-Alexandria

Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt after Cairo and is located on the Mediterranean Sea. It is also largest and most important seaport. It was founded in 334 BC by Alexander the Great and was Egypt’s capital for a thousand years. It was also the home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the largest library of ancient times: the Library of Alexandria. Even though the original library is long gone, there is the new library of Alexandria. If you love books and history, you will die out of happiness when you see it. It has books, rare original manuscripts, restaurants, galleries and even a planetarium! Book worms could spend days in there! If you want to spend the day there, you have to buy a special pass.

Sights to see in Alexandria are: Bibliotheca Alexandria, El Montazah Palace, a sea-side area called “Bahary” and the Alexandrian Citadel.

-Luxor/Aswan

Luxor is another favorite spot for history buffs and has often been called the “world’s greatest open air museum”. The ruins of temples at Karnak and Luxor are incredible. When I say incredible, I mean incredible. The size of the columns in temples and the pictures painted and carved on the walls are so huge, you will feel insignificantly small! It’s also a great spot to take pictures - if you are really skilled at taking photographs. Whatever you do, do not forget to visit the Valley of Kings and the Valley of Queens! You get to see the tombs and inscriptions on the walls first hand!

Going south is Aswan, the city named after Swenet, an Egyptian goddess. In Aswan you can visit Sehel Island (famous for jewellery!!!), Elephantine Island, tombs of the Nobles, the small shrine of Kubbet el-Hawa, Mausoleum of Aga Khan (every Indian knows who he is), Kalabsha temple, Lake Nasser and Monastery of St. Simon. Many people also like to take a Nile cruise or felucca ride after a long day of sightseeing. If you haven’t already taken one, you must!

-Ain el sokhna

Ain el sokhna is an hour and half outside Cairo, on the Red Sea. You can picture it now: warm crystal clear water, sandy beaches and sunshine. Many families often spend their weekend there because it is so close to Cario. There are many hotels, resorts and nautical activities like scuba diving.

-Harghada & El Gouna

Harghada and El Gouna are both beside the Red Sea. Harghada used to be a small fishing town, but now is a beach city year long. El Gouna is a town spread over 10 beaches on the Red Sea. It is only an hour away from Harghada airport and a bus line goes back and forth between Cairo and Gouna three times a day.

-Sinai

St. Catherine, Dahab, Nuweiba, and Taba are popular tourist destinations in the Sinai Peninsula. St. Catherine monastery is the only Christian working monastery in the world. It also has the second largest collection of illuminated manuscripts after the Vatican. Dahab, Nuweiba, and Taba are mainly relaxing areas.

-Sharma el Sheikh

Sharma el Sheikh is located at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Tourists mainly come here because of nautical sport activities such as wind surfing, canoeing and parasailing. People also go to the Sinai Mountains during the evening to see the beautiful sunset and its reflection on the Red Sea –that’s the picture you see on most travel to Egypt adverts.