Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Covering a 7km stretch of the Western Desert, Saqqara, the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, was an active burial ground for more than 3500 years and is…
Must-see attractions in Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
The Mastaba of Ti was discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1865. This grand and detailed private tomb is not only Old Kingdom art at its best but also one of…
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
In the complex at the entrance to the Saqqara site is this beautiful collection of some of the best finds from Saqqara, and one of the finest small…
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Al Fayoum
This Unesco World Heritage Site is home to the earliest prehistoric whale fossils ever discovered. The more than 400 basilosaurus and dorodontus (both…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
The Serapeum, dedicated to the sacred Apis bull, is one of the highlights of visiting Saqqara. The first Apis burial took place in the reign of Amenhotep…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
The world’s oldest true pyramid, the Red Pyramid probably derives its name from the red tones of its weathered limestone, after the better-quality white…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Egypt’s largest camel market is held at Birqash (pronounced Bir’ash), a small village 35km northwest of Cairo, just on the edge of the Delta’s cultivated…
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
In the year 2650 BC, Pharaoh Zoser (2667–2648 BC) asked his chief architect, Imhotep (later deified), to build him a Step Pyramid. This is the world's…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
To the southwest of Zoser’s funerary complex is the Pyramid of Unas, last pharaoh of the 5th dynasty (2375–2345 BC). Built only 300 years after the…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Just outside the village of San Al Hagar, 70km northeast of Zagazig, are the partly excavated ruins of Tanis, a city known as Djanet to the ancient…
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Al Fayoum
The vast, slumping ruins of ancient Karanis lie 25km north of Medinat Al Fayoum, on the edge of the oasis depression, along the road to Cairo. Founded by…
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
About 10km south of Saqqara lies this impressive 3.5km-long field of 4th- and 12th-dynasty pyramids. Although there were originally 11 pyramids here, only…
Al Fayoum
This ancient city is one of the most isolated in Al Fayoum, but this is part of its appeal, as you’re often alone out in the blowing sand that drifts over…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
South Saqqara is home to several Old Kingdom tombs, pyramids and mounds of rubble, interesting to the more dedicated pyramid fans.
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Al Fayoum
The 'waterfalls' in the Wadi Rayyan Protected Area are a major attraction for weekend picnickers from Cairo. The waterfalls, where one lake drains into…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
St Bishoi came to the desert in AD 340 and founded two monasteries in Wadi Natrun: this one and neighbouring Deir El Sourian. The fortified keep is…
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Al Fayoum
Lake Qarun is a popular weekend spot for Cairenes looking to cool down, and the lake edge is dotted with cafes and wedding pavilions. It’s not a big…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Neferirkare (2475–2455 BC) was the third pharaoh of the 5th dynasty and Sahure’s father. His burial place originally resembled the Step Pyramid at Saqqara…
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Al Fayoum
About 8km southeast of Medinat Al Fayoum, on the north side of the canal Bahr Yusuf, the canal that connects Al Fayoum to the Nile, stands the dilapidated…
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Al Fayoum
About 30km northeast of Medinat Al Fayoum is the ruin of the first true pyramid attempted by the ancient Egyptians. It began as an eight-stepped structure…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Deir Abu Makar was founded around the cell where St Macarius spent his last 20 or so years. Although structurally it suffered more than other monasteries…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Trying to create a true smooth-sided pyramid, Sneferu’s architects began with the same steep angle and inward-leaning courses of stone they used to create…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Festivals held at the Temple of Bubastis once attracted more than 700,000 revellers who sang, danced, feasted, consumed great quantities of wine and…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
About 500m northwest of Deir Anba Bishoi, Deir El Sourian is the most picturesquely situated of the monasteries. It is named after wandering Syrian monks…
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Al Fayoum
At the western end of Lake Qarun, just east of the village of Qasr Qarun, are the ruins of ancient Dionysias, once the starting point for caravans to the…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Closed to the public because of its dangerous condition, the unfinished pyramid of Zoser’s successor Sekhemkhet (2648–2640 BC) is a short distance west of…
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Tomb of Akhethotep & Ptahhotep
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
This joint mastaba for Akhethotep and his son Ptahhotep has two burial chambers, two chapels and a pillared hall. The painted reliefs in Ptahhotep’s…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Sahure (2487–2475 BC) was the first of the 5th-dynasty pharaohs to be buried at Abu Sir. His pyramid, originally 50m high, is now badly damaged. From the…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
The only remaining evidence of Memphis is this noteworthy open-air museum, built around a magnificent fallen colossal limestone statue of Ramses II. Its…
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Royal Sun Temples of Abu Ghorab
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Just northwest of the Abu Sir pyramids lies the site of Abu Ghorab, which is home to two temples dedicated to the worship of Ra, the sun god of Heliopolis…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Also called the Pharaoh's Bench, this unusual funerary complex is the most remote site in South Saqqara. It belongs to the last 4th-dynasty pharaoh, the…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
The plump-looking chief justice under Teti, Kagemni appears in his own mastaba tomb as though he enjoyed the riches of the land, if the splendid and…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Surrounded by sand dunes, the pyramids of Abu Sir form the necropolis of the 5th dynasty (2494–2345 BC). Most of the remains are less impressive than…
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Al Fayoum
Al Fayoum is famous for its more than 200 waterwheels, which have become a prominent symbol of the town and the oasis. These four rather rickety and…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Once quite isolated because of a bad road, Deir Al Baramouse now has more than 100 monks in residence, plus six modern churches in addition to its…
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Al Fayoum
About 10km southeast of Hawara are the ruins of this mudbrick pyramid, built by Pharaoh Sesostris II (1880–1874 BC). It’s not worth a separate trip, but…
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Al Fayoum
Established in the 1970s by Swiss artists, Evelyne Porret and Michel Pastore, this school, which trains children and adults in the local potting…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Northeast of the Step Pyramid is the Pyramid of Userkaf, the first pharaoh of the 5th dynasty (closed to the public for safety reasons). Although the…
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Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Originally designated as the final resting place of General Horemheb, this tomb became irrelevant in 1323 BC when its intended occupant seized power from…
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Mosque of Al Sayyed Ahmed Al Badawi
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
Al Badawi, born in Morocco, came to Tanta in 1234, and founded one of Egypt's largest Sufi orders, the Badawiya. Once you're inside the mosque, to the…
