Siwa Tours: Oracle Temple, Salt Lakes and the Great Sand Sea by 4×4

Compare Siwa Tours by Length and Price

Prices are per person in US dollars and are the starting price shown on each tour page. Open a tour for the full price table and the day-by-day programme.

Siwa tours from the north coast, and for solo travelers, women and families

Which Siwa Tour Fits Your Trip

Two or three days: the oasis only

The 2-day Siwa tour from Cairo and the 3-day Siwa trip from Cairo go straight to the oasis and back. They cover Cleopatra’s Spring, the Temple of Amun, Shali Fortress, the salt lakes and the 4×4 safari to Bir Wahid. The third day makes a real difference, because the drive is long. If you are staying on the coast, start from Alexandria or El-Alamein instead and save hours of road.

Four to six days: Pyramids, Alexandria and Siwa

The 4 day Cairo and Siwa tour package is the shortest way to see the Pyramids, Alexandria and the oasis in one private trip. The 5-day Cairo and Siwa tour and the 6 day Siwa Oasis trip add nights in the oasis, so Shali and the salt lakes are not squeezed into the departure morning.

Seven to twelve days: three nights in the oasis

Three nights is what Siwa deserves. The 7 day Siwa Oasis tour is our most balanced itinerary, and the 8-day, 9-day, 10-day and 12-day versions add time in Cairo, Alexandria and El-Alamein around it.

Nine to nineteen days: Siwa with a Nile cruise

For a first visit to Egypt that still reaches the oasis, choose an itinerary with a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan: 9 days, 12 days or 13 days. The 16-day and 19-day itineraries finish on the Red Sea, and the 15-day Pearls of Siwa tour is the most complete of all.

What You See in Siwa Oasis

The Oracle Temple of Amun

Built in the 26th Dynasty, in the reign of Amasis, on the rock of Aghurmi. This is the oracle Alexander consulted in 331 BC. You can still walk through the forecourt into the sanctuary where the god’s answers were given, and the view from the top takes in the whole oasis: palms, both lakes and the flat-topped hills beyond.

The Temple of Umm Ubayda

A second temple to Amun, a short walk from the oracle, raised under Nectanebo II in the 30th Dynasty. It stood largely intact until 1897, when it was blown up for building stone. One wall survives, and its reliefs are worth the stop.

Cleopatra’s Spring

A deep, stone-lined pool fed by a natural spring, known locally as Ain Juba. It was famous long before Cleopatra’s name was attached to it. You can swim here, and there are simple cafes around the edge.

Shali Fortress

The old town of Siwa, founded in 1203 and built from kershef, a mix of salt, rock and mud. Three days of rain in 1926 melted much of it, and what remains is a honeycomb of walls above the modern market. Go up near sunset.

The salt lakes

Bright turquoise pools cut into the salt flats east of town. The water is so dense with salt that you float without effort. Bring fresh water to rinse off and avoid shaving that morning.

Bir Wahid and the Great Sand Sea

A 4×4 takes you over the first dunes of the Great Sand Sea to Bir Wahid, where a hot spring and a cold freshwater lake sit a short walk apart in the sand. After the safari you drive back to your hotel in the oasis for the night.

Best Time to Visit Siwa

October to April is the season. Days are warm and dry. Nights in December and January are cold, so pack a warm layer for the evenings. From June to August the oasis regularly passes 40°C, and sightseeing is kept to the early morning and late afternoon.

October is date harvest, and the full moon that month brings the Siyaha festival at Gebel Dakrur, when Siwans gather on the mountain for three days of shared meals. If your dates are flexible, it is the best week of the year to be there.

Where You Sleep

Every night in Siwa is spent in a hotel or eco-lodge in the oasis itself. The desert is a 4×4 safari, not an overnight camp, so you come back to a proper bed and a shower. Packages from Cairo also spend a night in Marsa Matrouh on the way out. Siwa has no international chain hotels. Its lodges are small and built in the local style, and that is part of the reason to come.