Alexandria

No reviews yetCity Alexandria, Egypt

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

Stanley Bridge, Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

About Alexandria

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria became the brilliant capital of the Ptolemies, home to the Great Library and the Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Cleopatra ruled here, and for centuries it was a meeting place of Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Jewish learning.

Today Egypt's second city stretches for miles along the Mediterranean. Little of the ancient city survives above ground, but its traces are rewarding: the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Pompey's Pillar and the Roman theatre of Kom el Dikka, with the Citadel of Qaitbay rising on the old lighthouse site. The striking Bibliotheca Alexandrina revives the spirit of the ancient library.

Alexandria's later cosmopolitan age lives on in grand cafes, the Cavafy Museum and the palaces of the royal era at Montaza and the Royal Jewelry Museum. Walk the Corniche at sunset, eat fresh fish by the harbour and let the sea breeze set the pace.

Best seasonMarch to May and September to November; summer is busy with holidaymakers from Cairo.

Ideal stayTwo to three days for the ancient sites, museums and the Corniche.

ArrivingBorg El Arab International Airport lies south-west of the city, and frequent trains run from Cairo.

Top 12 Experiences in Alexandria

Landmarks 2

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Opened in 2002 near the site of the ancient Library of Alexandria, this modern library is a landmark in itself: a vast tilted disc...

Stanley Bridge

Arching across Stanley Bay on the Corniche, this bridge opened in 2001 to ease traffic along the waterfront and quickly became one...

History 4

Citadel of Qaitbay

Built in the late fifteenth century by the Mamluk sultan Qaitbay, this sturdy stone fortress stands at the tip of the Eastern Harb...

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

Discovered by chance in 1900, these underground tombs of the Roman period descend by a spiral staircase into burial chambers carve...

Pompey's Pillar

Despite its name, this towering red granite column was raised around AD 297 in honour of the emperor Diocletian, not Pompey. It st...

Kom el Dikka Roman Theatre

Uncovered in the city centre during the twentieth century, this small Roman theatre has tiers of white marble seats in a horseshoe...

Museums 3

Alexandria National Museum

Housed in an elegant Italianate mansion on Tariq al-Horreya Street, this museum tells Alexandria's story through well-chosen piece...

Royal Jewelry Museum

In the Zizinia district, the former palace of Princess Fatma al-Zahra now displays jewellery and precious objects that belonged to...

Cavafy Museum

The Greek poet Constantine Cavafy spent the last decades of his life in this modest apartment in central Alexandria, which now hon...

Parks 1

Montaza Palace Gardens

At the eastern end of the Corniche, the former royal estate of Montaza spreads across wide gardens of palms and pines around sandy...

Temples and Shrines 1

Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque

Alexandria's best-known mosque honours a thirteenth-century Sufi saint from Murcia in Andalusia. The present building, with its pa...

Viewpoints 1

Alexandria Corniche

Alexandria's long waterfront road sweeps around the Eastern Harbour and on along the Mediterranean, lined with faded belle epoque...

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