By air
Borg El Arab (HBE), ~45 km
Africa · Egypt
Alexandria, Egypt
A Mediterranean city of history
Getting there
Best time to visit
May to October — sea breezes
Don't miss
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Citadel of Qaitbay
The Corniche
Pompey's Pillar
Things to do
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Corniche
The Citadel of Qaitbay
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: ASaber91 · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Light layers
A quieter corner
The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa
Questions travellers ask
Which months are best for Alexandria?
May to October, the season of sea breezes. Pack light layers.
What are the main sights in Alexandria?
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Citadel of Qaitbay, Pompey's Pillar and a walk along the Corniche. Don't miss the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, a real hidden gem.
What's the food like in Alexandria?
Seafood by the harbour is the meal to have in this Mediterranean city.
How do I get to Alexandria?
Fly into Borg El Arab (HBE), about 45 km from the city.
About Alexandria
- Coastal
Where it is
Alexandria is Egypt's second-largest city and its main port, stretching for many kilometres along the Mediterranean coast at the western edge of the Nile Delta.
History
Alexander the Great founded the city in 331 BC, and under the Ptolemies it became Egypt's capital and a centre of learning, with its Great Library and the Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It remained a great Roman and Byzantine city until the Arab conquest in 641, declined in the Middle Ages and revived in the 19th century as a cosmopolitan port.
People
Alexandrians speak Egyptian Arabic, and the city was long home to large Greek, Italian, Armenian and Jewish communities whose legacy survives in its cafés, churches and architecture. Seafood is central to local cooking, and the poet Constantine Cavafy and Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet made the city famous in literature.
Known for
- The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
- The Citadel of Qaitbay
- The Corniche along the sea
- The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa
- Seafood restaurants and old cafés
Did you know?
The Citadel of Qaitbay was built in the 15th century on the site of the ancient Pharos lighthouse, and some of the lighthouse's fallen stones were used in its walls.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.