Ghost City Safaga — Jeep 4×4 to the Abandoned Mining Town
$43From $34 USD / person-20% Summer5 hoursIncludes 1h 30m at this sight
Eastern Desert · Safaga
Ghost City — Umm El Howeitat
Typical visit: 1 h 30 m
An abandoned phosphate-mining settlement in the Eastern Desert near Safaga, left empty and slowly taken back by the sand.
About
Rows of roofless housing blocks, a workshop hall and the remains of the loading infrastructure stand where a mining community once lived. A low ridge above the site — the panorama point — gives the view that explains the place: the town laid out below, the desert on one side and the Red Sea on the other. It is reached by 4×4 from Hurghada or Safaga; there is no shade, no water and no facilities on site.
History & background
Umm El Howeitat was built around phosphate extraction along Egypt's Red Sea coast, a industry that shaped several settlements between Safaga and Quseir. When work moved on, the town was left standing rather than demolished, which is why the street grid and buildings are still legible today.
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Recommended 1h 30m here — you can shorten it in the planner.
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From Hurghada: Ghost City Safaga — Jeep 4×4 to the Abandoned Mining Town