Places · Egypt

Natural Wonders of Egypt: The 4 Most Beautiful Places to Visit

4 places in the atlas

Egypt is mostly desert, and its natural wonders spring from that. In the Western Desert, wind has carved a vanished chalk seabed into the ghostly formations of the White Desert, while remote depressions cradle spring-fed oases like Siwa, ringed by salt lakes and the dunes of the Great Sand Sea. Along the eastern edge, the Red Sea drops away in coral walls at marine parks like Ras Muhammad. Between them lie the life-giving Nile, mangrove coasts, and the mountains of Sinai. Below are the 4 natural wonders of Egypt in the atlas — the most beautiful places to build a trip around, each with what makes it remarkable, when to go, and how to reach it. Best overall time: October to April is the comfortable season for the deserts and oases; the Red Sea reefs are good year-round, warmest from spring to autumn.

Ras Muhammad, Southern Sinai, Egypt

Ras Muhammad

Southern Sinai, Egypt

At the very tip of the Sinai Peninsula, a marine national park where sheer coral walls plunge into the Red Sea — one of the world's great diving and snorkelling destinations.

Marine sanctuary Africa
Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, near the Libyan border, Egypt

Siwa Oasis

Western Desert, near the Libyan border, Egypt

A remote desert oasis of palm groves, freshwater springs, and turquoise salt lakes in Egypt's far west — an ancient island of green ringed by the dunes of the Great Sand Sea.

Lake Africa
The White Desert, Farafra, Western Desert, Egypt

The White Desert

Farafra, Western Desert, Egypt

A dreamlike stretch of Egypt's Western Desert where wind has carved a vanished chalk seabed into ghostly white boulders shaped like mushrooms, icebergs, and sculptures.

Desert & dunes Africa
Wadi Al-Hitan, Faiyum Governorate, Western Desert, Egypt

Wadi Al-Hitan

Faiyum Governorate, Western Desert, Egypt

A stretch of Egyptian desert holding the best fossil record anywhere of whales learning to leave the land — hundreds of skeletons of archaic whales, some still with hind legs, lying where a shallow sea left them.

Desert & dunes Middle East

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