Egypt is a naturally beautiful country, located in the northeastern portion of Africa, where the continent connects with Asia. To the north, you will find the Mediterranean Sea, and to the east, the Red Sea. Mix the topography with the rich culture and history in this area, and you will want to spend an entire vacation package outside exploring.
There are more than 30 protected national parks in Egypt. These areas exist for recreation and tourism, and to preserve the flora and fauna, and the biodiversity that is native to Egypt. You can find protected spaces and parks across the country, ranging from areas near the coastlines to the desert.
Here are six of the most well-known and popular national parks and protected areas that you should consider visiting next time you are in Egypt.
Ras Mohammad National Park is the oldest protected area in Egypt, as it was the first land area to receive this status in 1983. You can visit this area on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, where you can look out over the Suez and Aqaba Gulfs. Along the shoreline, you will find internationally famous coral reefs and the animals and plants that live in this ecosystem. In fact, more than 1,500 unique marine species can be found here. Many people come here for snorkeling and diving, and it is a top tourist attraction in the area. Ras Mohammad also has mountains and valleys to explore, flatlands, and sand dunes. There is a designated camping spot you can spend a few nights in as well.
Along the coastline of the Red Sea in southern Egypt, Wadi el Gemal National Park is one of the largest wadis and is a neighbor to Ras Mohammad National Park. You can experience the sea and the land here. Although the coastline portion of the park isn’t the largest, there are over 1,650 species of fish and coral that are in the protected area. The land portion of the park is split across five islands. You can see different species of birds nesting and breeding. Wadi el Gemal also has major cultural highlights, such as prehistoric rock art and ruins from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. As a visitor, you can experience the park by off-road vehicles, camel rides, or on foot, or plan snorkeling and scuba diving in the Red Sea.
White Desert National Park is in northwest-central Egypt and is a part of the Farafra depression in the Sahara Desert, which is the second largest in Egypt. There are three oases in the park—Farafra, Ain El Maqfi, and Ain El Eadi. The park is famous for its namesake, the white sands and rock formations, as well as the Great Sand Sea. The main rock formation is known as Crystal Mountain, which is made of crystals and has a hole feature in the middle. Not everything here appears white—you will find a lot of orange sands and rock formations as well. You may also see some of the wildlife that lives in the park! There are barbary sheep, gazelle, jackal, red and fennec foxes, and sand cats.
White Desert Package
The Saint Katherine (sometimes Catherine) Protectorate encompasses the holy land and monuments and is home to the highest mountain in Egypt, Mount Catherine. There are two main attractions inside that many people come to visit. The first is Mount Sinai, which is not the tallest mountain in the protectorate but has religious significance. This is where many believe the biblical Mount Sinai is, which is where Moses received the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. At the summit, there is an operating Islamic Mosque and an old Eastern Orthodox church.
There is also Saint Catherine’s Monastery, an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the mouth of the gorge at the base of Mount Sinai. Built in the 6th century, this is still a working monastery and one of the oldest in the world. Inside is the world’s longest continuously operating library. There is a chapel here called the Chapel of the Burning Bush, which was supposed to be built on the site where Moses saw the burning bush from God; the living bush seen at the chapel is allegedly the same one from the bible.
Wadi El Rayan Protected Area is known for having two lakes and different elevations that are connected by a channel. Where the channel releases water from the upper lake into the lower lake is the only waterfall in Egypt. Many birds come to this area during their winter migration, and there are also mammals such as horned gazelle. 12,000 people live in the area and live off the land, particularly the very fertile land and the fish in the lakes. These lands are internationally known for being the spot of ancient whale fossils.
Gebel Elba is the largest and richest national park in Egypt, with Elba Mountain and the valleys and the Red Sea hills scattered throughout. It is where Egypt shares a border with Sudan. Because of how large it is, you can find many different types of ecosystems in the area, from the coast to mangroves, and mountain highlands. There are nearly a thousand animals and plant species that call the park home as well. You will find the weather here to be oddly humid due to its proximity to the Red Sea, which also means Gebel Elba gets more rainfall than you would expect compared to the rest of Egypt—about 400 millimeters a year. Ancient Egyptians would come to this area to extract oil from plants to be used in skincare and cooking. You can expect to see oil from the plants from the area to be sold in the markets in Cairo nowadays. If you want to visit this park, you will need permission and a police escort, since it is on the Egypt-Sudanese border and due to the delicate environment.
No matter where you go in Egypt, you are bound to have a good time exploring the national parks and protected areas. Spending time at any of these parks would be a highlight of your trip to Egypt!
References
This article was updated and re-written in part by Hesham El Gammal; on April 5th, 2025 + fact-checked.
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