2 Days Fayoum Oasis and Wadi El Hitan Trip from Cairo

Your detailed trip plan

A suggested sequence — every flight, hotel and day can be changed.

• 1Destinations
• 2Transport

1. 22 Oct

   Cairo

   Stay from
   

   • Egypt
   • 1 nights

   Cairo, one of the largest cities in both Africa and the Middle East, is the capital of Egypt. Cairo has been a centre of great importance to many civilisations, cultures and religions. From Pharaonic and Greco-Roman to Ottoman and European, and passing by Jewish, Christian, and Islamic, each of its identities has left a strong imprint on Cairo, thus making it one of the most fascinating cities in the world. The Giza Plateau, that includes the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, is the only remaining monuments of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the country's most famous tourist attraction. The sheer mass of the pyramids is awe inspiring. Islamic Cairo, the centre of historic Cairo, is best done on foot. Located east of downtown, it is full of charming little mosques and water fountains. The most important sites to visit are the Citadel, Mohamed Ali Mosque, Khan el Khalili, the main bazaar, some historic mosques and displays of medieval architecture, as well as some of Cairo's Turkish baths or Hammams. No visit to Cairo is complete without seeing the Egyptian Museum. Exotic atmosphere, chaotic traffic, thousands of minarets, noise, charming people, Cairo is a fascinating city. Few cities in the world surpass Cairo in number of monuments or architectural styles. Cairo is not an ordinary city, Cairo is a whole world.
2. 22 Oct

   2 Days Fayoum Oasis and Wadi El Hitan Trip from Cairo

   Guided tour
   

   • days 1–2

   Day 1: Cairo to Fayoum Oasis (L, D)

   Your Fayoum adventure begins with an early pick-up at 07:00 from your hotel in Cairo or Giza, where a private air-conditioned vehicle whisks you away on the roughly 112-kilometer, one-hour-45-minute drive into the Fayoum Oasis. First stop is the Museum of Kom Aushim, a fascinating institution built in 1974 that houses artifacts spanning the Prehistoric to Roman periods, including the famous Fayoum Portraits, and serves as a great introduction to the region's guides and history. From there you'll explore Karanis, one of the largest Greco-Roman cities in Fayoum, founded in the third century BC to house the mercenaries of Ptolemy II's army and home to two ancient temples. By 11:00 you'll continue to the Hawara Pyramid, also known as Arsinoiton Polis, built by King Amenemhat III during the Twelfth Dynasty; nearby once stood the legendary labyrinth described by the Greek traveler Herodotus, and 146 Fayoum portraits were discovered in the cemetery north of the pyramid. Lunch is served lakeside at Qarun Lake around 13:00, before you settle in for an overnight stay in Fayoum's Tunis village.

   
   

   Day 2: Safari to Wadi El Hitan National Park (B, L)

   After breakfast, set off at 07:00 for a thrilling 4x4 jeep desert adventure from Tunis village and Qarun Lake into Wadi El Hitan, the legendary "Valley of the Whales." Declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in 2005, Wadi El Hitan sits about 35 kilometers west of Wadi El Rayan deep in the Western Desert and is renowned among scientists for the Zeuglodon fossils discovered there in 1936; the area is essentially an open-air museum containing 45-million-year-old petrified primitive whale skeletons, shark teeth, shells, and preserved mangrove roots. At 10:00 you'll visit the Fossil and Climate Change Museum, showcasing whale fossils and skeletons both outdoors and in glass display cases indoors, before enjoying lunch and visiting Qusur El Arab. The route continues to the mesmerizing Magic Lake in Wadi El Rayan, a lake that changes color throughout the day depending on sunlight, surrounded by dramatic sand dunes perfect for hiking, sandboarding, or swimming, and reputed to contain minerals beneficial for rheumatism. Nearby, Al Mudawara offers a picturesque lookout with three mountains along the lakeshore, a favorite picnic spot, before the drive back through Fayoum Oasis, a stop at the Pyramids of Fayoum, and the return journey to your hotel in Cairo.

   
   

   B = Breakfast | L = Lunch | D = Dinner