Kharga Oasis

Kharga is the largest of the Western Desert oases and the administrative capital of the New Valley governorate, a long depression running north to south that carried the Darb el-Arbain caravan route from Sudan to the Nile, which is why a chain of temples and fortresses lines it. The oasis has been developed heavily since the 1960s under land reclamation schemes, so the modern town is planned and unromantic, but the sites around it are exceptional: the Persian-period temple of Hibis, the Christian cemetery of Bagawat with its painted chapels, the fortress temples of Qasr el-Ghueita and Qasr el-Zayyan, and the mud-brick fort of Qasr el-Labeka. A museum in town holds finds from across the New Valley.

What you actually see

• Hibis temple - the best preserved Persian-period temple in Egypt.
• Bagawat necropolis - a Christian cemetery of painted mud-brick chapels.
• Fortress temples - Qasr el-Ghueita and Qasr el-Zayyan on the caravan road.
• The Darb el-Arbain route - the old caravan road the oasis was built along.

When to go

October to April. Two to three days to cover the sites along the depression. Buses connect to Asyut and Dakhla and there are occasional flights. A hired car makes the scattered sites practical.

Honest expectations

The modern town is a planned settlement with little character and limited accommodation. Sites are spread over tens of kilometres. Some are locked and need a guard from the antiquities office. Travel to Kharga from the Nile valley sometimes involves escort arrangements.

Nearby

Hibis and Bagawat are just north of town; Dakhla lies west.