Oases Tourist Attractions

The oases in this guide are visited as part of Egypt Desert Safari Tours, and Egypt Oasis Tours, all of which WOW Egypt Tours proudly offers to travelers from around the world. The oases are also featured within Egypt Tours Packages and Egypt Travel Packages for travelers looking to combine Western Desert oasis experiences with the ancient monuments and Nile destinations covered elsewhere in these guides.

Bahariya Oasis is the closest oasis to Cairo, located around 370 kilometers southwest of the capital in the Western Desert, and serves as the main gateway for trips to the Black Desert and White Desert. The oasis contains the Valley of the Golden Mummies, where hundreds of Greco-Roman period mummies were discovered in 1996, as well as temples and tombs from the 26th Dynasty and a small museum displaying finds from the area. Faiyum Oasis is the largest oasis in Egypt and the closest to Cairo, located around 100 kilometers southwest of the capital. Unlike the other Western Desert oases, Faiyum is connected to the Nile by a natural channel and contains Lake Qaroun, agricultural land, Wadi el-Rayan waterfalls, and the ancient city of Karanis, making it one of the most varied day trip destinations from Cairo.

Siwa Oasis is the most remote and culturally distinct oasis in Egypt, located near the Libyan border in the northwestern corner of the Western Desert, around 560 kilometers from Cairo. Siwa has its own Berber language and traditions, and its main historical sites include the Oracle Temple of Amun where Alexander the Great was declared son of a god in 331 BCE, the ancient mud-brick citadel of Shali, and the Mountain of the Dead with its rock-cut Ptolemaic tombs. The oasis is also known for its salt lakes, freshwater springs, and date and olive production. Farafra Oasis is the smallest and most isolated of the main Western Desert oases, located between Bahariya and Dakhla, and serves as the nearest base for visiting the White Desert National Park. The oasis has a small population and a quiet, traditional character compared to the larger oases, with a local museum and a hot spring.

Dakhla Oasis is one of the larger oases in the Western Desert, located around 300 kilometers west of Kharga, with a long history of settlement from the Old Kingdom through the Islamic period. The oasis contains the well-preserved medieval Islamic town of Al-Qasr, the Roman-era temple of Deir el-Hagar, painted Roman tombs at Muzawaka, and hot springs. Kharga Oasis is the largest oasis in the Western Desert and the capital of the New Valley Governorate, located around 200 kilometers west of Luxor and connected to the Nile Valley by road. The oasis contains the Temple of Hibis, the best-preserved ancient Egyptian temple in the Western Desert, built primarily under the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Apries and the Persian ruler Darius I, as well as the early Christian necropolis of Bagawat, one of the oldest Christian cemeteries in the world.