Alexandria Travel Guide

With all the commotion of Cairo and the calming, salty breeze of the Med,  Alexandria is a city like no where else in Egypt.

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. Alexander who is purported to be buried here, famously never made it to Alexandria within his own life time.

Upon completion Alexandria was the Capital of Graeco-Roman Egypt, the backdrop for the romance of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, and the home of the Pharos lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The city thrived once more in the 19th century as a centre of culture and the arts, and was popular with the ‘creatives’ of Europe .

Fashionable with native tourists, foreign visitors often fail to make it to the Egypt's second city.

Just two hours on a comfortable, ventilated train from the capital, if you’re visiting Cairo , it's well worth putting an afternoon or two aside to visit Alexandria , or "Alex", as she is known to her friends.

Alexandria has beaches, but be advised that the good ones are far from town and remain relatively under developed.

Likewise it also has a number of historical ruins, but little to challenge the mighty structures of the Pharoahnic south.

The Citadel at Fort Qaitbey sits on the rocks once occupied by the lighthouse of Alexandria . The Roman's left behind an amphitheatre, catacombs, and most famously a single, solitary column known as Pompey's Pillar.

And 20 Km from town one can wander through the magical gardens of Montazah palace, the former residence of Egypt ’s Royal Family.

But the real treasure of Alexandria is much less tangible. It lies in the all consuming flurry of everyday life, the endless coastal vista, and the lazy café culture that allows one to absorb it all. Click here for Alexandria Itineraries 

Alexandria Travel Guide Links:

• Pompey's Pillar
  
  Pompey's Pillar | the single, solitary column originally erected in honour of the Emperor Diocletain. Constructed in 291 A.D from polished, red granite, and with a nine metre circumference the pillar...
• The Roman Catacombs of Kom es-Shoqafa
  
  The Roman Catacombs of Kom es-Shoqafa | Famously rediscovered when a donkey fell through a hole in 1900, the Roman Catacombs (or Kom El-shouqafa meaning “Mounds of Shards” as they are known locally) are a series of tunnels that make up an ancient cemetery dating back to the 1st century AD.
• Fort Qaitbey
  
  Fort Qaitbey Alexandria | Fort Qaitbey is the fairy tale white fortress which stands guard over Alexandria’s eastern harbour, lending landmark to the city’s seemingly endless coastline
• Itineraries

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