Siwa Oasis Long Weekend
Egypt's furthest oasis, and the drive it takes to get there
- Departs from
- Cairo
- Group size
- Up to 12 travellers
- Season
- September to November and February to April. Midsummer is too hot for the Sand Sea, and midwinter nights are cold for the springs.
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.
Siwa is close to the Libyan border and a long way from everything else, which is exactly why it looks like nowhere else in Egypt. The mudbrick ruins of Shali Fortress rise out of the middle of town. There are salt lakes the colour of swimming pools, palm groves, springs you can get into, and the Great Sand Sea starting at the edge of it all. The drive is the price of admission — most of a day each way — and it is the reason the place has stayed as it is. Going for a long weekend is the shortest trip that still makes the journey worth it.
Highlights
- Shali Fortress and the old town, walked at dusk
- The salt lakes, which are as strange in person as in photographs
- An afternoon into the Great Sand Sea by 4WD, and sunset from the dunes
- Cleopatra's Spring and the palm groves, at Siwa's own pace
How the day runs
Day 1 — the drive
Out of Cairo early, along the coast and then inland. Most of the day in the vehicle, arriving in Siwa in the evening.
Day 2 — the oasis
Shali Fortress, the old town, the springs and the palm groves, at an unhurried pace.
Day 3 — the Great Sand Sea
4WD out into the dunes for the afternoon, the salt lakes, and sunset from the sand.
Day 4 — back to Cairo
The return drive, arriving in the evening.
Easy days once you are there, but two very long drives bracket them and the dune driving is genuinely bumpy. The travel is the demanding part.
Questions
Most of a day in each direction. We schedule it as four days for that reason — a shorter version would be two days of driving with barely a day of Siwa in between.
There is no regular passenger service to Siwa, so the road is the way in for everyone. It is part of the trip rather than a problem with it.
Siwa is noticeably more conservative than Cairo or the Red Sea coast. Covered shoulders and knees for everyone in town, and modest swimwear at the springs, which the local guides will point you to.
Prefer this privately?
We run every Weekly Trip as a private trip too — your own vehicle, your own date.