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Fayoum

Lakes poured into the desert, and fossil whales a hundred kilometres from Cairo.

Fayoum is not an oasis in the strict sense: it is a depression fed by a branch of the Nile, and it shows — fields, canals, reeds, then sand with nothing in between. People come out for the day from Cairo, or stay the night for first light over Lake Qarun. The drive is short; the distances once you are there are not, and Wadi El Rayan alone takes half a day, with the Valley of the Whales further along the same road. One address on this page lies outside Fayoum: the alabaster cave of Sannur, in the desert south-east of Beni Suef at the end of a quarry track — it does not open every day, so have someone ask the evening before.

16 addresses

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Pyramids, temples, museums, mosques, Coptic churches

Monuments & sites

  • Qasr Qarun

    Off the beaten track

    A Ptolemaic temple still standing at the far end of Lake Qarun: rooms, stairs, roof, cellars.

    FayoumQasr Qarun

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue
  • Carved hieroglyphs, painted in ochre and blue, on the wall of an ancient Egyptian temple.

    Medinet Madi

    Off the beaten track

    An avenue of sphinxes and lions in the middle of the desert, almost never visited.

    FayoumSouthern Fayoum

    € BudgetHistoric venue
  • The bare stone temple standing alone at the desert's edge, its blocks still in place.

    Qasr el-Sagha

    Off the beaten track

    An unfinished temple of cyclopean blocks, alone in the desert above the lake.

    FayoumNorth of Lake Qarun

    € BudgetHistoric venue

Feluccas, desert, diving, markets, cruises

Outings & activities

  • The flight goes up at first light, before the wind picks up.

    Flying over Lake Qarun

    Desert, lake and fields seen from above, two hours from Cairo.

    FayoumLake Qarun, Fayoum

    €€€ High endBest in the morning

Egyptian, street food, fine dining, brunch

Restaurants

  • A whole fish, scored and browned, resting on grey embers.

    The tables of Lake Qarun

    Lake fish grilled at the water's edge, two hours from Cairo.

    FayoumNorth shore of Lake Qarun

    €€ Mid-rangeWhere locals go
  • A dish of hummus with olive oil, ringed by tomatoes and limes, on a wooden table.

    The tables of Tunis village

    Farm cooking served in the guesthouses, above the lake.

    FayoumTunis village, Fayoum

    €€ Mid-rangeWhere locals go
  • A sliced-meat sandwich in flatbread, held in its paper wrapper.

    The tables of Beni Suef

    Off the beaten track

    A staging town on the road south, and its roadside grills.

    FayoumBeni Suef

    € BudgetWhere locals go

Parks, gardens, beaches, reefs, walks

Nature & downtime

  • Wadi El Rayan

    A desert depression filled with the Fayoum's drainage water: two lakes and dunes.

    FayoumWadi El Rayan

    €€ Mid-rangeWhere locals go

  • Whale Valley

    Unmissable

    Skeletons of whales with legs, left in the sand exactly where they were uncovered.

    FayoumWadi El Hitan

    €€ Mid-rangeUNESCO

  • Lake Qarun

    A salt lake below sea level, all that is left of the ancients' Lake Moeris.

    FayoumLake Qarun

    € BudgetSunset

  • Sannur Cave

    Off the beaten track

    An alabaster cave at the end of a quarry track, opened by a quarry blast.

    FayoumBeni Suef

    €€ Mid-rangeBooking advised
  • Unfired clay pots drying on a workshop bench.

    The cafés of Tunis village

    Terraces above Lake Qarun, in the potters' village.

    FayoumTunis village, Lake Qarun

    € BudgetBest in the morning

  • The Magic Lake

    A lake among the dunes that changes colour with the day's light.

    FayoumWadi el-Rayan, Fayoum

    € BudgetSunset
  • A mud-brick lodge, domes and palms, at the desert's edge.

    Fayoum's eco-lodges

    Mud-brick guesthouses above the lake, two hours from Cairo.

    FayoumTunis and Lake Qarun

    €€€ High endBooking advised
  • The flight goes up at first light, before the wind picks up.

    Flying over Lake Qarun

    Desert, lake and fields seen from above, two hours from Cairo.

    FayoumLake Qarun, Fayoum

    €€€ High endBest in the morning
  • The bare stone temple standing alone at the desert's edge, its blocks still in place.

    Qasr el-Sagha

    Off the beaten track

    An unfinished temple of cyclopean blocks, alone in the desert above the lake.

    FayoumNorth of Lake Qarun

    € BudgetHistoric venue

  • The Wadi el-Hitan museum

    An eighteen-metre skeleton of a legged whale, in a museum buried in the desert.

    FayoumWadi el-Hitan, Fayoum

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue

Specialty coffee, historic ahwas, rooftops

Cafés & tea houses

  • Unfired clay pots drying on a workshop bench.

    The cafés of Tunis village

    Terraces above Lake Qarun, in the potters' village.

    FayoumTunis village, Lake Qarun

    € BudgetBest in the morning

Souks, fair-trade crafts, concept stores

Shopping

  • The pottery workshops of Tunis

    Our favourite

    Some twenty ceramic workshops in a village perched above the lake.

    FayoumTunis village, Lake Qarun

    €€ Mid-rangeHandmade

Recent openings, new concepts, addresses that have just arrived

What's new

  • A mud-brick lodge, domes and palms, at the desert's edge.

    Fayoum's eco-lodges

    Mud-brick guesthouses above the lake, two hours from Cairo.

    FayoumTunis and Lake Qarun

    €€€ High endBooking advised

  • The Wadi el-Hitan museum

    An eighteen-metre skeleton of a legged whale, in a museum buried in the desert.

    FayoumWadi el-Hitan, Fayoum

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue