Western Desert Oases: Places to Explore

Ancient travelers had to cross a dune belt several miles wide (and hundreds of miles long) to reach the Bahariya Oasis from the Nile Valley. These days you glide easily along the asphalt road at high speed... Read more

Dakhla's rich patchwork of shifting yellow dunes, red earth, green farmland, and ancient mud-brick villages is like a mirage against the backdrop of pink and white cliffs that rise up sharply to shelter... Read more

Farafra is the least populated of the four southern oasis, but perhaps the most geologically diverse, combining elements of Bahariya to the north, and Dakhla to the south—plus a few of its own. Its... Read more

Although it has impressive ruins, dunes, and cultural sights, tourists rarely spend more than a night in Kharga. And that's a shame. Beyond the concrete and pavement of its modern capital, the oasis's... Read more

Siwa deserves some time. The most isolated of the five Western Desert oases, it is also the most unique. Located near the Libyan border, and surrounded by a sea of sand, its influences have come from Berber... Read more