Field guides
Field guides, written by the people who drive.
Honest answers to the questions we get round the fire: when to go, what to pack, and which trip suits your family.
Best time to visit the White DesertOctober to April. Days are 21–31 °C and nights drop to 5–15 °C. November and March are the sweet spot: warm afternoons, nights cold enough for a fire, and fewer groups than December.MAHMOUD · 22 SEP 2026White Desert or Siwa? An honest comparisonShort on time or travelling with young kids: the White Desert (2–3 days, 500 km). Want slow days, springs and the big dunes: Siwa (4–5 days, 750 km).OMAR · 3 JUL 2026What to pack for one desert nightWarm layers, a hat, closed shoes, a head torch, a scarf for sand, and less than you think. We bring sleeping bags, mattresses, food and water.MAHMOUD · AUG 2025White Desert with kids: what actually worksTwo days, not three. Camp early. Bring a torch each. Let them find the foxes.MAHMOUD · 9 MAY 2026Siwa Oasis, Egypt: where it is and how to get thereSiwa is an oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert, about 50 km from the Libyan border and roughly 750 km by road from Cairo — around nine hours via Alexandria and Marsa Matruh. Go between October and April for the springs, the salt lakes, the mud-brick fortress of Shali and the dunes of the Great Sand Sea. Plan four days or more.OMAR · 5 NOV 2026Visiting the Giza pyramids: a practical guideThe Giza pyramids are on the western edge of Cairo, 15–20 km from the centre. Arrive at opening time, allow three to four hours for the three pyramids, the panorama and the Great Sphinx, and visit between October and April if you can. Entry to the inside of the Great Pyramid is a separate ticket, and the Grand Egyptian Museum is about 2 km away.YARA · 5 NOV 2026Grand Egyptian Museum: what to see and how to visitThe Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) stands about 2 km from the Giza pyramids and opened fully in November 2025. Its highlights are the colossal statue of Ramesses II, the Grand Staircase and the complete Tutankhamun collection, shown together for the first time. Allow at least three to four hours, book tickets on the official website, and pair it with the pyramids in one day.YARA · 5 NOV 2026Hurghada desert safari: quad, camel and starsA Hurghada desert safari takes you from your hotel into the Eastern Desert behind the town for a quad (ATV) or 4×4 ride, tea and bread at a Bedouin camp, often a short camel ride, and sometimes a barbecue and stargazing. Most trips last half a day; choose a morning or a sunset departure, wear closed shoes and bring a scarf for the dust.HASSAN · 5 NOV 2026White Desert, Egypt: what to see and night temperaturesThe White Desert is a national park of white chalk formations about 500 km south-west of Cairo, near the Farafra oasis. Most visits are two or three days and include a night camping among the rocks. Days from October to April are 21–31 °C, but nights are cold: around 5–6 °C on average in December and January, and close to freezing on the coldest nights.MAHMOUD · 5 NOV 2026Sinai desert: Mount Sinai, St Katherine and canyonsThe Sinai desert covers the triangular peninsula between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, where Africa meets Asia. In the south it is a land of red granite mountains: climb Mount Sinai (2,285 m) at night for sunrise, visit St Katherine’s Monastery, walk the Coloured Canyon and sleep at a Bedouin camp. Spring and autumn are the best seasons.HASSAN · 5 NOV 2026Fayoum day trip from Cairo: waterfalls and fossil whalesFayoum is the desert closest to Cairo, about 100 km and an hour and a half away. In one day you can see the Wadi El Rayan lakes and waterfalls, Magic Lake and the dunes, the fossil whales of Wadi Al-Hitan (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Lake Qarun. Leave around 07:00 and you are back by evening.YARA · 5 NOV 2026Desert foxes and other animals of Egypt’s desertsEgypt’s deserts are home to the fennec fox, the smallest fox in the world with huge ears, and to Rüppell’s fox; both are shy and active at night, and they often visit White Desert camps after dark. You may also see dorcas gazelles, jerboas and, in the mountains, Nubian ibex. Please don’t feed the foxes.MAHMOUD · 5 NOV 2026
