Egypt Holidays

Introduction

Egypt could be said to have six different tourist super-sites. Each has its own flavor, and mostly each serves a different purpose. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, most of these tourist areas do not depend on ancient monuments to sustain them. In fact, only Luxor is completely dependent on this trade.

These super-sites consist of:

Alexandria and the immediate area around the City. It could in fact be argued that this area extends to Marsa Matruh to the west on the coast. The area has a Mediterranean feel about it, and the attraction is the Mediterranean Sea, and to the people of Cairo, a somewhat cooler climate.

Cairo and the immediate area around the City. Cairo has everything. Cairo has great hotels, entertainment, restaurants, all manner of monuments from throughout the history of Egypt and it is often the entry point for most people visiting Egypt. It even has bowling allies and several golf courses to chose from.

Luxor, and the surrounding area. Luxor is a living museum with vast numbers of ancient Egyptian monuments. It is also highly oriented to tourists, and might be thought of in the same regard as a theme park, where the attractions just happen to be real monuments.

Aswan and the surrounding area. Aswan is probably the least of the super-site tourist areas, but has great hotels, along with the huge Lake Nasser just to the south.

Hurghada and the surrounding area, particularly El Gouna. Not to far apart are El Gouna, Hurghada and Safaga, and these areas contain just about everything a tourist would like to have, with the exception of ancient monuments. They make up for that with every variety of water sports, several golf courses, casinos and more. The Red Sea area has less of an Egyptian feel, but not as European as the Sinai.

Sharm El Sheikh, and the surrounding area including Sharks Bay. This is the Sinai super-site, again with most everything any tourist might wish. There are even some wonderful Christian monuments nearby, and the water sports, as at Hurghada, are all inclusive.

This is not to say that there are many more tourist destinations, particularly on the Red Sea and in Sinai, and on Egypt's mainland interior, the oases. However, in much of the rest of the mainland interior, travel and destinations are limited. However, the tourist super-sites encompass perhaps ninety-five percent of the ancient monuments, and most else there is to do in Egypt.

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Off the Beaten Track

Major Cities and Towns
Abusir
Agami
Alexandria
El Alamein
El-Dikheila
Mersa Matruh
Ras el-Hikma
Rosseta (Rashid)
Sallum
Sidi Abdel Rahman
Sid Barani

When to Visit Egypt

About the Area
"The Northern Coast" is the Egyptian North Western gate stretching 525 Km on the Mediterranean east to Sallum on the Libyan boarder.


This was a rain-dependent agricultural land in the Roman era. Having good faith in the prosperous future of this region, the government spares no effort to develop it. Many comprehensive planning studies have been conducted. Many luxurious tourist spots have been built. In 1978, the process was unleashed.


In spite of miles of white sand beaches and azure sea, Egypt's Med is still undeveloped and relatively unpopulated. There are fine beaches all along the coast from Alexandria to Mersa Matrouh, including the resort of Sidi Abdel Rahman, a secluded bay with clear waters and a selection of villas and hotels. At Mersa Matrouh itself, the natural bay and long white beach make for good sunbathing and swimming in calm transparent waters. Hired bicycles, carettas or open- sided tuf-tuf buses will take you to other good bathing spots nearby including the outstar beach at Al-Abyad and Ageebah cove, surrounded by beautiful scenery. As well as beaches there are other attractions in the Mersa Matrouh area: Cleopatra's Bath, a rock-hewn whirlpool bath off- shore which was supposedly used by Antony and Cleopatra, a ruined temple fort built by Ramses II, an early Coptic chapel and "Rommel's Hideout", a cave where the general planned his military campaigns and which has now been tumed into a military museum.

At Abu Qir, a small fishing town, you can sunbath, fish, swim and eat fresh seafood. To the west of the city try the resorts of Agami or Hannoville.

Attractive integrated tourist villages are there, including beaches, houses, public service units. Moreover, 121 private locations are under study, besides the three models executed by the Ministry of construction, i.e. "Marakia", "Marabella" and "Marina" resorts.

Due to its marble-like nature, "Marakia" was originally known as "Marmarina" in the old times. The name is extracted from the Arabic word "marmar" which means marble. Clear sea and pure sand are its two main characteristics. It is 240 feddans & consists of three main parts; namely, beach, housing units and public service units. The beach is 1500 meters long; its downstream surface is 100 meters.

A pedestrain road separates it from the housing units. This stretches 400 meters, and consists of five-region on -shore 1945 units; 1267 cabins, 72 villas and 31 houses. The public service units are in both the middle of the village and at its main entrance, including administrative, emergency, communication, commercial, and entertainment services. Restaurants, cinema and an open theater. At the village entrance, a 800-person capacity mosque has been built. Large surfaces were devoted for sportive courtyards and public gardens. That is not all, there are further expansions.

One may imagine "Marina" by the meaning of its name: the beautiful sea. It is 15 Km from "Marakia", 750 meters long on the beach and its downstream surface is 800 meters. Its total surface is about 143 feddans. Many service units are constructed on the beach. The housing unit consists of 34 villas, 264 flats and 672 cabins. A center for administrative, commercial, medical, religious and entertainment services is found in the middle of the village.

Nearby, "Marina- Alameen" lies on the beach, about 100 Km from Alexandria. Its
surface is nearly 5000 feddans. Apart from the beach, it consists of housing and public service
units. Golf, horseriding and other sport facilities and courtyards are also there. In fact, "Marina-Alameen" is exceptional in both natural and historical respects. It is endowed with natural deep lakes, as well as large forests. Moreover, it is rich in both Greek and
Roman monuments. Being the World War II stage, an allied soldiers cemetery is found
there. On the other hand, sea-linked lakes are designed for water renewal, shipping and
fishery purposes.

And then there is Alexandria (Alex) itself. Pick any given holiday and try to find someone you need to see in Cairo. They will be in Alex, which is not only a playground for people around the world, but of the Egyptians themselves.

Population
Total population 3,341,000
male 51.15 %
female 48.85 %

Tourism
54 hotels
4,041 rooms

Worship places
1,819 mosques
36 churches
 

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