The 6 best national parks in Egypt

While the pyramids and toppled temples grab the headlines, there’s more to Egypt than mummies and hieroglyphs. From the kaleidoscopic coral reefs of the Red Sea to serene desert landscapes radiating out from the Nile Valley, Egypt’s natural riches dazzle. Many of the country’s most precious natural wonders are protected by a network of national parks spilling from the Red Sea and Mediterranean to the border with Sudan. 

It would be an error to limit your travels in Egypt to the green strip of land that follows the Nile. At Ras Mohammed National Park on the Red Sea coast, the arid terrain of the Sinai gives way to a rainbow-colored world beneath the waves. At Wadi Al Hitan, southwest of Cairo, the fossil skeletons of prehistoric whales dot the empty desert, while in Wadi Gimal National Park, green sea turtles drift off beaches backed by ancient emerald mines.

While reaching some of these parks can take a little planning, thankfully Egypt is an easy place to get around by public transport, or with a chartered car and driver. Here’s a guide to the best national parks in Egypt, from playgrounds for diving to rugged and remote desert escapes.

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1. Ras Mohammed National Park

Best for divers

At the southern tip of the triangular Sinai Peninsula, Ras Mohammed National Park is a paradise for underwater explorers looking to immerse themselves in a world of shipwrecks, colorful coral reefs and glittering curtains of tropical fish. The contrast between the arid scenery on land and the vibrant life below the water is striking. And some of the reefs here have been growing for millions of years. 

Established in 1983, Ras Mohammed National Park was named by local fishers after a cliff that resembles a man’s profile. (The word ras means “head” in Arabic.) The diversity of marine life found here is incredible, and diving or snorkeling at Ras Mohammed is one of the top things to do on the Red Sea coast.

The marine equivalent of an immense underwater rainforest, the Red Sea is home to more than 250 species of corals, 8% of which are found nowhere else in the world. Ras Mohammed has seven key dive sites, some of which are also great spots for snorkeling; dozens of dive operators in Sharm El Sheikh can arrange day trips by boat.

At the very tip of the peninsula, Shark & Yolanda Reef is the Red Sea’s most famous dive. First, you'll drift along a massive wall of lavender-colored coral at Shark Reef, before exploring the porcelain bathroom fittings scattered across the seabed from the wreck of the Yolanda, a Cypriot merchant ship that sank in 1980. 

Don’t overlook the other dive sites in the reserve. At Anemone City, hundreds of clown fish guard a jelly-like jungle of anemones, while Ras Ghozlani lures beginners with slow currents that waft divers over a sandy plateau studded with golden brain corals. At the southern end of Marsa Bareika Bay lies Ras Za’atar, where sunbeams stream through submarine caverns.

Over at Jackfish Alley, jackfish and glassfish swirl through underwater caverns, while blue-spotted stingrays and whitetip reef sharks gather on the sandy seabed. More reef systems lie offshore around Tiran Island, midway between the Sinai and Saudi Arabia.

How to visit Ras Mohammed National Park: The dive sites of Ras Mohammed are easily reached by boat on day trips from Sharm El Sheikh or on multiday liveaboard dive safaris from Hurghada or El Gouna. In Sharm El Sheikh, Camel Dive Club is a trusted operator, with a comfortable divers’ hotel and a highly regarded dive center that can accommodate divers with disabilities. 

2. White Desert National Park

Best for humbling desert landscapes

With its surreal snow-colored pinnacles, White Desert National Park (Sahara Al Beida) is one of the highlights of the Western Desert. Winds turned into scouring pads by suspended sand have carved the rocks here over millennia, sculpting the outcrops into hillocks, delicate spires and wacky-shaped hoodoos that sprout out from a plain littered with glittering pyrites (fool’s gold) and tiny fossils.

At sunset, the white rocks are tinged rose-pink by the dying light, and under a full moon, they loom out of the darkness, taking on a ghostly glow. It’s a setting worthy of a sci-fi movie. Overnight camping trips are the most popular way to enjoy the park’s unique mood. 

A set of low, undulating dunes, the Karawin Dunes Area provides an interesting contrast to the gravel plains surrounding the main formations. On the edge of the dunes, farmers use man-made irrigation channels to water their date plantations. 

Visitors are not permitted to sleep overnight inside the park, but local driver-guides find beautiful spots beyond the park boundaries to set up camp under a light-pollution-free canopy of stars. It’s a charming adventure and a popular overnight excursion from Cairo, 550km to the north.

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How to visit White Desert National Park: Tour companies in Cairo offer overnight camping trips to the White Desert, though this will involve lots of driving. For reliable knowledge of the local area, choose a desert tour company based close to the park. There are plenty of choices in the oasis towns of Bahariya and Farafra; Bahariya-based operators White Desert Tours and Western Desert Tours run a range of day trips and overnight tours.

3. St Katherine Protectorate

Best for hikers

To truly immerse yourself in the desert, consider a hike through the humbling landscapes of South Sinai. From the tallest mountain in Egypt to sacred summits that seem to buzz with ethereal energy, the majestic desert peaks that rise above the Bedouin-majority village of St Katherine will shift your spiritual consciousness (and give your quads a good workout, too).

Preserved as part of the St Katherine Protectorate, the mountains are crisscrossed by some of Egypt’s best hiking trails, including paths that ascend the slopes of Mt Sinai, known locally as Gebel Musa (Mt Moses). The peak is revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews, all of whom believe that this was the spot where God delivered his 10 Commandments to Moses.

The most popular way to visit is on a predawn hike to the summit, soaking in the scenery at first light, then hiking back downhill to visit St Katherine’s Monastery. The monastery is believed to mark the spot where the God of the Old Testament delivered his message to Moses, and a Rubus sanctus (holy bramble) plant said to be descended from the original “burning bush” still grows in the monastery grounds. Check locally to see if the monastery is open – visitors were unable to visit for several months in 2025 due to a land dispute between the resident monks and the Egyptian government.

Other rewarding hikes include the strenuous ascent of 2637m Gebel Katerina, Egypt’s highest peak, and the climb up 2383m Gebel Abbas Basha to the ruins of Abbas Pasha I’s unfinished palace. Gentler hikes weave through wadis (valleys) to spring-fed Bedouin gardens in the mountains. 

How to visit St Katherine Protectorate: Most visitors to St Katherine Protectorate arrive on an overnight tour from Sharm el-Sheikh, but the best way to explore the national park is to stay in the village of St Katherine. Local operator Sheikh Mousa can arrange accommodation and guided hikes. If you plan to climb Mt Sinai, the well-defined Camel Trail is the easiest route to the top, ascending gently over a series of long switchbacks. Make the trek easier by hiring a camel to reach Elijah’s Basin, where 750 steps lead to the summit.

4. Wadi Al Hitan

Best desert escape close to Cairo

About 122km southwest of Cairo, Al Fayoum is the gateway to the arid, stone-pitted plains of the Western Desert, and to UNESCO-listed Wadi Al Hitan, which sits inside the larger Wadi Rayyan Protected Area. Weekenders and day-trippers are drawn to the protected area by its waterfalls and scenic lakes – but the big attraction here is viewing the fossilized whale skeletons that lie strewn across the sandy basin of Wadi Al Hitan. 

From the entrance to the protected area near Tunis village, a 4WD track winds into Wadi Al Hitan, surrounded by low, tawny cliffs and dotted with wind-sculpted rock formations. In the heart of the wadi, a 3km walking trail crosses what used to be the bottom of the Tethys Sea, passing the skeletons of 17 primitive prehistoric whales. The fossils found here record a key stage in evolution as the land-based ancestors of modern whales made the transition to life in the sea. The bone-studded landscape could have been plucked from a fantasy novel.

Hike up to the panoramic point at the far end of the trail for views across the entire expanse of Wadi Al Hitan. Afterward, drop into the site’s Fossil & Climate Change Museum, which includes a complete, 18m-long skeleton of a 40-million-year-old Basilosaurus isis whale. 

How to visit Wadi Al Hitan: Cairo-based tour agencies offer day trips to Wadi Al Hitan, with the journey taking about 3 hours in each direction. A more relaxing way to visit is on a day trip from Al Fayoum, about 70km from Wadi Al Hitan; reach Al Fayoum from Cairo by local bus or with a chartered car and driver.

5. Wadi Gimal National Park (Wadi El Gemal)

Best for a remote desert-and-reef adventure

Covering the third-largest wadi (river valley) in Egypt, Wadi Gimal National Park on the Red Sea coast includes 4770 sq km of the Eastern Desert and a 2000 sq km area offshore. The park’s acacia-dotted plains and craggy cliffs are rimmed by an amphitheater of rust-hued mountains, spilling down to sandy beaches and coastal mangroves around the turquoise lagoon of Sharm El Luli, where day-trippers from Marsa Alam come to snorkel.

This is the traditional territory of the nomadic Ababda people, and Bedouin guides lead excursions into Wadi Gimal that focus on the flora, fauna, history and culture of this intriguing corner of the country. On the way, you can drop by the ruins of a Roman temple and Roman and Ptolemaic-era dwellings, and the mine shafts where emerald miners toiled in ancient times.

The area was once so rich in the sparkling green stones that the Romans called it Mons Smaragdus (Emerald Mountain). If you peer into the mine workings, you may spot glinting mica deposits, indicating the potential presence of emeralds and other gems from the beryl family. Keep your eyes peeled for gazelles and Nubian ibex as you explore. 

After getting out in the desert in the company of its ancestral inhabitants, drop by Marsa Alam – one of Egypt's premier marine playgrounds. Thriving coral reefs teem with fish and dugongs, and green turtles are often seen in the swirling seagrass meadows around Wadi Gimal’s offshore islands. 

How to visit Wadi Gimal National Park: About 45km north of the national park entrance, Marsa Alam is the main base for exploring Wadi Gimal. Tours can be organized through the Marsa Shagra Village diving resort, which also offers accommodation in tents and cabins on the shore close to Elphinstone Reef. For a low-cost stay, try the independently operated Rayhana Guesthouse in Marsa Alam town.

6. Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate

Best for independent travelers

Starkly beautiful Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate, which contains the famous Blue Hole diving site, covers 500 sq km of coastline between Dahab and Nuweiba on the Sinai’s Gulf of Aqaba coastline. The park mixes coastal mountains, narrow valleys, sand dunes and fine-gravel beaches with impressive diving and snorkeling sites along the rocky shoreline.

Home to 165 plant species (including 44 found nowhere else in Sinai) and a wealth of mammal and reptile species, this environmentally important area is a fascinating place to visit. Scientists describe the area as a “floristic frontier,” where Mediterranean flora has evolved to cope with a more tropical climate. 

Laid-back, low-rise Dahab was Egypt’s original backpacker resort, and it has grown into a busy hub for independent travelers who are as likely to be toting laptops as masks and snorkels. The focus for divers and snorkelers is the Blue Hole, a 130m-deep sinkhole that plunges dramatically from a rocky coastal shelf.

The sinkhole is linked to the open sea by a 26m-long tunnel that is sometimes explored by technical divers, though there have been fatalities here. Exploring the sides of the main sinkhole is a safer bet, and the marine life here is abundant. Snorkelers can enjoy the eerie sensation of swimming out over a seemingly bottomless blue chasm while exploring the sinkhole rim. 

How to visit Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate: Dahab is the main base for exploring the protectorate and its dive sites, with numerous dive operators offering dive trips and snorkeling gear rental; Nuweiba is an alternative starting point. To explore on land, local travel agencies offer camel, jeep and walking excursions, or you can hike independently from the Blue Hole, passing through Ras Abu Gallum village and El Omeyid village, where Bedouin guides and camels can be hired for trips deeper into the reserve. Popular destinations include Bir El Oghda, a now-deserted Bedouin village, and Bir Sugheir, a water source at the edge of the protectorate.

This article was adapted from Lonely Planet’s Egypt guidebook, published in December 2025.