After Cairo and Giza, Alexandria is Egypt’s third-largest city. It is also Africa’s ninth-largest city and a major economic hub. The city is about 40 kilometers long and is located on Egypt’s northern coast near the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and important industrial center. The city was founded by Alexander the Great and ruled by Queen Cleopatra. Book cheap airline tickets and visit Alexandria with your family and friends.
The most popular attractions in Alexandria, Egypt, are listed in this article: where to go, what to do, and where to visit in this vacation spot. Tips for traveling to the destination and a travel guide information about the region’s history and culture.
1. Bibliotheca Alexandrina
This contemporary reimagining of Alexandria’s ancient Great Library is the first stop for many visitors to Alexandria. It has numerous museums and one of the most ambitious libraries in the world today for learning about Alexandria’s past. However, the exhibition spaces below the main library, which have been meticulously curated, are the main draw for visitors. The top exhibit at the Alexandria Museum of Antiquities features statues discovered during underwater archeological excavations in the port. The museum’s collection spans ancient Egypt to the Greco-Roman era. A manuscript museum houses a collection of ancient scrolls and texts below the library.
2. Corniche
As much as any of the city’s monuments, Alexandria’s central Corniche Road, which leads to the waterfront, is a symbol. A walk along the Corniche, particularly the section between Midan’s SaadZaghloul waterfront square and the Qaitbey Fort at the western end of the eastern port, gives a true sense of the cosmopolitan elegance and debauchery of the late 1800s and early 1900s in this city. The Abu Abbas al-Mursi Mosque and the traditional hotels, the Steigenberger Cecil Hotel and the Paradise Inn Windsor Palace Hotel, are the most well-known sights on your walking tour. They appear in the city-set classic Alexandria Quartet novels by Lawrence Durrell.
3.Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqqafa
In the Carmous region, the Kom el-Shuqqafa catacombs are carved into the rock on the hill’s southern slope. Several sarcophagi and loculi chambers were found within them in 1900 after a donkey fell into them. The main race room is accessible from the ground floor via a spiral staircase. The main burial chamber and burial chapel are on the right side. There are 91 loculi, each big enough to hold three or four mummies. The TricliniumFunebre, a large room that would have been used for gala dinners in memory of the deceased, can be found to the left.
4.Qaitbay Fortress
Fort Qaitbey can be reached by traveling west along the Corniche, the Eastern Harbor’s long promenade.
Although it is a poor replacement for the once-mighty Pharos Lighthouse, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 1303, this tall citadel has protected Alexandria since 1480.
Using the ruins of a defunct lighthouse, the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbey constructed the Qaitbey Fort to defend this vital Egyptian port from intruders.
You can look out over the Mediterranean from the roof or explore the stone-walled rooms inside by booking cheap airline tickets.
5.Kom el-Dikka
Until the 1960s, when it was decided to clear the area for the construction of new housing, nobody thought the ancient mound of ruins in the middle of Alexandria was very big.
In the area known as Kom el-Dikka (literally, “mound of ruins”), numerous ancient ruins, including a small Roman theater, were discovered when the work began.
The area is now a small archaeological park that contains Alexandrian remains from the Greco-Roman era.
There are also the remains of several Roman villas, a Ptolemaic temple, and a Roman bath, in addition to the theater.
The bird villa’s well-preserved mosaic floors from the third century were discovered during excavations.
6.Pompey’s Column
The only remaining ancient monument in Alexandria can be found on a hill at Carmous, close to the Kom el-Shuqqafa catacombs. The hill is covered in ancient walls, architectural fragments, and ruins. The famous Serapeion (Temple of Serapis), which was once used to store the excess manuscripts of Alexandria’s Great Library, is where Pompey’s Column rises. Although it was built in 292 AD, this column of red Aswan granite with a Corinthian finial and a height of almost 27 meters actually has nothing to do with Pompey. The badly ruined Serapeion is hard to see, but you can go inside the chambers’ substructures by climbing down the stairs.
7.The underwater ruins of Alexandria
In contrast, ancient underwater ruins are the focus of the dive sites in the Itäinensamata region. Alexandria provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity for divers to dive among the fallen columns and statues of the ancient city. Please be aware that Alexandria dives have poor underwater visibility. However, the majority of recreational diving opportunities are still centered around the eastern harbor for the time being. The most popular spot in the Eastern Harbor, which is also known as “Cleopatra’s Palace” (which is not surprising), was once a posh area, but we will never know if the great lady ever lived there. The underwater experience is fascinating because there are still sphinxes, fallen columns, and numerous statues in this area.
8.National Museum of Alexandria
If you want to learn more about Alexandria’s long history, the National Museum is a must-see. On the ground floor, on the Ptolemaic dynasty founded by Alexander the Great, and on the first floor, on the Byzantine and Islamic eras, there are collections from the time of the pharaohs (in the basement) to the Hellenistic heyday. The main attraction of the museum is the ground floor exhibits, which show the underwater archaeological excavations of the sunken port city of Herakleion-Thonis in the Gulf of Aboukir. The museum does an excellent job of bringing ancient Alexandria to life by providing excellent maps that depict the city as it would have appeared in. visit these historical places in Alexandria by booking cheap airline tickets.
9.Fish restaurants in Alexandria
The city’s fresh seafood draws a lot of tourists to Alexandria. The harborside, where you can eat with a view of the sea, and the working-class neighborhood of Anfushi. The city’s busiest area is Anfushi right after sunset, when traditional cafes spill out onto the street and the smell of grilled fish and sheesha (water pipes) fills the air.
The city’s shipyards are located on QasrRas el-Tin Street. Further down the street is the lively Alexandria Fish Market, a popular spot for photographers in the morning when the haggling is at its peak.
