll see in Siwa

Shali

The old mud-brick town, built of kershef (salt and mud) in the 13th century and left after heavy rain in 1926.

The Temple of the Oracle

The temple of Amun at Aghurmi, from the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great came to consult the oracle, in 331 BC according to most accounts.

The Mountain of the Dead

Rock-cut tombs used from the 26th Dynasty to Roman times, among them the painted tomb of Si-Amun.

Cleopatra's Spring

A round spring among the palms, thought to be the Spring of the Sun that Herodotus wrote about. You can swim.

The salt lakes

Turquoise pools in old salt quarries. The water is so salty that you float.

The Great Sand Sea

Dunes that run on into Libya, crossed by 4x4, with a hot spring and a cold lake at Bir Wahed.

Fatnas Island

Palms at the edge of Lake Siwa, the classic place for the sunset.

El Alamein

On the way: the museum and the war cemeteries of the Second World War battles of 1942.

Choosing your Siwa trip

Two, three or four days?

Every trip drives out by the coast road with a stop at El Alamein and back the same way. What changes is the time in the oasis.

	2 days	3 days	4 days
Nights in Siwa	1	2	3
In the oasis	Shali, the Oracle Temple and a salt lake, the morning before the drive back	The tombs, the Oracle Temple, Cleopatra's Spring, Shali and a salt lake	All of these, at an easier pace, and the Fatnas sunset
Great Sand Sea	Not included	An afternoon by 4x4, dinner at a desert camp	A full day by 4x4, dinner at a desert camp
Good for	Seeing Siwa if you only have a weekend	The usual choice: the oasis and the desert	Time to slow down in the oasis

How the trip works

From your hotel to the oasis

Siwa lies far out in the Western Desert, near the Libyan border. Each trip is private: your own car, driver and guide from your hotel in Cairo or Giza and back.

The road750 km

About 750 km each way by the coast road: El Alamein, lunch in Marsa Matruh, then south across the desert. Most of a day each way, with the stops.

Where you sleepLodge

Ghaliet Ecolodge or a similar lodge in Siwa town, the kind most Siwa trips use. Breakfast and dinner there, lunch on the touring days.

The desert4x4

On the 3- and 4-day trips a 4x4 with a desert driver takes you into the Great Sand Sea, to the springs at Bir Wahed and a camp dinner in the dunes.

Distances from map routing. Each trip page shows the plan day by day with estimated times.

Before you go

Good to know about Siwa

Best months

October to April. Summer afternoons are very hot: in July the average high is about 40 °C (104 °F). Desert nights are cold in winter.

Bring swimwear

For Cleopatra's Spring and the salt lakes. Salt water stings small cuts and eyes, so bring fresh water to rinse.

Long days on the road

The first and last days are mostly driving, with stops. The 3-day trip is the one most travelers pick.

Tips are not included

Tips for the guide and the drivers are not part of the price; drinks with meals aren't either.