Desert Safari in Egypt: 6 Trips from Cairo Compared

From a one-hour quad ride at the pyramids to six days in Siwa: how Egypt’s desert safaris from Cairo compare on time, price and what you see.

Egypt is more than 90% desert, and much of it starts within a few hours of Cairo. The hard part is not finding a safari but choosing one. These are the six trips our team runs most, from an hour at the pyramids to almost a week in the far west.

Trip	Time	From	Best for
Quad bike at the Giza pyramids	30 minutes to 3 hours	$20	A first taste of the sand
Camel ride at the pyramids	About 1 hour	$45	Classic photos, families
Fayoum and Wadi El Hitan	Full day	$170	Lakes, dunes and whale fossils
Overnight White Desert safari	2 days, 1 night	$170	Camping under the stars
Cairo and White Desert	5 days	$690	Pyramids and desert in one trip
Siwa Oasis adventure	6 days	$820	Remote oasis and the Great Sand Sea

Short on time: the Giza plateau

The desert begins right behind the pyramids. A quad bike or a camel takes you onto the sand with the pyramids on the horizon, and you are back at your hotel for lunch.

One free day: Fayoum

About 100 km south-west of Cairo, Fayoum combines a desert lake, the waterfalls of Wadi El Rayan and Wadi El Hitan, a UNESCO site where whale skeletons around 40 million years old lie in the open sand.

One night: the White Desert

The drive to Bahariya Oasis takes about five hours. From there a 4x4 crosses the Black Desert and Crystal Mountain to the chalk towers of the White Desert, where you sleep in a Bedouin camp under one of the darkest skies in Egypt.

A week: Siwa

Siwa sits near the Libyan border, a long day’s drive away. Its salt lakes, hot springs and the dunes of the Great Sand Sea reward the journey, and our 6-day trip gives you time to enjoy them without rushing.

When to go

October to April is the best season. Summer days in the Western Desert pass 40 °C, so from June to August we keep desert driving to early mornings and late afternoons.