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St Catherine

St Catherine's Village

St Catherine's Village (also known as 'Katreen' or 'Al Milgra') is the small, desert town that exist to accommodate the tourists that come each day to visit Mount Sinaiand the Saint Catherine's Monastery. The area is peaceful and remote, and great care has been taken to ensure that new buildings blend in to the Martian landscape that surround them.

The town is just five minutes in a taxi, or ten to fifteen minutes on foot from the monastery. If you plan to stay in St Catherine, there are a large number of hotels from which to choose. All are well used to people rising early for the moonlight trek up Mount Sinai. They can provide transport to/from the mountain, early morning breakfast and midnight snacks. They also do a roaring trade in torches, batteries and woolly hats.

 

Although most visitors to Saint Catherine come primarily to see the Monastery and Mount Sinai, the region has considerably more to offer.

 

With the highest Mountain in Egypt, opportunities for trekking and rock climbing are among the best in the Middle East. In addition to St Catherine's Monastery, there are some 200 other religious sites including monasteries, churches, and ruins of Byzantine monastic settlements. And there are also many beautiful gardens too, created and tended to by the Jebeliya Bedouin who have inhabited the region for the last 1400 years.

 

By far the best resource about the St Catherine's region is www.st-katherine.net. Please visit them for further information about any of the above.

 

Transport to/from:

 

From Cairo

 

Saint Catherine can be reached by road from a number of other destinations within Sinai and mainland Egypt. Regular East Delta buses run to/from Cairo (6-7hours), with buses arriving and departing from Cairo's Turgoman bus station.

 

From Dahab and Nuweiba

 

Buses to/from Dahab and Nuweiba have recently ceased to operate. A more reliable option is to hire a share taxi locally. Price is roughly 200 - 250 Egyptian pounds for the whole vehicle however prices vary depending on your negotiation skills.

 

Most hotels offer trips via mini bus to Saint Catherine's for those wishing to make the overnight climb up Mount Sinai.

 

Sharm El Sheikh

 

To travel from Sharm to Saint Catherine the best option is to go via El Tur. You can take a share taxi to El Tur. From there, there are two mini buses a day which leave for St Catherine from outside the Mecca Hotel at 2pm and 9pm.

 

Distances from St Catherine to other Egyptian towns and cities:

 

Cairo: 425km

Nuweiba: 110km

Dahab:  130km

Sharm El Sheikh: 230km

Taba: 170km

 


St Catherin's Village Links:

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