Wadi El Hitan & the Fayoum Lakes
Whale skeletons in a desert, and waterfalls two hours from Cairo
- Departs from
- Cairo
- Group size
- Up to 14 travellers
- Season
- October to April. Workable in spring and autumn shoulder weeks; too hot to enjoy June to August.
Dates & Seats
No dates scheduled yet
This trip runs seasonally and the next dates aren't up yet. Message us and we'll tell you as soon as they are — or run it privately on a date that suits you.
Wadi El Hitan is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of what is lying in it: the fossilised skeletons of early whales, from a period when they still had back legs and this desert was ocean floor. They are in open air, where they were found. The same day takes in Wadi El Rayan's waterfalls and the Magic Lake, which is the shorthand for the fact that a country most people associate with sand and stone also has lakes, reedbeds and a completely different palette about two hours from the capital.
In evidenza
- The fossil valley at Wadi El Hitan, walked rather than driven past
- Wadi El Rayan's waterfalls and lakes, which is not the Egypt most visitors see
- Dune sections by 4WD between the two
- Back in Cairo the same evening — no accommodation to arrange
How the day runs
Morning — Cairo to Fayoum
An early start and roughly two hours' drive, arriving before the heat builds.
Late morning — Wadi El Rayan
The waterfalls and the lakes, then the dune sections by 4WD.
Midday — lunch
Eaten out at the lakes rather than back in town.
Afternoon — Wadi El Hitan
The fossil valley and its open-air museum, walked as a loop with time at the skeletons themselves.
Evening — back to Cairo
Returning in the early evening.
A flat walking loop at the fossil site and some soft sand underfoot. The demanding part is the length of the day and the sun, not the terrain.
Questions
Most people book it for the landscape and come away talking about the whales. But the honest answer is that if neither the fossils nor the lakes appeal, the desert camp or Dahshur will suit you better.
The Wadi El Hitan trail is a flat loop of roughly three kilometres in open desert, taken at an unhurried pace. There is no climbing.
Yes, and it is one of the better trips on this list for them — the fossils are the sort of thing that lands. It is still a long day in a vehicle, which is the part to weigh up.
Pair it with
FayoumFayoum: La bella natura dell'Egitto
Cascate, laghi deserti, e il lato più tranquillo dell'Egitto, più verde.
Prefer this privately?
We run every Weekly Trip as a private trip too — your own vehicle, your own date.