Choose from 103 Fun Things to Do in Egypt
Hanging Church (El Muallaqa, Sitt Mariam, St Mary)
The interior of this 9th-century (some say 7th-century) church, renovated many times throughout the centuries, has three barrel-vaulted, wooden-roofed aisles. Ivory-inlaid screens hide the three haikal s (altar areas), but in front of them, raised on 13 slender pillars that represent Christ and his disciples, is a fine pulpit used only on Palm Sunday. One of the pillars, darker than the rest, is said to symbolize Judas. In the baptistry, off to the right, a panel has been cut out of the floor revealing the Water Gate below. From here there is a good view of one of the gate's twin towers.
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Pyramid of Menkaure
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Old Cairo
Old Cairo is a relatively small area but it is rich with history. Also known as Coptic Cairo, Fustat (in reference to the first Muslim city established there), and Masr al-Qadima to the locals, it has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. It has been a Roman fort protecting trade routes, a Christian city from around the 5th century AD, a Muslim army camp from 641 AD, then Egypt's capital city until yet another conquest in the 10th century.
The main interest these days is in its role as Coptic Cairo. The narrow cobbled streets contain the Religious Compound, full of churches including the Hanging Church (dedicated to the Virgin Mary and still in use), the oldest synagogue in Egypt, the remains of the Roman fortress, and the Coptic Museum. Just northeast is the site of ancient Fustat which contains the oldest mosque, Amr Ibn al-Aas. The rest of the area is interesting for the Zabaleen, people who live in a shanty town and sift through Cairo's huge amount of garbage to reuse and recycle it.
Practical Info
The easiest way to get to Old Cairo is by taxi, cheap if adventurous - the cars can be old and the driving is crazy! There is also a new metro system in Cairo. So far it is limited in area but signage is in English and the stop Mar Girgis will get you to Old Cairo.
Red Sea
The Red Sea separates Egypt and Saudi Arabia, flowing from the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Aden. In Egypt if surrounds the Sinai Peninsula and Gulf of Aqaba.
Dotted with cruise and fishing boats, this historic stretch of sea is one of the world’s most popular diving sites. The protected coral reefs, good visibility, dive wrecks and rich variety of marine life attract snorkelers and divers from around the globe.
There are a number of popular dive sites in the Red Sea, including the Abu Talha huts, the islands south of Dahab, and the Light and the Point off Sharm el Sheikh. More than 20 sites are protected within Ras Mohammed Marine Park.
Look out for white-tip reef sharks, hard and soft corals, sea turtles, eels and angel fish.
Practical Info
The best way to hit the Red Sea running is on a diving tour holiday or excursion, including liveaboard trips.
Most big resorts have a dive center, with introductory dives, certification and advanced courses. You can rent all the equipment you need.
Ras Mohammed Marine Park
World-famous coral reefs, wreck diving, fantastic snorkeling and a rich array of marine life are protected by Egypt's Ras Mohammed Marine National Park, attracting avid scuba divers from around the planet.
Plunge into the park's waters and you have the chance to spot more than 220 species of coral, over 1,000 species of fish, dozens of varieties of star fish and sea urchins, and several kinds of sea turtles.
Popular diving sites include Sha'ab Mahmoud, Beacon Rock, Jackfish Alley, Yolanda Reef, Old Quay and the wreck of the SS Thistlegorm.Practical Info
Ras Mohammed Marine Park is 12 km (7.5 miles) from the resort town of Sharm el Sheikh, off the southern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, surrounded by the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba.
Come here by organized day tour, by boat, or hire a car in Sharm el Sheikh. You’ll need to have wheels to get around the park.Old Hurghada
There’s much more to Hurghada than modern resorts and tourist facilities.
North of the resorts, you’ll find Old Hurghada, or Ad-Dahar. Most locals live in Ad-Dahar, and it’s here that you’ll find the most authentic restaurants and hotels.
The highlight of the old town is the souk, or market. It’s easy to while away several hours here, browsing the local produce and spices, and shopping for take-home souvenirs like rugs, water pipes and traditional clothing.
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Hurghada’s old town is north of the resorts in Ad-Dahar, a short taxi ride.
Nubian Village
Sandwiched between the ruins of Abu and the Mövenpick resort hotel are two colorful Nubian Villages, Siou and Koti. Strolling through their shady alleys and gardens is a wonderful way to experience life on modern Elephantines. A north-south path across the middle of Elephantine Island links the two villages and about halfway along is the Nubian Café, with a shady garden beside a traditional Nubian house.
Close to the wall separating the Mövenpick from Siou village is Nubian House, where the owner serves tea, sells Nubian handicrafts, and can arrange live music and dancing or henna 'tattoos' with local women. Western women should be respectful of local tradition and wear modest clothes.
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The villages are on Elephantine Island. Cross by local ferry from Aswan.
Pyramid of Djoser
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Memphis
The city of Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt. It was the King's residence and the political and administrative center until around 2,200 BC. It had impressive fortifications and temples, largely to Ptah, the god of creation and artworks. Estimates of population vary from 6,000 to 30,000 but either way, it was one of the larger, if not the largest, cities of its era.
Archaeological digging in the area has uncovered a Temple of Ptah and sculptures, including a sphinx (smaller than the one at Giza but still impressive), and the Colossus of Ramses II. These are now housed in the outdoor Memphis Museum in Mit Rihina, the modern town in this area. In 1979, UNESCO designated the area a World Heritage Site.
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The area where Memphis stood is located about 12 miles (20 km) south of Cairo where the Nile River divides to form its delta. The best way to get there is by organized tour or by hiring a private car and guide.
Nile River
- Be sure to pack sunscreen, mosquito repellent, and lightweight clothing, as well as modest clothing suitable for visiting temples and mosques.
- Most multi-day cruises include a choice of standard or deluxe cabins, and meals (often a buffet) are served on board.
- Many boat cruises are wheelchair accessible, but it’s best to check in advance.
Port Safaga
The busy fishing and ferry Safaga Port is frequently visited by cruise ships and snorkeling day tours.
Excursions head off to dive the port’s unpolluted waters from long stretches of beach near Tobia Arba'a reefs.
Kite and windsurfing are popular here too, and nature lovers are intrigued by the town’s black sand dunes.
Practical Info
Port Safaga is 53 kilometers (33 miles) south of Hurghada on the Red Sea coast. It is also known as Bur Safaga.
Medinet Habu (Temple of Ramses III)
Where the fertile Nile floodplain meets the desert lies the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III, known locally by its Arabic name Medinet Habu. The whole compound forms a huge rectangle, with the temple a smaller rectangle within. The ensemble is the second largest in Luxor after Karnak, and is related in both style and scale to the nearby Ramesseum.
Visitors come here mainly for the outstanding wall reliefs, enormous depictions of pharaohs, gods and battles; one section serves as an accounting system for notching up vanquished enemies. There are also highly impressive hieroglyphs on both walls and columns. Other extant structures besides the Mortuary Temple itself include the Memorial of King Horemheb and the lavishly decorated tombs of favored New Kingdom officials.
Practical Info
Medinet Habu is on the western bank of the Nile. Take a ferry from the eastern side, then a taxi. Consider combining your trip with a visit to the nearby Ramesseum.
Pyramid of Khafre
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Montazah Palace Gardens
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Fantasia 1001 at Alf Leila Wa Leila
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Khan al-Khalili
Jaundiced travelers often dismiss the Khan al-Khalili as a tourist trap; there's no ignoring the fact that it's a favored stop of tour buses and has all the associated annoyances (touts and tat) that come with them. But it's worth remembering that Cairenes have plied their trades here since the founding of the Khan in the 14th century - the buying and selling didn't begin with the arrival of the first tour group.
Today the market still plays an important role in the day-to-day commercial life of thousands of locals. In its narrow streets you can buy anything from shoes to souvenirs to clothes, chess sets, cushions, ceramics, brass, gold, silver, rugs, fabrics and on it goes.
Practical Info
The Khan al-Khalili is in the center of Cairo and the easiest way there is to grab a taxi. The most important thing to take with you are your bargaining skills. Leave a few hours to really explore.
Nubian Museum
The Nubian Museum is a showcase of the history, art and culture of Nubia and is a real treat. Established in 1997, in cooperation with Unesco, the museum is a reminder of the history and culture of the Nubians , much of which was lost when Lake Nasser flooded their land after the building of the dams. Exhibits are beautifully displayed in huge halls, where clearly written explanations take you from 4,500 BC through to the present day.
At the entrance to the main exhibition hall is a model of the Nile Valley and the main temple sites. The exhibits start with prehistoric artefacts and objects from the Kingdom of Kush and Meroe. Coptic and Islamic art displays lead to a description of the massive Unesco project to move Nubia's most important historic monuments away from the rising waters of Lake Nasser, following the building of the Aswan High Dam. Among museum highlights are 6,000-year-old painted pottery bowls and an impressive quartzite statue of a 25th-dynasty priest of Amun in Thebes with distinct Kushite (Upper Nubian) features. The stunning horse armour found in tombs from the Ballana Period (5th to 7th century BC) shows the sophistication of artisanship during this brief ascendancy.
A fascinating display traces the development of irrigation along the Nile, from the earliest attempts to control the flow of the river, right up to the building of the old Aswan Dam. A model of a Nubian house, complete with old furniture and mannequins wearing traditional silver jewellery, attempts to portray modern Nubian folk culture.
All this is housed in a well-designed modern building, loosely based on traditional Nubian architecture. In the museum garden there is a reconstructed Nubian house (which you can't enter, unfortunately) and a small 'cave' with prehistoric petroglyphs, which show giraffes and other wild animals once indigenous to the region. The site also incorporates an 11th-century Fatimid tomb, as well as a number of other tombs of sheikhs.
Practical Info
The museum entrance is about a 5-minute walk from the Egypt Air office on Corniche an-Nil. A guided visit takes about 2 hours.
Na'ama Bay
The focus of the Sharm el Sheikh resort action is Na’ama Bay, a collection of glittering seaside resorts fronting the water.
Stroll the beachfront promenade lined with restaurants and hotels, or organize a camel or horse ride to the desert Bedouin villages.
Na’ama Bay’s clubs party hard from midnight to dawn, and cafes overlooking the water are an atmospheric setting to try a sheesha water pipe.
Of course, Na’ama Bay’s other raison d’être is as a jumping-off point to hit that crystal-clear water, filled with fluttering fish, lying offshore in Ras Mohamed National Park.
Practical Info
Na’ama Bay joins with Sharm el Maya Bay to form the resort of Sharm el Sheikh. The bay is around 6 kilometers (4 miles) east of Sharm el Maya Bay.
Ramses II Statue
Ramses II was a the longest serving pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, reigning from 1279 BC to 1213 BC, a total of 66 years and 2 months. This made him a very powerful and significant man in history and it's not surprising he left behind so many huge statues of himself. One of these is the freestanding red granite statue reaching 36 ft (11 m) in height discovered by Giovanni Battista Caviglia in 1820 in Memphis, the ruined ancient capital city. It was broken into 6 pieces but in 1955 Egyptian President Nasser had it restored and installed in Cairo at Ramses Square. Pollution took its toll on the 3,200 year old sculpture however and in 2006 it was moved to Giza where it will be installed in the new Grand Egyptian Museum when that opens in 2013.
Other statues of Ramses II are found at Abu Simbel and Luxor. The British Museum also has one which was found at Thebes.
Practical Info
The plateau of Giza is the site of the pyramids and the future location of the Grand Egyptian Museum. Until then the statue of Ramses II is undergoing restoration. Giza is best reached by tour bus or taxi.
Ramesseum (Mortuary Temple of Ramses II)
While not as well preserved as nearby Medinet Habu, this mortuary temple dedicated to Ramses II, dating to 1258 BC, still has more than enough to interest the visitor. In the inner sanctuary, for example, the majority of the columns in the hypostyle hall are still standing, as are a number of osirid statues standing sentinel at the entrance, albeit mostly without heads.
As is typical with such structures, giant wall reliefs trumpet the pharaoh’s military accomplishments and proclaim his immortality. But also on view are parts of the fallen Colossus of Ramses, which in Shelley’s poem Ozymandias (“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”) became a powerful warning against hubris.
Practical Info
The Ramesseum is on the western bank of the Nile, and is best visited in conjunction with the nearby Medinet Habu.