Setting the scene
Visiting Egypt without stopping by Alexandria is like visiting England & not drinking copious amounts of tea! Unfortunately I was only able to spend 1 day in Alexandria & didn’t get to see everything I wanted. It really needed a couple of days at minimum to do it any justice.
Modern day Alexandria
Located to the North of Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria was founded in 331BC by Alexander the Great. It is an incredible fusion of historical influences, with Greco Roman, Arab, French & British.
In Modern day Alexandria, along with the most stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea, there are some amazing Museums, Amphitheatres, Statues, Monuments, Forts, Religious Buildings & of course the Bibliotheca Alexandria.
It is much quieter than Cairo & subsequently not as fast paced. The roads are a lot safer & the traffic lights actually stand for something there. I took the train, which was around 3 hours from Cairo. They have new trains called Talgo, which are really modern & you see some beautiful views of the countryside. They are more expensive than regular trains, usually I prefer the cheaper more authentic experience, but on this occasion I strongly recommend Talgo. I took a different train coming home & it was a proper experience, with a lot of unique characters on the train (that is as diplomatic as I can be) 😂
Now, my standard of Arabic is somewhere between getting a left hook from Shaq & one of those brutal deep paper cuts you get. However, I am pretty sure I was told to ‘sling my hook’ a couple of times, the street vendors here aren’t as up for a haggle as they were in Cairo, just be wary.
Tourist sites ☀️
Alexandria has such a rich & diverse history, so there is plenty to do! I decided I wanted to walk everywhere & mapped out a really good route, however I was woefully underprepared. A lot of the sites close early & the distance between sites is a lot bigger than it looks on the map. It sounds like an obvious thing to say, but I would say to scope out everywhere you want to visit & check on their opening times etc to make sure you don’t miss out.
You can click through for a guide & photos on each of the sites. The top places I was lucky enough to visit were The Ancient Roman Amphitheatre, Citadel of Qaitby, The Greco Roman Museum . I did visit the Alexandria Museum & St Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral however they weren’t big, so I didn’t take many photos & therefor have not set up a page for them.
As touched upon, poor planning on my part meant I missed out on the Bibliotheca (Library), the Catacombs & Pompey’s Pillar. The library was closed for a holiday, which is a shame as that is the main reason I went to Alexandria, as I am a massive book nerd.
Keeping Safe 🥷🏼
Alexandria felt very safe, as it is much less populous, it is not as overwhelming as Cairo. When you get towards the Sea & Citadel of Qaitby, it becomes a bit more full on. It is like Blackpool on steroids! If you are going to take a boat ride, I would say to go with an established company with good reviews. A lot of people will offer you boat rides, but don’t hop on a random paddle boat because of the implication (if you know the reference, you know!). Generally, just stay aware of your surroundings.
Getting around 🚕
If you are tight for time, I would recommend taking Taxi’s around as this will save you a lot of time. Meaning, you get to spend longer at the tourist sites 🤠
You can walk between some places, for example from the train station to Roman Amphitheatre, then to Greco Roman Museum & then Alexandria Museum is a reasonably short walk, even if you are carrying some extra Shawarma weight. From there to the Corniche or Citadel of Qaitby, you’re best taking a Taxi as it isn’t nearby.
Bonus tip ✅
There is a ‘Fish Museum’ located at the Citadel of Qaitby & it looks like you are going to see some really cool fish from the Mediterranean Sea. I was thinking big ass sting rays, sharks, turtles, the full shebang. Alas, I was fooled, do not go into this Fish museum, they have no fish, only plastic toy fish 😂
I am completely new to blogging & only set this up to help people out on their journeys. If you have any questions about the article or feedback, please do leave a comment & I will get back to you. You can also subscribe for free to get a notification when my next post goes live. Thanks for taking the time to read through. Over the coming weeks I will be covering one or two Spanish places & then moving onto some Moroccan spots!
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Hey Tyler,
somehow I missed this post up till now.
This is another one I saw on a Rick Steves special.
I believe that episode he toured Cairo, Luxor and Alexandria.
I tend to get some of the facts crossed on the Mediterranean locales. So, please correct me if I am wrong here.
I want to say that it was Alexandria that used to have a massive tower at the port ( kind of like an ancient lighthouse).
Not sure if it was originally built by the Greeks or the Romans. But, even after Egypt had converted to Islam, it still stood.
However, a violent earthquake finally toppled the tower hundreds of years ago.
Not sure if the ruins are still submerged under the port of Alexandria…
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Hey mate, thanks for checking out my post & hope you are well,😊
Alexandria was awesome, if you & your wife make it to Europe over the next few years, it’s easy enough to get to from there!
Yup they had the Ancient Lighthouse, which was one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. Unfortunately it is gone now, but the ruins are submerged there, I would love to Snorkel it one day if people are allowed. They also had the Library of Alexandria which was another of the Ancient wonders I think, it’s gone now but they have a massive modern one that you can visit. On the same place the Lighthouse once stood, there is now a massive Castle called the Citadel of Qaitby which was stunning, I have some photos here if you fancy a look.
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