Most famous sites in Cairo

Split across the river — the ancient plateau to the west, the living city to the east.

the ancient plateau

West Cairo

the living city

East Cairo

Egypt · 31.2001° N, 29.9187° E

Alexandria

Second largest city in Egypt.

The sites

Seven stops, ancient to modern

Ancient ruins beside a modern coastal city — the harbour fort built from a fallen wonder, temples cut deep into rock, then a royal garden and a bridge lit up at dusk. Seven stops, in the order most visits find them.

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    Qaitbay Citadel

    Ancient · built 1477

    Built from the stones of the fallen Lighthouse of Pharos, right where it once stood. Three storeys, a mosque tucked inside, and a keep looking straight out over the Eastern Harbour.

    The Citadel of Qaitbay, a pale limestone fort with round corner towers.
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    Pompey’s Pillar

    Ancient · c. 297 AD

    A 30-metre Roman column raised for the emperor Diocletian, standing on the ruins of the Serapeum — once the intellectual heart of the city. Two granite sphinxes keep watch beside it.

    Pompey’s Pillar, a tall polished granite column with a sphinx at its base.
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    Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa

    Ancient · 2nd century AD

    Tombs cut three levels into the rock, where Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles meet without contradiction — Anubis in Roman legionary armour, bearded serpents holding Medusa shields.

    A relief carved into the rock at Kom El Shoqafa.
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    Roman Amphitheatre

    Ancient · Kom El Dikka

    The only Roman theatre ever found in Egypt, found by accident in the 1960s. Thirteen tiers of white marble, with Roman baths and mosaic villas uncovered alongside it.

    The Roman theatre at Kom El Dikka, curved rows of white marble seating.
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    Montaza Palace

    Modern · 1892 & 1932

    A royal palace and 150 acres of gardens running down to a private beach — Turkish and Florentine at once, summered in by the royal family until 1952.

    Montaza Palace seen through its iron gates.
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    Stanley Bridge

    Modern · opened 2001

    Alexandria’s most photographed bridge, carried out over Stanley Bay on four towers built in Khedivial-Ottoman style. Best at dusk, when the whole bay turns colour.

    Stanley Bridge after dark, its towers reflected in the water.
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    Alexandria National Museum

    Modern · opened 2003

    Three floors tracing the city from the Pharaohs to the 20th century, in a restored 1929 mansion. Several of the finest pieces were recovered from the drowned royal quarter offshore.

    A gallery inside the Alexandria National Museum.
Feluccas on the Nile at Aswan, granite islands and a Nubian village on the far bank.

Egypt · 25.69° N to 24.09° N

Luxor & Aswan

Upper Egypt, either end of the river cruise.

The itinerary

Five stops, sailing south

Two hundred and twenty kilometres of river over four days, sailed south — which is upstream, the way the prevailing north wind has carried boats up this valley since the Old Kingdom. Five stops, in the order you meet them.

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    Luxor

    Start · 0 km

    Karnak and Luxor temples stand on the east bank; the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s terraces face them across the water. Most itineraries give this two days before the boat casts off.

    The first pylon of Luxor Temple with the seated colossi of Ramesses II and the obelisk.
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    Edfu

    115 km upstream

    The most completely preserved major temple in Egypt — roof, walls and columns all still standing. Ptolemaic, begun in 237 BC and finished some 180 years later. A short caleche ride from the mooring.

    The colonnaded forecourt of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, with visitors crossing the open court.
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    Kom Ombo

    60 km further

    Two temples in one, mirrored down the middle: the southern half for Sobek the crocodile god, the northern for Haroeris. It stands directly on the bank, so the boat ties up almost at the steps.

    The double entrance of the temple at Kom Ombo, its twin gateways side by side.
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    Aswan

    45 km · 220 km from Luxor

    The temple of Isis at Philae was cut apart and rebuilt on Agilkia Island when the water rose. Aswan itself is feluccas, Nubian villages, and the granite the rest of the country was quarried from.

    The Philae temple complex on Agilkia Island seen from the water, palms along the shoreline.
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    Abu Simbel

    280 km south · by road

    Ramesses II’s four colossi, cut into the rock face. In the 1960s the entire temple was sawn into blocks and lifted 64 metres up the cliff, ahead of the rising lake. Roughly three hours each way from Aswan — an optional excursion, not a mooring.

    The Great Temple at Abu Simbel, its four seated colossi of Ramesses II carved into the cliff.

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