Alexandria, Egypt's Mediterranean coastal city, blends ancient history with seaside charm. This Alexandria travel guide covers top sights like the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Citadel of Qaitbay, the Roman Amphitheatre, and the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, all easily visited as a day trip or short stay from Cairo.
Cairo may steal the headlines, but ask any Egyptian where they escape to when they crave sea air, buttery seafood and a slower pace, and the answer is almost always the same: Alexandria. This Alexandria travel guide is our love letter to the Mediterranean’s most romantic Egyptian city, written from the perspective of locals who have wandered its corniche at dawn and lingered in its faded cafés long after dark. Come with us and we will show you the hidden gems that guidebooks skip and holidaymakers rarely find.
Why Alexandria Feels Nothing Like the Rest of Egypt
Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria was once the intellectual capital of the ancient world, home to the legendary Library and the towering Pharos Lighthouse. That cosmopolitan spirit never fully left. Walk its streets today and you will feel Greek, Roman, Ottoman and French influences pressing up against the Egyptian everyday.
Where Cairo is dusty, loud and gloriously chaotic, Alexandria is breezy, salt-tinged and unhurried. Locals call it the “Bride of the Mediterranean”, and once you have watched the sun sink behind the Eastern Harbour, you will understand why the nickname has stuck for centuries.
Getting to Alexandria: Your Options from Cairo
Most travellers reach Alexandria from Cairo, and the good news is that the journey is easy however you choose to travel. The city sits roughly 220 kilometres north-west of the capital, and the trip takes between two and a half and three and a half hours depending on your mode of transport.
- Train: The most scenic and relaxed option, running frequently between Cairo’s Ramses Station and Alexandria’s Misr Station. Book a first-class or “Spanish” express ticket for comfort.
- Private car: The most flexible choice, ideal if you want to stop along the Desert Road or arrive on your own schedule.
- Organised day tour: Perfect if you would rather leave the logistics to someone else and see the highlights without wasted time.
If you are short on time, our Alexandria day tours handle the entire round trip from Cairo, so you can simply enjoy the coast without worrying about connections.
The Best Time of Year to Visit the Bride of the Mediterranean
Alexandria enjoys a gentler climate than the rest of Egypt, thanks to that constant sea breeze. Summers here are warm but rarely stifling, which is exactly why millions of Egyptians descend on the city between June and August.
Our honest local advice is to come in spring or autumn. From March to May and again from September to November, the weather is glorious, the crowds are thin, and hotel prices are far kinder. Winter has its own moody charm too, with dramatic storms rolling off the Mediterranean, though you will want a jacket for the corniche.
Wandering the Corniche at Golden Hour
No visit begins properly until you have strolled the Corniche, the sweeping waterfront promenade that curves along the coast. This is where Alexandria comes alive, especially in the late afternoon when families gather, fishermen cast their lines, and horse-drawn carriages clip-clop past pastel buildings.
Grab a fresh sugarcane juice from a street vendor, find a spot on the sea wall, and simply watch the city breathe. It costs nothing, and it remains our favourite free experience in the whole city.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina: A Modern Marvel with Ancient Roots
The ancient Library of Alexandria may be long gone, but its spirit was reborn in 2002 with the stunning Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Designed to resemble a giant sundisc rising from the earth, its exterior is carved with characters from more than 100 different writing systems, a poetic nod to the universal knowledge it hopes to preserve.
Inside you will find a cavernous reading room, several small museums, and rotating exhibitions. Even if you are not a bookish sort, the architecture alone justifies an hour of your time. Do not miss the antiquities and manuscript museums tucked within.
Descending into the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa
Here is one of Alexandria’s most extraordinary hidden gems, and a personal favourite. The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa are a sprawling three-level Roman necropolis discovered, so the story goes, when a donkey stumbled into a hole in 1900.
Descend the spiral staircase and you enter a haunting underworld where Egyptian, Greek and Roman funerary art blend in ways found nowhere else on earth. Anubis wearing a Roman soldier’s armour, bearded serpents, and classical columns crowned with lotus flowers all sit side by side. It is atmospheric, cool and genuinely spine-tingling.
Standing Beneath Pompey’s Pillar
Just a short walk from the catacombs stands Pompey’s Pillar, a magnificent 27-metre column of red Aswan granite that has watched over the city for more than 1,700 years. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the Roman general Pompey; it was actually raised in honour of the emperor Diocletian.
Flanked by two weathered sphinxes and the scattered remains of the ancient Serapeum temple, this is one of the few surviving relics from Alexandria’s classical golden age. It is a modest site by Egyptian standards, but its history runs impossibly deep.
Fort Qaitbay and the Ghost of the Great Lighthouse
On the very spot where the legendary Pharos Lighthouse once stood, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, you will now find the handsome Fort Qaitbay. Built in the 15th century using stone rumoured to have come from the collapsed lighthouse itself, this seafront citadel guards the entrance to the Eastern Harbour.
Climb its ramparts for uninterrupted views across the Mediterranean and back towards the city skyline. The sea spray, the crumbling stone and the sheer sense of history make this one of the most photogenic corners of Alexandria.
A Tip for Photographers
Arrive an hour or two before sunset. The golden light hitting the honey-coloured walls, with fishing boats bobbing in the foreground, produces the kind of photographs that make friends back home genuinely jealous.
The Underrated Beauty of Montaza Palace Gardens
Set within lush, sprawling gardens on the eastern edge of the city, Montaza Palace is a former royal residence that mixes Turkish and Florentine architecture into something wonderfully unexpected. While the palace itself is not always open to the public, the surrounding grounds are open for all to enjoy.
Locals come here to picnic beneath towering palms, wander shaded paths and reach a series of quiet coves. It is a leafy, tranquil escape from the urban buzz, and one of the loveliest places in Alexandria to spend a lazy morning.
Feasting Like a Local: Alexandria’s Seafood Scene
If there is one thing Alexandrians take deadly seriously, it is seafood. This is a fishing city at heart, and the daily catch defines its kitchens. The classic experience is to visit a fish market restaurant where you choose your own fish from a bed of ice, then have it grilled or fried to order.
- Grilled sea bass and bream: Simply seasoned and cooked over coals, the freshest you will taste anywhere in Egypt.
- Sayadeya: A fragrant local dish of fish served over spiced, caramelised rice.
- Fried calamari and prawns: Crisp, golden and impossibly moreish.
- Tagen gambari: Prawns baked in a clay pot with garlic and tomato.
Pair your meal with fresh baladi bread, tahini, and a pile of pickled vegetables, and you have the perfect Alexandrian feast.
The Faded Glamour of Alexandria’s Historic Cafés
Alexandria was once a magnet for European poets, novelists and merchants, and their haunts still survive. Sitting in one of the city’s grand old cafés, sipping thick Turkish coffee beneath high ceilings and tarnished mirrors, is like stepping into a novel by Lawrence Durrell or a poem by Constantine Cavafy.
These places wear their age proudly. The upholstery may be worn and the chandeliers a little dusty, but that is precisely the charm. Order a coffee, a slice of gateau, and let an hour drift by while you watch old Alexandria go about its business.
Exploring the Roman Amphitheatre of Kom El Dikka
In the heart of the modern city lies Kom El Dikka, the only Roman amphitheatre ever discovered in Egypt. This beautifully preserved semicircle of white and grey marble seating was uncovered by accident in the 1960s, and excavation has since revealed Roman baths, lecture halls and mosaic floors nearby.
It is a compact, easily walkable site right in the centre of town, making it an ideal stop between other attractions. Stand in the middle of the stage and speak, and you will notice the extraordinary acoustics the Romans engineered nearly two millennia ago.
Diving into History: The Sunken Ruins Beneath the Harbour
Perhaps the most tantalising hidden gem of all lies beneath the waves. Earthquakes and rising seas swallowed much of ancient Alexandria centuries ago, including parts of Cleopatra’s royal quarter and, quite possibly, the base of the great lighthouse.
For confident swimmers and certified divers, guided dives in the Eastern Harbour reveal toppled columns, sphinxes and statuary resting on the seabed. Even if you prefer to stay dry, knowing that a lost city sleeps just offshore adds a layer of magic to every harbour view.
The National Museum and the Greco-Roman Legacy
To make sense of Alexandria’s layered past, spend an hour or two at the Alexandria National Museum. Housed in a restored Italianate villa, it walks you chronologically through the city’s pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras.
The collection is thoughtfully curated and never overwhelming, which makes it a refreshing contrast to Egypt’s larger, busier museums. It is the ideal primer before or after you visit the ancient sites scattered across the city.
How to Spend a Perfect Day in Alexandria
If you only have a single day, do not despair; Alexandria rewards even a whirlwind visit. Here is the itinerary we recommend to friends who want the essence of the city without the exhaustion.
- Morning: Start at Fort Qaitbay before the crowds, then descend into the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa and marvel at Pompey’s Pillar.
- Midday: Enjoy a long, leisurely seafood lunch at a harbour-side restaurant.
- Afternoon: Tour the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and stroll the Roman Amphitheatre at Kom El Dikka.
- Evening: Finish with a golden-hour walk along the Corniche and coffee in a historic café.
That said, Alexandria deserves more than a day if you can spare it. An overnight stay lets the city’s slower rhythm truly sink in.
Where Alexandria Fits into a Bigger Egyptian Adventure
For most visitors, Alexandria is one memorable chapter in a much larger Egyptian story. It pairs beautifully with the pyramids and museums of the capital, and combining the two gives you the perfect balance of desert and sea.
Many travellers link Alexandria with a few days exploring our Cairo tours before heading south to the temples of the Nile Valley. From there, a leisurely Egypt Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan is the classic next step, weaving together the country’s greatest monuments at a wonderfully relaxed pace.
If you would rather craft a journey around your own interests and timeline, our tailor-made Egypt tours let you build the perfect route with Alexandria woven in wherever it suits you best.
Practical Tips for a Smooth Alexandria Visit
A little local know-how goes a long way in Alexandria. Keep these pointers in mind and your trip will run all the more smoothly.
- Dress modestly: Alexandria is more relaxed than some Egyptian cities, but respectful clothing is still appreciated, particularly at religious sites.
- Carry small cash: Many cafés, vendors and taxis prefer cash, and small notes make life easier.
- Learn a few Arabic phrases: A simple “shukran” (thank you) earns warm smiles everywhere.
- Watch the traffic: Crossing the busy Corniche road takes confidence; follow the locals’ lead.
- Stay hydrated: Even with the sea breeze, the Egyptian sun is strong, so keep water on hand.
Beyond Alexandria: The Rest of Egypt Awaits
Once Alexandria has worked its coastal magic on you, the rest of Egypt beckons. The ancient temples and royal tombs on our Luxor tours reveal the grandeur of the pharaohs, while the serene, Nubian-flavoured landscapes of Aswan offer a gentler, more soulful counterpoint to the coast.
If sun and sea have captured your heart, you might extend that feeling with a beach escape to the Red Sea, where world-class reefs and resorts await. Whatever direction calls you, Alexandria makes a beautiful beginning to a grand Egyptian adventure, and our full range of Egypt travel packages can stitch it all together seamlessly.
Final Thoughts: Let Alexandria Surprise You
Alexandria is a city of layers, where Roman columns rise beside French balconies, where ancient wonders sleep beneath the harbour, and where the smell of grilled fish drifts on a Mediterranean breeze. It rewards the curious traveller who is willing to slow down, wander without a rigid plan, and let the city reveal its secrets one hidden gem at a time.
We hope this Alexandria travel guide has stirred your imagination and given you the confidence to explore the Bride of the Mediterranean like a local. When you are ready to turn these dreams into a real journey, the team at Daily Pyramids Tours would be delighted to help you plan every detail. Explore our Alexandria experiences and wider Egyptian adventures, and let us show you the country we are so proud to call home.
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