Alexandria & Siwa

You arrive at Cairo airport where we greet and transfer you to your hotel. Our local rep. welcomes you, helps you settle into the hotel, and outlines the plan for the next few days.

Overnight:

Pyramisa Cairo

Extras and options:

International flights
Various hotel upgrade options
Sound & Light show at the pyramids

You start after breakfast today with an early drive to Alexandria (approx. 2½ hrs). Your tour of the city includes the Roman amphitheatre, which has twelve semi-circular marble tiers and is in remarkably good condition, Pompey’s pillar, and the Catacombs of Kom al-Shoqafa, which is the largest Roman cemetery in Alexandria. Dating from the beginning of the Second Century AD this fascinating underground cemetery displays a unique blend of Pharaonic and Roman art. Later in the afternoon you have the chance to stroll around Alexandria, see the famous library and other sites before returning to your hotel for the evening.

Overnight:

Sofitel Cecil

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast you depart from Alexandria and follow the Mediterranean coastline towards El Alamein, where you stop briefly to visit the World War II cemeteries. The battle of El Alamein is often seen as one of the most decisive victories of WWII and was fought between two of the war’s most outstanding commanders – Montgomery and Rommel. Around 25,000 Germans and Italians, and 13,000 Allied troops had been killed or wounded in the battle.
Leaving El Alamein we continue our coastal journey to the coastal town of Marsa Matrouh where we will have time to have lunch before heading through the Egyptian Deserts to the remote oasis town of Siwa. Your accommodation here is in the Siwa Shali lodge, which is a beautiful but fairly simple boutique hotel built in traditional style and with some of the best food in the oasis.

Overnight:

Shali Lodge, Siwa

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Siwa is one of Egypt’s most remote and least accessible oasis towns. Until around the middle of the 20th Century, Siwa wasn’t even governed by Egypt, and the town was mostly occupied by the Berber community, as it had been for the past 13 centuries. Even today, Siwans continue to have their own culture and even speak their own language – Siwi. Siwa’s rich history includes a visit from Alexander the Great in 331 BC; he came here to consult the Oracle of Amun. Many archaeologists also believe that Siwa may be the final resting place of Alexander the Great, although there is no real archaeological evidence to support this theory. Later the King of Persia attempted to destroy the Oracle by sending an army of 50,000 men, however the entire army was lost in the desert. In modern times, Siwa has become famous for its olives, dates and springs. The area boasts over 70,000 olive trees, 300,000 date trees and has around 1000 springs, some of which are said to have medicinal properties.
Today we take a bicycle tour around Siwa and visit many ancient sites, including the Temple of the Oracle which dates back to near 570 BC. In the afternoon you some free time where you are able to spend a little time exploring the Oasis further on your own.

Overnight:

Shali Lodge, Siwa

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Your tour today is to the visit Old Shali and the Mountain of the Dead. The ruins of Shali loom above the centre of Siwa and at night they are impressively floodlit. The town features a labyrinth of chambers, passages and granaries all situated in the shadow of a mosque which is said to have been the last mosque in Egypt where the call to prayer was given without the aid of a loudspeaker. Today we will also visit the Mountain of the Dead, or Ridge of the Mummified. This unmistakable hill was used in Ptolemaic times and then later by the Romans as a burial ground, and many loculli are located here. You may have the opportunity to enter one of these tombs, however we cannot guarantee this.
After a break for lunch we take a jeep out into the ‘Great Sand Sea’. Between Gilf Kebir and Siwa Oasis lies 72,000 kilometres of sand dunes which the explorer Gerhard Rohlfs named the Great Sand Sea. Here you’ll be surrounded by sand for as far as the eye can see, with dunes up to 100m high. We will spend time driving over these ‘sand waves’ where you will have some fantastic photo opportunities. Our day ends with a sunset meal and a relaxing soak in one the Oasis’ many natural springs.

Overnight:

Shali Lodge, Siwa

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast we begin our journey through the desert to Bahariya Oasis. The journey today takes approximately 6 hours and you will be able to make stops en-route. Bahariya is situated in a depression covering some 2000 sq km and is divided between 4 villages, the largest of which is Bawiti. Famous for its dates, wine and hot springs, it is a peaceful and picturesque setting amid the harsh, barren landscape of the desert. Here we stay in a simple but comfortable hotel.

Overnight:

Old Oasis, Bahariya

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, we take a tour around the Bahariya Oasis. This will include a visit to the English House, which is the ruined remains of a WWI fort perched atop a nearby hill, and The Black Mountain. Next, we head into the White Desert using 4X4 jeeps. The White Desert is named after its white mica ground cover, and white rocks, shaped by wind and sand erosion into curious toadstool, castle, and pillar like formations. On the way we stop to visit huge golden sand dunes and the Crystal Mountain, a rocky outcrop consisting of quartz crystals that lie strewn across the sand. From here we head into in the White Desert where we spend the night camping near one of the rock formations. Your guide will prepare a meal and you can relax, reflect on the stunning desert scenery you’ve seen today, and appreciate the silence and bright starry night sky that can only be found in such a vast uninhabited place.

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast we head back to the main road and drive back through the desert via Bahariya where you check in at your hotel and have the rest of the day free to do some shopping in the bazaar, take an evening dinner cruise on the Nile, or go to the pyramids for a memorable sound & light show.

Overnight:

Pyramisa Cairo

Meals included:

Breakfast, Lunch

Your tour ends after breakfast and your day is free until we transfer you to the airport in time for your flight home.

Extras and options:

International flights.
Various tour extensions available to the Nile Valley, Red Sea, or into Jordan.

Meals included:

Breakfast