Activities

Diving

The Red Sea coast and the Gulf of Aqaba are deservedly popular among divers, owing to their rich marine life and shipwrecks. A large variety of coral, tiny florescent fish, giant turtles, and Napoleon wrasse and nurse sharks are just some of the species inhabiting the area. The main dive centers are on the Sinai Peninsular at Sharm el-Sheikh and Ras Muhammad, a national park since 1983. Equipment may be hired and training is available for all levels of ability. Near Sharm el-Sheikh, there is a famous World War II wreck, the SS Thistlegorm and the nearby Straits of Tiran host spectacular offshore reefs, as well as two more wrecks. Live-aboard packages are available from some operators. Conditions vary according to the time of year: in February and March, the extra plankton in the water attracts manta rays and in November and December, the visibility is particularly good. A twice-weekly tour for E£5 can be taken to four islands in the Red Sea, namely Abou Kizan, The Emerald, The Rocky Island and The Two Brothers. For further information, see the Resorts & Excursions section or contact the Egyptian State Tourist Office (see Contact Addresses section.

Note

The Red Sea coral reefs are all protected by law and persons removing ‘souvenirs’ will incur heavy fines.

Nile Cruises

There are numerous cruise steamers on the Nile, the majority of which provide a very high standard of service. Vessels usually carry between 50 and 100 passengers, with the facilities varying according to the size of the individual vessel. Contacting a specialist operator is recommended for choosing a Nile cruise. Normally visitors can only book the complete package through a tour operator. Traditional feluccas may also be chartered. For further information, see Nile Cruises in the Resorts & Excursions section or contact the Egyptian State Tourist Office (see Contact Addresses Section)

Other

Tennis, croquet and horse riding clubs are found in both Alexandria and Cairo. For details, ask at the hotel. There is a public golf club at the foot of the Giza pyramids and there is a Gary Player course at Soma Bay on the Red Sea. Most courses either adjoin or are part of hotels; for instance, the Mena House, which is 15 minutes from Cairo. Other courses include the Alexandria Sporting Club (30 minutes from Alexandria); Jolie Ville (five minutes from Sharm el-Sheikh); Royal Valley Golf Course (25 minutes from Luxor); The Steigenberger Golf Club (30 minutes from Hurghada). The Egyptian State Tourist Office can provide further information (see Contact Addresses section). State Tourist Office (see Contact Addresses section).

Top Things To Do

• Try your skills at bargaining at Cairo's famous Khan-el Khalili, one of the world’s largest bazaars, pulsing with commerce and crammed with spices, coppersmiths, perfume and trinkets. Here, Fishawi’s tea house has been in business for over 200 years, and is still a great people-watching venue. For an even more exotic touch, go to the Camel Market (Souq al-Gemaal), held every morning at Birqash, around 35km (21 miles) from Cairo, and located on the edge of the Western Desert. Hundreds of camels are sold daily, most having been brought from Sudan. A livestock market is held every Tuesday morning at El-Hebel, a village 4km (2.4 miles) from Luxor.
   

• Escape the city in Egypt’s six oases. All have accommodation and can be accessed by public transport. The largest and most developed oasis is Kharga, with a Berber community, temples and museums. Dakhla Oasis has hot springs, and camel rides over the sand dunes. The nearby village of Bashandi sells handicrafts made by local girls. The smallest is Farafra, an ancient fort town; Bahariya is made up of several small villages, famed for its olives and dates. Al-Faiyum Oasis is 100km (60 miles) southwest of Cairo, and the area contains small pyramids, the old city of Karanis, and temples. Siwa is the furthest west and remote, but the most picturesque and idyllic. The community is traditional and Berber-speaking.
   

• Go on a Nile cruise, usually between Luxor and Aswan, and generally lasting around five days. Also see Top Things To See. Along the Nile, felucca owners tout for custom; from Luxor, it is possible to hire one for a brief sunset cruise to Banana Island, or even to organise a trip upriver to Aswan. Hot-air balloon trips are also available, offering the best views of Luxor.
   

• Alexandria, 'The Pearl of the Mediterranean', still attracts wealthy Cairenes as a summer retreat. Swimming and diving are popular, although beaches tend to be overcrowded in summer. Ma’amoura is a more liberal and Westernized beach, and further out of the city Agami and Hannoville are cleaner and less crowded. Diving is possible on Montazah beach. Further west from El Alamein is the coastal resort of Mersa Matruh.
   

• The Red Sea Coast sits strategically between Africa and Asia, rich in mineral wealth and revered as the place of miracles and prophets in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. God is said to have appeared to Moses here, and delivered the Israelites from the Egyptian army by parting the Red Sea. These days, the region is revered for its spectacular diving resorts, beaches, stunning coastline and vast deserts. This area has some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world, and has a more liberal atmosphere than the rest of Egypt. The coastline attracts tourists ranging from top-class package holidaymakers, to backpackers in campsites: Sharm el-Sheikh is a large resort, and is best for diving. Ne’ama Bay is much better developed and up-market, with private beaches. A few kilometers north is Shark Bay, a quieter resort camp. The beaches at Dahab are spectacularly framed by jagged mountains. Holiday villages within a Bedouin settlement are close by. Nuweiba is a port city, with a plethora of resort hotels. Local Bedouins offer jeep safaris into the interior. Between here and Taba, there are many small, quiet resorts that are under threat of being overshadowed by a huge new tourist development, Taba Heights. On the west of the Red Sea Coast, the biggest diving resort is Hurghada, once a fishing village and now a major commercial tourist centre. Ras Muhammed is the southernmost point on the peninsula, fringed with lagoons and reefs, and is now a National Park.
   

• Little is accessible in Sinai’s interior, a barren area with rocks and sands, and the best way to explore this is by treks or safari by camel or jeep. One of the highlights is St Catherine’s Monastery, now home to Greek Orthodox monks. It has been a place of pilgrimage since the 4th century. Within the monastery is the ‘burning bush’ from which God is said to have appeared to speak to Moses. Mount Sinai, revered as the site of God’s revelation of the Ten Commandments, is a craggy and sheer-faced mount of grey and red, dramatic and steep. Care should be taken when ascending.

Top Things To See

• In Islamic (Medieval) Cairo, wander around narrow congested streets filled with donkey carts, spice traders and imposing mosques. A central landmark is Midan Hussein, a large open square with tea houses around the perimeter, and dominated by the sacred Mosque of Sayyidna Al-Hussein. The Al-Azhar Mosque contains the oldest university in the world (AD 970). The pre-Ottoman Madrassa and Mausoleum of Al-Ghouri, has Sufi dancing, and opposite is Wakala of Al-Ghouri, an attractively preserved cultural centre. Exhibits in the Museum of Islamic Art bring Islamic Cairo to life, with arts, ceramics, mosaics and calligraphy. The Citadel was home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years; an imposing medieval fortress offering sweeping views of the city. Within is the Midan Salah al-Din with the unmissable Sultan Hassan and Rifai Mosques. The Mohammad Ali Mosque has classic Ottoman minarets and interior. Other attractions within the Citadel include the Military National Museum, Al-Gawhara Palace and Museum and the National Police Museum. City of the Dead (Northern Cemetery) is a Mamluk necropolis with hundreds of thousands of tombs dating from the 12th century. In Sharia Talat Harb street and Midan Tahrir (Liberation Square) spend time at one of the country’s greatest attractions; the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities housing over 130,000 exhibits, including Pharaonic and Byzantine art and sculpture, the Mummy Room and the celebrated Tutankhamun exhibition. In the south of Cairo, home to the Coptic Orthodox Christians, visit the Coptic Museum which has the world’s greatest collection of Coptic art. The Hanging Church, Monastery of St George and the churches of St Sergius and St Barbara are all in the same area. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is one of the oldest in Egypt, and represents what remains of the Jewish community.
   

• The small island of Gezira is a modern upmarket area with the Opera House (a US$30 million arts complex) containing the Museum of Modern Art, and the Cairo Tower with great city views.
   

• Cairo is most famous for the Great Pyramids, Egypt’s most visited monuments. Of the three main pyramids (Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus), the largest is 137m (449ft) high and contains some three million blocks of stone. Exploring the interiors is possible via labyrinthine tunnels and staircases.
   

• Adjacent is the bewitching Sphinx, as named by the ancient Greeks, with the head of a woman and body of a lion. In the evening there are son et lumière performances - extravagant sound and light shows telling the story of ancient Egypt. Camels, horses and donkeys can be hired to explore the site.
   

• See the remains of the Old Kingdom’s capital Memphis; at Saqqara the necropolis and the Step Pyramid - the latter is older than those at Giza, with well-preserved wall reliefs and royal tombs. Dahshur has only been open to foreigners since 1996, and is famous for its Bent Pyramid and a huge field of royal tombs.
   

• In Luxor, once the ancient city of Thebes, the highlight is the Karnak Temple, covering an immense 100 acres (40.5 hectares). The whole site has colossal statues, reliefs, obelisks and halls and the Avenue of the Sphinxes. There are nightly son et lumière shows. Along the riverbank, Luxor Temple is guarded by a huge statue of Ramses II. A pleasant walk north along the corniche brings you to the Luxor Museum where a small, interesting collection of relics from the Theban Temples and Necropolis can be viewed. The Mummification Museum has exhibits of human, reptile and bird mummies, as well as explanations of how they are made.
   

• On the West Bank of the Nile is the vast Theban Necropolis, containing some of the world’s finest tombs: the Valley of the Kings; Valley of the Queens; and Tombs of the Nobles. Highlights include the Tomb of Tutankhamun; Ramses II; and the Tomb of Nefertari, reputed to be the country’s finest.
   

• A beautiful winter resort, relaxing Aswan is the gateway to Africa, and steeped in Nubian culture. The corniche provides attractive riverside walks, and a stop-off for many cruise ships. In the evenings, floating restaurants provide a lively gathering place, and a folkloric dance troupe performs nightly during winter months at the Cultural Centre. The Old Cataract Hotel is famous as the location of the film Death on the Nile.
   

• Elephantine Island is easily accessible by river taxi from Aswan. Formerly Egypt’s frontier town, recent excavations of this ancient site have revealed temples and a fortress. Aswan Museum contains exhibits found in Nubia and Aswan.
   

• Head south to the tiny Island of Plants, presented to Lord Horatio Kitchener in the 1890s in recognition of his military services. Importing exotic flowers and plants from India and Malaysia, he created a beautiful botanical garden, attracting a wide variety of birds.
   

• On the West Bank of the Nile lies the Monastery of St Simeon, which resembles a fortress. Nearby is the domed granite and sandstone Mausoleum of Aga Khan.
   

• Be impressed by the sheer size of the Aswan Dam, built by the British at the beginning of the century. It is 11,811ft- (364m-) high and provides electricity and irrigation for the whole of Egypt.
   

• Also near Aswan is the Temple of Philae, on the Island of Philae. The Temple is one of Egypt’s most famous attractions, and after being under threat from flooding from the High Dam, UNESCO moved it stone by stone to a higher point on the island.
   

• Do not miss Abu Simbel, the magnificent Sun Temple of Ramses II, also rescued from flooding by UNESCO. Ramses had four gigantic statues of himself built in order to intimidate travellers entering Egypt from Africa, especially the Nubians.
   

• Kom Ombo ('The city of gold'), 30km (18 miles) north of Aswan, is a largely Nubian settlement, known for its Temple of Haroreis and Sobek.
   

• Edfu is famed for the largest and best preserved Pharaonic Temple in Egypt, the Temple of Horus. It is a favored start/end point for felucca trips to and from Luxor.
   

• In Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, see relics from the third century BC in the Greco-Roman Museum. See also the Roman Amphitheatre. Fort Qait Bey is a 15th-century fort built on the foundations of the long-gone Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The modern Mosque of Abu al-Abbas Mursi dominates the main square on Sharia Tatwig, and other places of interest include the Museum of Fine Arts and Montazah Palace with attractive gardens, often the summer venue of theatre performances.
   

• The ancient city of Rosetta, 65km (39 miles) away from Alexandria, is famed for being where the Rosetta Stone was discovered (now housed in the British Museum) and has attractive Ottoman, ‘Delta Style’ architecture.
   

• El Alamein is a small coastal village 100km (60 miles) west of Alexandria and an easy day trip. Famous as the scene of a decisive Allied victory, which determined the fate of Egypt and Britain’s Empire, there is a War Museum, Cemetery and Memorial to the soldiers who died in battle.
   

• A great example of modern engineering, the Suez Canal links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. Completed in 1869, it has repeatedly been the cause of dispute, most recently when blocked during the 1967 war with Israel. Port Said is the main city. Anyone travelling to Sinai by road would cross the Suez on a small shuttle boat, or under the tunnel.