The Path Beyond Egypt
In a little over three hours the Moon’s shadow crosses an ocean, two seas, three continents and a long string of countries — from the empty Atlantic to a sunset over the Indian Ocean. Egypt gets the best of it, and here is exactly why.
Almost everything written about the eclipse of 2 August 2027 is written about Egypt, and with good reason: the greatest duration on Earth falls in Middle Egypt, at 6 minutes 23.2 seconds, with the Sun more than 80° above the horizon and a climate that barely knows what a cloud is. Nothing else on the track beats it.
But the shadow does not begin or end there. It touches down in the open Atlantic, sweeps into Europe at the southern tip of Spain, crosses the Strait of Gibraltar into Africa, and then runs the entire length of North Africa before reaching the Nile. After Egypt it crosses the Red Sea into Arabia, clips Yemen, crosses the Gulf of Aden into Somalia, and lifts off the Earth over the Indian Ocean at local sunset.
Between those two points the eclipse passes over Roman amphitheatres, Greek colonies, Saharan olive groves, coral-stone merchant houses and one of the oldest cities in western Europe. This page follows it the whole way.
The whole path at a glance
The gold band is the track of totality. Click anywhere on it to get exact circumstances for that spot.
Following the shadow, country by country
1. The Atlantic Ocean
The umbra first touches the Earth over open water in the North Atlantic and races east and south-east, crossing hundreds of kilometres of ocean before it meets anybody. Duration is already substantial out here, but the Sun is low and there is nothing to stand on. The first people to see it will be at sea.
2. Southern Spain
Europe’s only share of this eclipse, and a generous one. The path comes ashore across Andalusia, covering Cadiz province, the Costa de la Luz, the Strait and the Malaga coast. Tarifa — the southernmost point of continental Europe — gets 4m 39s at 10:45:05 local time (UTC+2), with the Sun 38° up and almost due east.
Spain is having a remarkable run: a total eclipse over the north on 12 August 2026, this one over the south on 2 August 2027, and an annular on 26 January 2028. Of the two totals, 2027 is by far the better spectacle — 2026 offers at best 1m 48s with the Sun between 2° and 12° above the horizon.
3. Gibraltar and the Strait
The Strait is 14 km wide at its narrowest, and the umbra crosses it effectively instantaneously. Mid-eclipse at Tarifa is 21 seconds after mid-eclipse at Tangier — two continents, two countries, two time zones, one shadow, one moment. Gibraltar itself lies inside the path.
4. Northern Morocco
Africa’s first sight of the eclipse. Tangier gets 4m 51s at 09:44:38 local time (UTC+1) — twelve seconds more than Spain, because northern Morocco sits closer to the central line. The path continues across the Rif and the northern plains. From Cap Spartel, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, it is possible to watch the shadow come in off the ocean.
5. Northern Algeria
The longest overland stretch before Egypt, and the least documented. The path crosses the Mediterranean coastal strip, the Tell Atlas and the high plateaux, with duration and solar altitude both climbing steadily as the shadow moves east. Anyone considering Algeria should check exact coordinates on the map, since the difference between the central line and the edge of the path is several minutes of totality.
6. Tunisia
Where the eclipse becomes properly impressive. Sfax, the country’s second city, gets 5m 40s at 10:08:45 local time (UTC+1), with the Sun 56° up. The flat, low Kerkennah Islands offshore offer an unbroken 360° horizon, and the great Roman amphitheatre at El Jem lies not far to the north. Skies in the Tunisian Sahel in August are hot, dry and dependable.
7. Libya
The first place on the track to break six minutes. Benghazi gets 6m 09s at 11:27:51 local time (UTC+2), with the Sun 68° high, and the path runs across Cyrenaica — the Jebel Akhdar, and the Greek cities of Cyrene and Apollonia. It is astronomically superb and practically difficult: travel to Libya carries significant constraints and anyone considering it must consult their own government’s current advice.
8. Egypt
The main event, and the subject of the rest of this site. The path crosses the Western Desert, the Nile valley and the Red Sea coast, roughly 258 km wide. Greatest duration — 6m 23.2s — falls at 26.9°N, 31.1°E, near Sohag. Greatest eclipse, the instant the shadow’s axis passes closest to the Earth’s centre, occurs at 10:06:38 UTC at 25.5°N, 33.2°E in the Eastern Desert. Luxor takes 6m 20s with the Sun 82° overhead.
9. The Red Sea
The umbra leaves the Egyptian coast near Berenice, where totality begins at 13:10:44, and crosses roughly 400 km of open water. Anybody on a ship out there gets a total eclipse with a perfect horizon in every direction and nothing whatsoever in the way.
10. Saudi Arabia
Landfall in the Hejaz. Jeddah gets 5m 59s at 13:22:20 local time (UTC+3, the same clock as Egypt), with the Sun 76° up. Mecca lies about 66 km inland and is restricted to Muslim visitors. The path then runs on south-east across the Arabian interior.
11. Yemen
The shadow crosses southern Arabia and passes over Yemen with the Sun still high and duration still well over five minutes on the central line. Travel there carries serious constraints; consult your own government’s current advice.
12. Somalia and the Gulf of Aden
Africa a second time. The umbra crosses the Gulf of Aden and runs over northern Somalia, by now with the Sun dropping towards the west and duration shortening as the shadow’s geometry decays. The same caution about travel advice applies.
13. The Indian Ocean
The shadow leaves the coast, races out over open water, and lifts off the Earth’s surface at local sunset. From first contact with the planet to last, the whole traverse takes a little over three hours.
The international locations compared
All figures computed from NASA/GSFC Besselian elements. Note the different time zones — the local clock jumps around, but the shadow does not.
| Place | Country | Totality begins | Duration | Sun’s altitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarifa & Cadiz | Spain (UTC+2) | 10:45:05 | 4m 39s | 38° |
| Tangier | Morocco (UTC+1) | 09:44:38 | 4m 51s | 38° |
| Sfax | Tunisia (UTC+1) | 10:08:45 | 5m 40s | 56° |
| Benghazi | Libya (UTC+2) | 11:27:51 | 6m 09s | 68° |
| Jeddah & Mecca | Saudi Arabia (UTC+3) | 13:22:20 | 5m 59s | 76° |
| Luxor | Egypt (UTC+3) | 13:02:03 | 6m 20s | 82° |
Because five different countries with three different UTC offsets are involved, local clock times are a poor guide to the actual order of events. In UTC, totality begins at 08:44:38 in Tangier, 08:45:05 in Tarifa, 09:08:45 in Sfax, 09:27:51 in Benghazi, 10:02:03 in Luxor and 10:22:20 in Jeddah — and greatest eclipse falls at 10:06:38 UTC over Egypt’s Eastern Desert, almost exactly in the middle.
Why Egypt gets the best of it
Three things determine how good a total solar eclipse is from any given place: how long totality lasts, how high the Sun is, and whether you can see the sky at all. Egypt wins all three, and it is not close.
1. Duration — the longest on land for 123 years
Greatest duration for this eclipse is 6 minutes 23.2 seconds, at 26.9°N, 31.1°E near Sohag. The reason it lands in Egypt is geometrical: the Moon is near perigee, the Earth near aphelion, and the shadow’s track passes closest to the Earth’s centre here, so the umbra is at its widest and the ground beneath it is rotating fastest in the direction of travel. The eclipse magnitude at greatest eclipse is 1.0790 and gamma is 0.1421; this is member 38 of the 71 eclipses in Saros series 136.
For context: the 2024 North American eclipse peaked at 4m 28s. The 2026 eclipse over Spain manages 1m 48s. And the next eclipse to beat 2027’s duration on land does not arrive until 2114. Nobody reading this page will get a longer one.
2. Solar altitude — effectively overhead
In Luxor the Sun is 82° above the horizon at mid-eclipse; at Abu Simbel it reaches 85°. In Tarifa and Tangier it is 38°. That difference is not academic. At 38° you must find a site with a clear eastern horizon, and a ridge, a hotel block or a bank of coastal cloud can end your eclipse. At 82° nothing on the ground can obstruct anything — you can watch from a temple forecourt, a hotel roof, a felucca or a patch of desert, and it makes no difference at all.
A high Sun also means the corona hangs directly above you rather than sitting in the murk near the horizon, which is where atmospheric extinction eats the fainter outer streamers.
3. Climate — the driest sky on the track
Upper Egypt in August is one of the least cloudy places on Earth. Long-term August statistics for the Luxor–Aswan corridor sit in the region of 90–95% clear, and rain is close to a non-event. Compare that with the Strait of Gibraltar, where a summer levante can lay low cloud and sea fog right along the coast on a mid-morning eclipse; or the Red Sea coast of Arabia, where humidity haze and afternoon convection over the escarpment are real considerations for a 13:25 eclipse.
Egypt’s risk is not cloud but dust. A sand haze can mute the corona. It is an uncommon problem in August, but it is the one to watch. See our weather and cloud prospects page for the full comparison.
4. And the timing
A fourth, quieter advantage: the eclipse falls in the middle of the Egyptian day, around 13:00, so it is not competing with morning cloud that has not yet burned off, nor with afternoon convection that has already built. It is also long enough — over six minutes — that you can look with your eyes, then binoculars, then take a photograph, then put everything down and simply stand there for the last thirty seconds. On a two-minute eclipse you have to choose.
The international guides
Full pages for every location on the track outside Egypt — times, conditions, sites and honest assessments.
Tarifa & Cadiz
Where the umbra first touches Europe, on the southern tip of Spain.
Full guide → Total — 4m 51s Beyond EgyptTangier
Morocco’s northern coast gets nearly five minutes of totality.
Full guide → Total — 5m 40s Beyond EgyptSfax
Tunisia’s second city sits squarely on the path.
Full guide → Total — 6m 09s Beyond EgyptBenghazi
Over six minutes of totality on the Libyan coast.
Full guide → Total — 5m 59s Beyond EgyptJeddah & Mecca
The umbra crosses the Red Sea into the Hejaz for six more minutes.
Full guide →Choosing where to go
If you want the best possible eclipse: go to Egypt. Luxor, Sohag, Qena or Bahariya give you over six minutes with the Sun near the zenith under the most dependable sky on the track. There is no argument against this on the astronomy.
If cost and distance decide it: southern Spain or northern Morocco are a short flight from most of Europe, and 4m 39s or 4m 51s is a magnificent total eclipse by any historical standard — longer than anything North America saw in 2024. Accept that you must choose your site with care because of the low Sun, and be prepared to move on the morning if cloud threatens the Strait.
If you want the sweet spot: Tunisia is the quiet answer. Five minutes forty at 56°, a very reliable August sky, short flights from Europe, and a fraction of the crowds that Egypt will draw.
If the archaeology is the point: Cyrenaica in Libya offers six minutes of totality over Greek cities that hardly anyone has seen — subject to genuine and serious practical constraints, and to your own government’s current travel advice.
If you are already in the Gulf: Jeddah gives you 5m 59s with a major international airport attached, one second short of six minutes.
Wherever you go, be inside the path
The single mistake that matters is watching from just outside. A 99% partial eclipse is not 99% of a total eclipse — it is a different event with no corona, no diamond ring and no darkness. Aswan misses totality by 15 km and sees none of it. Put the exact spot where you intend to stand into the map, and check that it falls inside the gold band.