Day 01
Explore Alexandria's Historic Highlights
- Meet your tour guide, who will pick you up from Cairo or Giza and drive almost 210 kilometres to Alexandria, the second-largest city in Egypt, known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean." Its great natural beauty and rich cultural and historical heritage make it one of the most preferred traveller attractions in Egypt. It was founded by the Macedonian leader Alexander the Great, who conquered Egypt in 332 B.C.
- Start the day tour by visiting Pompey's Pillar. It is an architectural marvel located amid the ruins of the Serapeum in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria. It is one of the largest monuments of antiquity. The Serapeum was an ancient Greek temple built during the reign of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt and dedicated to the deity Serapis, who was believed to be the protector of Alexandria.
- Visit the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. These tombs represent the last great existing construction dedicated to the ancient Egyptian religion. The catacombs consist of three layers of tombs and chambers cut out of the rock underground, along with the beautifully decorated burial place of a rich Romanized Egyptian family.
- Head to see the fabulous reincarnation of the famed ancient Library of Alexandria. The original library held the largest collection of manuscripts in the world and was a great centre of learning for 600 years until it burned down in the 3rd century. The new Library of Alexandria is now one of the biggest libraries in the world, with 8 million books, and stands on the site of a lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
- Drive to the Roman Amphitheatre, the open-air museum for sunken monuments, the Unknown Soldier of Alexandria, and the statue of Alexander the Great, built east of Alexandria on a high hill overlooking one of the most beautiful beaches in the city.
- Proceed to see the Qaitbay Citadel, built on the site of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria and named after the Mameluke Sultan Al-Ashraf Qaitbay. The Qaitbay Citadel in Alexandria is considered one of the most important defensive strongholds in the Mediterranean Sea. Visit this citadel, which formed an important part of the fortification system of Alexandria in the 15th century A.D.
- See the summer residence of King Farouk, the last king in the history of Egypt. Enjoy the embracing gardens blazed with colour and the beautiful architecture of Montazah Palace, and then drive along the Corniche to see the whole city, passing over Stanley Bridge, a landmark of modern Alexandria.
- Go to your hotel in Alexandria for the night's stay.
