Fayoum 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.
Fayoum is a green basin in the desert south-west of Cairo, watered by a channel from the Nile, with a large lake on one side and open desert on the other. It is the easiest way to feel real desert on a short stay in Egypt.
Where is Fayoum?
Fayoum lies about 100 km south-west of Cairo, around an hour and a half’s drive from Giza. The farmland and villages are in the centre of the basin; the desert sights — Wadi El Rayan, Magic Lake and Wadi Al-Hitan — are to the south-west of it.
What to see in one day
Wadi El Rayan: two lakes in a protected area of the desert, joined by a short series of waterfalls — a rare sight in Egypt. The lakes were created in the 20th century from drainage water, and today they attract birds as well as visitors.
Magic Lake and the dunes: a lake among high dunes whose colour shifts with the light through the day. The dunes around it are the place for sandboarding and a 4×4 run.
Wadi Al-Hitan, the Valley of the Whales: a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005, where the skeletons of early whales, around 40 million years old, lie in the open desert. They show whales at the moment they were losing their hind legs and becoming creatures of the sea. A path links the fossils, and there is a small museum. The last part of the road is a desert track.
Lake Qarun: a large salty lake on the north side of the basin, the remains of a much bigger ancient lake. Flamingos and other water birds winter here.
Tunis village: a village of potters above the lake, known for its pottery school and studios.
Which Fayoum trip to choose
For a first desert day with family: lakes, waterfalls, a sand-board run, the whale fossils and lunch by Lake Qarun.
For more driving in the dunes: a private 4×4 day with the waterfalls, the Mudawara viewpoint, sandboarding and Magic Lake.
For history: Fayoum also has its own pyramids — Meidum, El Lahun and Hawara — which show how pyramid building developed before and after Giza. And to see the pyramids too, one day can combine Giza in the early morning with the fossils and the lake.
Questions people ask
About 100 km, or an hour and a half by car from Giza.
Yes. Leave Cairo around 07:00 to see Wadi El Rayan, Magic Lake, Wadi Al-Hitan and Lake Qarun and be back in the evening.
Yes, at Wadi El Rayan, where water flows between two lakes over a short series of falls.
The Valley of the Whales, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with fossil skeletons of early whales around 40 million years old, lying in the open desert.
Very. The drive is short, the dunes are perfect for sandboarding, and children love the whale fossils. Our Fayoum days accept children from 4.