Are you ready to see Egypt? Having visited Egypt a few times, we have been lucky enough to see several parts of the country from the seat of a bicycle, the back of a truck and even with a private driver. We started our cycling trip through Africa in Egypt, we have backpacked on a budget and have been guest speakers at a conference where we were treated with five star service, so we’ve seen it with many different eyes. It have given us a unique perspective of this beautiful destination. With all that is going on in the world, Egypt is often considered a no travel zone by people. But Egypt is wonderful. The people are friendly and kind, the scenery is beautiful and the history is out of this world.
Ancient Egypt In Pictures
While we are not saying to travel overseas right now, Egypt is a destination you must add to your future travels. There are so many things to see and do in Egypt beside just marvelling at the pyramids. So to celebrate the dreamer in you, we’ve put together our favourite pictures of Egypt to remind you to add this amazing country to your list of travels. For now, enjoy these beautiful photos of Egypt! (CC: All images of Egypt by ThePlanetD)
Pyramids of Giza
Okay, I know I said above that there is a lot more to see in Egypt than the Pyramids of Giza, but you cannot visit the country without taking a tour to see them in person. They are truly magical.
Make sure to take a tour to see the pyramids from a different perspective. We hired a camel to see the pyramids and fulfilled our fantasy of being Bedouins in the Sahara Desert. If you like adventure, you can book a quad bike and camel tour of the pyramids. We’ve gone quading in the Sahara and it is coold.
Great Sphinx
My favourite thing to see at the Giza complex is the Great Sphinx standing guard over the pyramids. The say that the face of the Sphinx represents King Khafre. The fourth king of the 4th Dynasty of 2575 BC. Man that’s old.
Alabaster Mosque
The Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali is located in the Citadel of Cairo and is not to be missed. Built between between 1830 and 1848 it helps to contribute to Cairo’s nickname as the City of Minarets.
Make sure to go inside to see the beautiful interior of the most visited mosque in the country.
In Cairo we have stayed in both Five Star, Budget and Midrange hotels. In all honesty, it was the budget hotel that we had the best time in Cairo. But here are the three that we have stayed at.
- Intercontinental Cairo City Stars – This was truly an amazing hotel with all amenities and fine dining. We loved the spa.
- Dahab Hostel – This place was cheap and we loved it. Located in the heart of downtown, it’s walking distance to major sights like the Egyptian Museum and Tahrir Square.
- Cataract Pyramids Resort – This mid range hotel offers fantastic views of the Pyramids.
Abandoned Mosque
The Alabaster Mosque may be the most visited in Cairo, but don’t rule out other mosques. We found the polished marble of an abandoned mosque to be one of our favorite photos of Egypt.
Library of Alexandria
The library of Alexandria is filled with one of the greatest collections of literature on earth but it is the modern architecture that is so striking. Students hang out in the complex and ponder the challenges of Egypt’s future while we snapshots of its striking design.
Alexandria was home to one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world, the Alexandria Lighthouse. The library of Alexandria was the largest library in the ancient world. It was founded in 323 BC. It may be situated in an ancient city, but it has also been updated to modern times.
Here’s a cool fact – The Bibliotheca Alexandrina houses the world’s largest digital collection of historical manuscripts in the world. They are definitely staying in tune with the 21st century.
Meet the People
Egypt is filled with ancient monuments, but it is walking along the streets and meeting the people that is magical. Egyptians are right up there as some of the friendliest people on earth.
As we walked through the streets we were invited into establishments for tea and people greeted us with welcoming smiles. Children approached us to ask where we were from and everyone asked us to take their photograph.
People offered us tea, said hello and we sat down to enjoy conversations. Egypt will always have a special place in our hearts.
Ancient Burial of Saqqara
One of the largest funerary temples in Egypt, it is also where archeologists discovered the oldest coffins ever found. There are more temples in Egypt than just the Pyramids of Giza.
The amazing thing about traveling in Egypt is that they are still discovering temples and burial grounds. You will always see a working archeological dig.
Alexandria Street Car
The Alexandria Tram System began operation in 1863. We didn’t expect to see streetcars driving through the streets. A very cool fact, is most of the Streetcars came from Toronto. It was cool to see a connection from home in this ancient city.
Red Pyramid
Located 40 km outside of Cairo, The Red Pyramid is an amazing place to visit. It is far less visited than the Pyramids of Giza, but no less impressive. We could even crawl inside to the center of this temple. Read more: The Red Pyramid of Egypt – Experience it Inside and Out
The White Desert
The White Desert of Egypt is like being on another planet. Located in the Farafra depression in western Egypt, a visit here is a once in a lifetime experience. Imagine sleeping like the ancient Bedouin among the massive chalky white rock formations.
The White Desert National Park is just 5 hours from Cairo, but not many people visit this protected area that spans 300 square kilometers. Check out more here: The Lunar Landscape of Egypt’s White Desert
The Black Desert
Egypt has a lot of deserts. home to the mother of them all the Sahara, you can also see a black desert here too. The Sahra al-Suda, consists of mounds of black mountains are a stark contrast from the light and sandy deserts we are used to.
Valley of The Kings
No trip to Egypt would be complete without a visit to the Valley of the Kings. Located on the Nile River, it was part of the ancient city of Thebes. Here you’ll see King Tut’s Tomb, Ramses and all of the other famous ancient Egyptian Kings.
Temple of Hatshepsut
This impressive temple is dedicated to the female King Hatshepsut. She was the leader of the Pharaohs for 27 years. Hatshepsut’s monument rivals even the greatest of kings. Built between 1490-1460BC it is one of the most impressive temples in Egypt.
The Nile River
Aswan is located on the Nile in the South of Egypt just before the journey over Lake Nassar. It’s a popular town with ships setting sail each day, but be sure to spend a few days exploring. You don’t have to take a cruise though, you can hire a felucca for a very reasonable price to take you out to see the sights.
Luxor
The Luxor Temple is the star attraction of Luxor located on the banks of the Nile it is one of the best-preserved of all the temples in Egypt. Take a 3 day luxury Nile Cruise from Luxor you won’t regret it.
Abu Simbel
Located on Lake Nassar Abut Simbel is Ramses II imposing temple. It was built to show the power of Egypt Originally located on The Nile, Abu Simbel needed to be moved when the Egyptian’s created the Aswan Dam project (which decimated neighboring Wadi Halfa in Sudan by the way). It would have been engulfed by water never to be seen again until the government came to its rescue.
We saw Abu Simbel en route to the Sudan but you can visit it on day trips from Aswan and Cairo.
And these are our favourite pictures of Egypt. We’ll be adding more as Dave goes through his photo library. The beauty of being locked down for so long, is that we have had the pleasure of revisiting our travels around the world.
One of our trips through Egypt was courtesy of Memphis Tours., We also cycled the continent from Cairo to Cape Town and spent more than 30 days Exploring Egypt. Egypt is a country close to our hearts as the starting point of this great travel journey that we’ve been on for the past few years and it brought back fond memories walking through its ancient passageways.