Bahariya Oasis is surrounded by black hills made up of ferruginous quartzite and dolorite. Most of the villages and cultivated land can be viewed from the top of the 50-meter-high Jebel al-Mi'ysrah. Wildlife is plentiful, especially birds such as wheatears; crops (which only cover a small percentage of the total area) include dates, olives, apricots, rice and corn.

Farafra, known as Ta-iht or the Land of the Cow in pharaonic times, is a single village. The most isolated of the New Valley Oases it is renowned for its strong traditions and piety. The oldest part of the village, is next to peaceful walled palm groves; a short ride away there are hot sulphur springs at Bir Setta and swimming at El-Mufid Lake.

Dakhla is the farthest oasis out of Cairo and is considered one of Egypt's most beautiful oases. Dakhla sits in a depression surrounded by pink cliffs. There are about 30,000 acres of cultivated land. The oasis is connected to Kharga by a 120 mile (200 km) road that has buses running daily.

Kharga, the biggest New Valley oasis and its modern city houses 60,000 people. Outside the main center is the Temple of Hibis, built on the site of an 18th dynasty settlement of Saites, Persians and Ptolemies One of the few Persian monuments in Egypt, the 6th century BC temple is well-preserved with painted vultures and huge reliefs of Darius greeting Egyptian gods on the outer walls. Pharaonic monuments include the al-Hhuwaytah Temple which dates from 522 BC and the Temple of Amenebis.