Siwa and more about Oases

Unfortunately I cannot give advises myself about Oases. But I received a report from Dagmar and also the allowance to publish her photos (above) – thank you so much for them (and please excuse my bad translation to English)!

There is still much development potential for tours around the Oases. Also the tourism manager from Siwa regrets, that most of the tourists (which are only about 8000 each year) are pushed through with packaged tours and dont bring much to the Oasis itself, because the hotels are owned by people from outside, the tourists get full board and dont make tours on their own. The people from Siwa should make more promotions themselves, especially should give more information how to get there ...

... To travel with a guide from Cairo may become rather expensive, as you always have to pay his hotel room. This could only be minimized, if you share the guide with other travellers...

... If your budget isnt too big, you will have to try to get from one Oasis to the next on your own. Which is no problem, the tourist offices provide good drivers and also help to assemble groups, who can share a jeep.

In Siwa you could write to mahdi_hweiti@yahoo.com (English or French). He is serious and you dont need to worry about him. Hotel rooms are easy to get, even without reservation: there are more offers than demand. I had booked with www.siwaparadise.com.

Of course there are other cheaper hotels or also more exclusive ones – but this one is in the center, idyllic, has a swimming pool and the cost-to-performance ratio is good. I have met many travellers, who had not planned anything but organized all themselves there. They came at me to ask if we could share a jeep, but I didnt want to see the other Oases.

The differences in prices are huge: I paid for one week Cairo and Siwa about 500 Euros, an organized excursion could have cost 4 times more!