Wadi Al-Hitan

Why visit

Wadi Al-Hitan is a desert fossil landscape, not a city. The reason to go is whale evolution written into rock, wide Western Desert space, and a day that feels very different from Cairo or the Nile.

When to avoid

Do not visit Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley) expecting every worthwhile stop to be close together or easy to improvise. For Wadi Al-Hitan, the practical constraints are part of the itinerary: hours, transport, weather, crowds, and the distance between worthwhile areas. Expect some combination of heat, traffic, touts, overcharging, and hassle around major sites. Agree prices clearly, use reputable transport, and keep extra patience for security checks and crowded streets.

Plan Wadi Al-Hitan

Current conditions and the practical reference material that helps turn the saved places into a trip.

The next week in Wadi Al-Hitan

7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).

Today

Clear

37° / 21°

UV High

Wed

Clear

38° / 22°

UV High

Thu

Clear

37° / 23°

UV High

Fri

Clear

37° / 22°

UV High

Sat

Clear

36° / 21°

UV High

Sun

Clear

37° / 22°

UV High

Mon

Clear

38° / 27°

UV High

Climate

Summer (May-Sep)

Typical highs around 35°C, lows around 19°C. The drier end of the year.

Cold and damp season (Dec-Feb)

Typical highs around 18°C, lows around 6°C. Most of the year’s greyest, wettest weeks.

In August 4

Drag to scrub across the year.

JFMAMJJASOND

Weather

36° / 21°

Typical high / low

0 mm rainfall this month

Daylight

13.2h

06:27 – 19:41local

Holidays coming up

Public holidays from Nager.Date.

Getting around Wadi Al-Hitan

Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.

Local transit operators

Vectare

Operators and modes are aggregated from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications come from each feed’s route type codes.

About Wadi Al-Hitan

Wādī al-Ḥītān is a paleontological site in the Faiyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 kilometres (93 mi) south-west of Cairo. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005 for its hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whale, the archaeoceti. The site reveals evidence for the explanation of one of the greatest mysteries of the evolution of whales: the emergence of the whale as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal.

Egypt basics →Country context, advisories, and entry links for the practicalities shown above.

References4

The links below support the changing or licensed reference material on this page. Personal notes and ordinary geographic facts are not footnoted individually.

City background. Wikipedia summary may be clipped or paraphrased. Structured fields are cross-checked against the related references. Related: Wikidata, IANA Time Zone Database, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weather and climate