Siwa is an oasis town deep in the Western Desert of Egypt, close to the Libyan border and about 560 km from Cairo. It is one of Egypt's most remote and distinctive destinations — a place where Berber culture persists, locals speak Siwi rather than Arabic, and the pace of life has little in common with the Nile Valley.
The oasis sits in a depression surrounded by sand, fed by hundreds of freshwater springs. The old town, Shali, is a crumbling mud-brick fortress perched on a hill, slowly dissolving after a rare rainstorm in 1926. Below it, palm groves and olive orchards stretch across the oasis floor. The Temple of the Oracle, where Alexander the Great is said to have been proclaimed a god, stands at the edge of town.
Cleopatra's Spring is a popular swimming spot — a clear pool surrounded by palms. Beyond the town, the Great Sand Sea offers some of Egypt's best desert scenery, and local guides run trips by 4WD into the dunes.