Red Sea Coast
This small fortress was built in 1571 to provide Ottoman troops with control to the port and therefore passage to Mecca. Modified several times by the…
Must-see attractions in Egypt
Sharm El Sheikh
The Dunraven sank in 1876 on its way from Bombay to Newcastle. Today the wreck, found at the southeast tip of Sha’ab Mahmud, is encrusted in coral and…
Hurghada
A mind-boggling abundance of marine life is on display here, 5km south of the Giftun Islands, making Gota Abu Ramada a popular spot for underwater…
Hurghada
Hurghada's marina is a pleasant, car-free place to stroll, especially in the evening. When you get tired of staring out to sea or dreaming about owning…
Alexandria
Miami Beach (pronounced me-ami) has a sheltered cove with a water slide and jungle gym set up in the sea for kids to frolic on, but note that these get…
Luxor
Largely built by the New Kingdom pharaohs Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BC) and Ramses II (1279–1213 BC), this temple is a strikingly graceful monument in the…
Luxor
At Deir Al Bahri, the eyes first focus on the dramatic rugged limestone cliffs that rise nearly 300m above the desert plain, only to realise that at the…
Aswan
The high cliffs opposite Aswan, just north of Kitchener’s Island, are honeycombed with the tombs of the governors, the Keepers of the Gate of the South,…
Luxor
The story of the celebrated discovery of the famous tomb and all the fabulous treasures it contained far outshines the reality of the small tomb of a…
Aswan
Elephantine Island's southern end comprises the site of ancient Abu. Its name meant both 'elephant' and 'ivory' in ancient Egyptian, a reminder of the…
Alexandria
Discovered accidentally in 1900 when a donkey disappeared through the ground, these catacombs make up the largest-known Roman burial site in Egypt and one…
Luxor
The two faceless Colossi of Memnon, originally representing Pharaoh Amenhotep III, rising majestically about 18m from the plain, are the first monuments…
Giza
The oldest pyramid in Giza and the largest in Egypt, Khufu’s Great Pyramid stood 146m high when it was completed around 2570 BC. After 46 windy centuries,…
Luxor
Ramses II called his massive memorial ‘the Temple of Millions of Years of User-Maat-Ra’; classical visitors called it the tomb of Ozymandias; and Jean…
Luxor
One of the most popular tombs in the valley, KV 11 is also one of the most interesting and best preserved. Originally started by Sethnakht (1186–1184 BC),…
Carter’s House & the Replica Tomb of Tutankhamun
Luxor
The domed mud-brick house where Howard Carter lived during his search for Tutankhamun’s tomb is surrounded by a garden on what is otherwise a barren slope…
Cairo
Completed in 1013, the vast and starkly plain Mosque of Al Hakim built into the northern walls, is one of Cairo’s older mosques, but it was rarely used…
Cairo
Sprawling over a limestone spur on the city's eastern edge, the Citadel, started by Saladin in 1176 as a fortification against the Crusaders, was home to…
Cairo
The Northern Cemetery is the more interesting half of a vast necropolis known popularly as the City of the Dead. The titillating name refers to the fact…
Luxor
This site takes its name from a Ptolemaic temple, later converted to a Coptic monastery – the Monastery of the Town – but the real attraction is the…
Giza
Known in Arabic as Abu Al Hol (Father of Terror), this sculpture of a man with the haunches of a lion was dubbed the Sphinx by the ancient Greeks because…
Luxor
Seti I, who built the superbly decorated temple at Abydos, his beautiful tomb in the Valley of the Kings and Karnak’s magnificent hypostyle hall, died…
Luxor
Nefertari's tomb is hailed as one of the finest in the Theban necropolis – and all of Egypt for that matter. Nefertari was one of five wives of Ramses II,…
Aswan
The fortress-like 7th-century Monastery of St Simeon was first dedicated to the local saint Anba Hedra, who renounced the world on his wedding day. It was…
Giza
Khafre, the second pyramid, seems larger than that of Khafre's father, Khufu. At just 136m high, it’s not, but it stands on higher ground and its peak is…
Cairo
Midan Tahrir (Liberation Sq) gained world renown in early 2011, when millions of Egyptians converged here to oust then-president Hosni Mubarak. On a…
Pompey’s Pillar & the Temple of Serapeum
Alexandria
A massive 30m column looms over the debris of the glorious ancient settlement of Rhakotis, the original township from which Alexandria grew. Known as…
Cairo
Unless you're into armaments (or over-the-top golden objects gifted to various Egyptian presidents), Abdeen Palace can easily be missed. Today the once…
Giza
At 62m (originally 66.5m), this pyramid is the smallest of the trio, only about one-tenth the bulk of the Great Pyramid. The pharaoh Menkaure died before…
Cairo
With its fully restored paving stones and elaborate mashrabiyya (wooden lattice screens), Darb Al Asfar alley conjures up the Middle Ages – if the Middle…
Cairo
The rounded Bab Al Futah with its delicate carved stone arch and the square-towered Bab An Nasr were built in 1087 as the two main northern entrances to…
Cairo
Baron Empain lived in a fantastical and highly eccentric Hindu temple–inspired mansion, with the facade bedecked with elephants and serpents…
Cairo
One of the most sacred Islamic sites in Egypt, this mosque is the reputed burial place of the head of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Most of…
Cairo
This vast collection of 20th- and 21st-century Egyptian art is set in the green, well-groomed Gezira Exhibition Grounds, across from the Cairo Opera House…
Luxor
At the southern end of the Theban hillside, the Valley of the Queens contains at least 75 tombs that belonged to queens of the 19th and 20th dynasties as…
Luxor
This 91m-long tomb was built for Amenhotep II (sometimes also called Amenophis II), who succeeded his father, the great king Tuthmosis III. Amenophis died…
Luxor
Horemheb was Tutankhamun's general, who succeeded Ay, Tutankhamun's briefly reigning tutor. His tomb has beautiful decoration that shows the first use of…
Luxor
Although only the burial chamber is decorated, this tomb, tucked away in the West Valley, is noted for its scenes of Ay hunting hippopotamus and fishing…
Cairo
Modelled on classic Ottoman lines, with domes upon domes upon domes, this alabaster-white mosque within the Citadel took 18 years to build (1830–48) and…
Cairo
The square between the two venerated mosques of Al Azhar and Sayyidna Al Hussein was one of the focal points of Mamluk Cairo and remains an important…
