The monastery of St Catherine has been called the oldest working Christian monastery in the world. The Burning Bush is located inside the Monastery. Mount Sinai is the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments.
Choose your days from 30 day Sinai tour
This is a multiple-day trip o the Ancient past of the South Sinai Desert, taking you to all the interesting places our beautiful desert has to offer. From beautiful canyons and wadi's to ruins of a temple of an Egyptian Goddess, and staying at the Hamada Tribe.
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With King Safari Dahab Tours, you can put your own program together! What days are you interested in? How many days would you like to go? Let us know what you like to do, and we will do the rest!
Day 1 Wadi Weshwashy and Ras Shetan, sleeping in Wadi El-Disco
We will pick you up from your hotel at 8 am to start our great adventure!
Our very first goal will be Wadi Weshwashy. This wadi is buried deep into the granite mountains of South Sinai, and about a 1.5 hr drive from Dahab. Wadi Weshwashy has three water springs that were
formed by the collection of rainwater in the folds of the mountains for centuries. Despite the magnificence and mystery of this place, it still gains little attention from tourists. A 20-minute hike up the mountain will bring us to the biggest water basin of the 3. Feel free to jump in, and take your time to take your photos.
After our visit to this magical place, our car will bring us to Ras Shetan. We will relax at the beach and have lunch here. Jump in the sea, or rent snorkeling equipment and have a look at the fish!
Then it is time to head to Wadi El-Disco, (1hrs drive). The wadi is named after its acoustic features, your voice will echo through this valley. Here, we will spend our first night under the stars.
Day 2 Coloured Canyon and Salama Canyon, sleeping in Wadi El Disco
After breakfast, we will go for a hike in the famous Coloured Canyon, It is a 2 hr drive through the Sinai Desert landscape.
The hike through the Coloured Canyon is one of the popular excursions to do from Dahab. It will take us about an hour to complete this hike. After this, we will return to Wadi El-Disco for lunch.
In the afternoon we will go for our second hike at the Salama Canyon, which is only a 5-minute walk from our camp. The hike through this canyon will take us about 40 minutes. Back at the camp in Wadi El-Disco, it’s time to relax, have dinner and spend the night.
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Day 3 Rainbow Canyon and Bir El-Berea, sleeping Wadi El-Disco
After breakfast, we will head to the Rainbow Canyon, on a 2 hrs drive. The name of this canyon is a reference to all the beautiful earth colours that decorate the sidewalls of this canyon. The hike through the Rainbow Canyon will take around 2.5 hrs. We will finish our hike at Bir El-Berea, a well with date palms. We will have lunch here before we head back to Wadi El-Disco.
Day 4 Wadi Melehis and the Closed Canyon, sleeping in Ain Hudra
After breakfast, we will set out for our first destination of today. We will go to Gebl Melehis for a 1-hr hike inside the Melehis Canyon. In the end, in Wadi Melehis, we’ll take a mini-break under the date palms that surround the natural spring water ponds to enjoy the scenery.
A small hike will bring us back to our jeep, and bring us to Wadi El-Disco for lunch. We’re going to say goodbye to our lovely hosts and drive for 1.5 hr through the beautiful landscape on our way to the Closed Canyon for another hike of 1 hr. From here, it is only a 15-minute drive to Wadi Ein Hudra, where we will spend the night.
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Day 5 White Canyon, Rocks with Inscriptions, Wadi El-Gaby, sleeping at Nawamis
After we enjoyed our breakfast in Ein Hudra, we will go for a 1-hr hike through the White Canyon. At the end of the hike, we will take the car to drive to 3 different locations where rock inscriptions are discovered.
Then we will head to Nawamis, where we can see some ancient stone tombs. Before we go to Wadi El-Gaby to check out some more rock inscriptions we will have lunch. After our visit to Wadi El-Gaby we will drive back to Nawamis for dinner and spend the night here.
Day 6 Nawamis, Gebl Makhroom, sleeping in Wadi Arada
After our breakfast in Nawamis, we will drive to Gebl Makhroom, a mountain with beautiful soft sand. It will take us only 10 minutes to go from Gebl Makhroom to the sand dune to have some fun. We will have lunch here.
After lunch, we will drive to Wadi Arada for dinner and spend the night.
Day 7 Bir Safra, sleeping in Wadi Arada
After breakfast in Wadi Arada, we will go to Bir Safra (1 hr drive), a well, made in 1998 From there we will drive for Safra Sand dune for some fun and lunch. Then we will drive back to Wadi Arada, where dinner will be served. Spend the night in Wadi Arada.
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Day 8 Wadi Arada, Double Canyon, sleeping in Wadi Arada
After breakfast, our jeep will take us for a 30-minute drive to a very special place! Some of the discovered rocks here have 2000-year inscriptions, telling us the stories of the tribes that inhabited this area a long time ago.
After lunch, we will go for a hike in de Double Canyon. In this valley, the canyons of two separate mountains flow into one. It requires some serious scrambling, but the reward is a spectacular view.
Then we drive back to the Bedouin house in Wadi Arada to have dinner and spend the night .with the Bedouin family The matriarch of the family will show us some traditional crafts, which they sell to support their family.
Day 9 Gebl El-Gouna, sleeping in El Karm
After breakfast, the car will bring us to Gebl el Gouna, Here, we can have a look at the ruins of the collapsed geothermal vents, a spectacular result of the force of nature.
After lunch, we will go to have a look at the ruins of a deserted Nabatean Village. Then we will head to Ecolodge El-Karm, where we will have dinner and spend the night.
Day 10 Wadi Slaf, sleeping in El-Karm
After breakfast, we go to Wadi Slaf. Here we can see some nawamis (grave tombs) with the remains of some human skeletons. After lunch, we will go back to El-Karm to relax, have dinner and spend the night.
Day 11 Sheikh Awad, Wadi Sahab, sleeping in El-Karm
After breakfast, we will start the day with a 1 hr hike to Sheik Awad. We will stop by the Bonze age settlement of Al Ma’inat, which dates to 3000 BCE and the ruins of a settlement dating from the Stone age. We will take a walk to have a look where the rainwater in the rainy season springs from the mountains, have lunch and then head back to the ecolodge for the rest of the day, to prepare for the next 2 hiking and camping days!
Day 12 + 13 Gebl Musa, Gebl Katreen, St. Catherine Monastery, sleep in St. Catherine camp.
We will leave the ecolodge after breakfast, to go to our next adventures! First will be a visit to Gebl Musa. This is the mountain where Moses (allegedly) talked to God and received the Ten Commands. With a guide of the National Park we will climb the mountain. Lunch on the way to the top. At the top, we will wait for the sun to set, which will give a spectacular view.
In the dark, we will descent from Mt. Moses and hike up to Gebl
Katreen, the highest mountain of Egypt, 2646 meters! This will give us an amazing vantage point to see the sunrise over the Sinai Desert Mountains. On our way back down we will stop at St. Catherine Monastery one of the oldest monasteries that are still in use. Don’t forget to check out the descendent of the Burning Bush from the Bible.
Day 14 Wadi Zaraniq, sleeping El-Karm ecolodge
After breakfast, we will continue to travel further into the magnificent Sinai Desert. Slowly but steadily, our jeep will take us through the desert, treating us to some striking views.
It will take 4 hrs before we will reach our next stop, Wadi Zaraniq. We will set out on foot to explore a cave in which a 12.000-year-old wall-painting has been discovered. Amazingly enough, the original colours are still visible. Lunch will be served in Wadi Zaraniq. Asfter lunch., the jeep will take us to
a location on a 20-minute drive, to see another artifact from the past; the so-called “War scene-story”, engraved in rocks by ancient travelers
The jeep will bring us back to eco-lodge Al Karm where dinner will be served, and we will spend our second night in the eco-lodge.
Day 15 Wadi Feiran, Wadi El-Maghara, sleeping in Wadi El-Maghara
After breakfast, we will drive to Wadi Feiran, Sinai's largest and widest wadi. According to legend, this is the site of Rephidim, where Moses struck a rock causing it to spring water, for the Hebrews to drink.
We will have lunch here, before we continue to Wadi El-Maghara, where the ancient Egyptians were mining for turquoise. This is documented in Pharaonic tableaus carved into the mountain rock. A 30-minute climb will give us a perfect view of the mining area. One of the rock walls shows a surprisingly well-preserved tableau of a husband, wife, and child holding hands. All 3 family members are pictured as being of the same height, which is unique in Faronics times.
Dinner will be served at Wadi El-Maghara, and we will also spend the night here.​
Day 16 Wadi Mukatab, Valley of Inscriptions, sleeping in Serabit
After our breakfast in Wadi Al Maghara we will head to Wadi Mukatab, (which is Arabic for "Valley of Writing"), also known as the Valley of Inscriptions. The wadi is named after its valley's many petroglyphs. Nabataean, Arabic, Coptic, and Greek inscriptions are abundant.
We will follow the same route that the pilgrims took when they traveled from Cairo and Suez to Jerusalem.
From here we will continue to Wadi Suggarat where we will see more inscriptions and have night sleep!
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lunch. It is time to head to Serabit for dinner and a good
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Day 17 Gebl Serabit, sleeping in Serabit El-Khadim
After breakfast we head towards Gebl Serabit where we will explore one of the most spectacular sites in the Sinai; the ruins of the ancient Temple of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess who was honoured as a protector in desert regions, and known locally as the Mistress of Turquoise. The temple is built almost 2000 BC. We continue along the mountain plateau and stop at an ancient cave, one of the most important places in history!
Thirty incised graffiti in a "Proto-Sinaitic script" showing the beginning of the alphabet. The area was extensively mined for turquoise in antiquity, mainly by prisoners of war from southwest Asia who presumably spoke a Northwest Semitic language, such as the Canaanite, that was ancestral to Phoenician and Hebrew. The incisions date from the beginning of the 16th century BC.
We will have our lunch on the top of Gebl Serabit. We then continue our trek through this breathtaking area and head
back to the camp at Serabit El-Khadim.
Day 18 Temple of Hathor, caves, sleeping in Serabit El-Khadim
Today, we will explore this very interesting area some more. Here we will find plenty of inscriptions, and we will visit the turquoise mines, and some interesting caves. Lunch at the top of Gebl Serabit. Also this night, we will spend at our camp in Serabit.
Day 19 Wadi Nasb and Bir Nasb, sleeping at Serabit
In the morning we will go to Wadi Lihyan, on a 1hr drive from Serabit. In 30 minutes we will climb to the top of Gebl Nasb. Here are some very interesting inscriptions, in Proto-Sinaitic, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Nabatean. A hike down at the other side of the mountain will bring us to Wadi Nasb. There is a very well-preserved pharaonic tableau, and an ancient well called Bir Nasb. After lunch, we will visit some copper mines. Copper was mostly used to make tools and weapons. In the evening we will be back at Serabit for dinner and to spend the night.
Day 20 Wadi Kharig and Gebl Hasbar
Our first visit of today will be to Wadi Kharig. This area was used for mining copper during the Bronze age. There are lots of inscriptions to find here. Some with cartouches holding the names of the pharaos that were in reign at that time, 3000-1000 BCE. Before we move to Gebl Hasbar, we will have lunch. The inscriptions at Gebl Hasbar are discovered only a couple of years ago, by a Bedouin living in that area. They are the silent reminders that tell us the stories of the thriving lives and businesses in Pharaonic times. We will have lunch here on site before we head back to Serabit for dinner and to spend the night.
Day 21 Wadi Lihyan, Wadi El-Sahu, sleeping at Umm Yasser
Today, we will drive through the scenic Wadi Lihyan to check out two nawamis (tombs). On a short hike of 2 minutes, there are more Nabatean inscriptions to see.
Our next stop will be at Wadi El-Sahu. Here, we will meet Umm Yasser and her family. Umm Yasser is the first female Bedouin guide in Sinai. Her tribe, the Hamada tribe, is one of the smallest and oldest of the Bedouin tribes. They live in this remote wadi, where you can still experience traditional Bedouin life. She and her husband are fantastic hosts! She will show us around and we will have lunch and relax a little.
In the afternoon, Umm Yasser will take us for another small hike. Then come back to have dinner and spend the night in their house.
Day 22 Umm Yasser, Wadi Abussur, sleeping at Umm Yasser
In the early morning, after breakfast, Umm Yasser will take us on a hike through the mountains near her house. She knows these mountains very well, as this is the place where she’s been herding her goats from a young age and collecting medicinal herbs and firewood for the house.
We will have lunch at Umm Yasser’s house. Her husband Abu Yasser will take us to Wadi Abussur to look at the salty stalactites dripping from the mountains and he will show us the oldest vegetation growing in the desert.
Umm Yasser will prepare dinner for us, and we will spend our second night at Umm Yasser’s family house.
Day 23 Hiking with Umm Yasser, sleeping at Umm Yasser house
Today we will hang out with Umm Yasser and her family. They will show us their daily life and some interesting things that they discovered over the years in these mountains. We will spend another night at Umm Yasser.
Day 24 Umm Bugma, sleeping in Serabit
Today, after breakfast, we drive through the scenic Wadi El-Sahu, to spend the day at Umm Bugma. This abandoned mining village is situated on top of a mountain and was built by the British in the early 20th century. It is absolutely worth a visit. Manganese was used to make glass clear and to desulphurize and deoxidize steel. Lunch will be served here. At the end of the day, we will go back to our camp at Serabit, passing through Wadi Lihyan.
Day 25 Forest of Pillars, sleeping in Serabit
After breakfast in Serabit, we will go to Gebl El-Fuga, the forest of pillars. These pillars are created by volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago. The hollow stone pillars of what once was a lava stream are left behind. We will have lunch on-site before we head back to Serabit for dinner and to spend the night.
Day 26 Wadi Omeira and Wadi Humur, sleeping at Serabit
Today we’re going to visit some very interesting sites! The inscriptions in Wadi Omeira are about 5000 years old. The Hieroglyphs that are found here tells the story of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in the time of Pharao Namer 1, around 3050 BCE. Wadi Humur was a resting point for the Nabatean travelers. They scribbled their life story into these rocks. We will have lunch here on site before we go back to Serabit to have dinner and spend the night.
Day 30 Abu Zneima, Hammam Moussa, back to Dahab
After breakfast it is time to leave the desert and all its wondrous history behind and return to Dahab. We will take the western coastal road, which is part of the pilgrims’ route in Sinai, and a proposed Exodus route.
We will see the end of the manganese mining production line, starting in Umm Bugma, which we visited earlier on. Our next stop will bring us to Abu Zneima, where we can have a look at the ruins of the Ancient Egyptian Port that was used to move the turquoise that was mined at Serabit El-Khadim.
Near El Tur, we’ll visit Hammam Moussa, considered to be the place where Moses turned bitter water into sweet water. El Tur is also the site of the early-Christian Raithu monastery, the ruins of which can still be seen on the outskirts of the town.
We head back to Dahab and bring you back to your hotel, estimated arrival time around 5 pm.
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Package includes;
All transfers, 5x breakfast, 6x times lunch, 5x dinner, camping gear, water, tea, soft drinks, guide, tickets National Park, Permissions Sinai Governate, taxes & fees
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Excluded:
Personal expenses, tips, snorkeling gear
Price $ 200 per person per day (minimum 3 persons)
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Day 27 Wadi El Gada, sleeping in Serabit
It will take us 2 hrs to go from Serabit to Wadi El Gada. Here is a small ancient settlement consisting of a few houses. Various inscriptions date back to 2000 - 3000 years ago. The area is still not studied by archeologists, so there are still lots of questions of who lived here, and when.
At the end of the day we will head back to Serabit.
Day 28 Wadi Shalala, sleeping at Serabit.
Today we’re going to explore a bit. We will visit Wadi Shalalat, where after the rainfall in the mountains, waterfalls appear. We will spend another night in Serabit.
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Day 29 Serabit El-Khadim
Drive around the village of Serabit El-Khadim to see an old abandoned building, drive to the top of mountains for a spectacular overview of the Sinai plateau. We will go back to our camp for lunch before we head out again to visit another location with Nabatean inscriptions.
This is our last night spending in the desert, in Serabit.