A tale of two holidays: beach and city holidays in Egypt

The term ‘outdoor museum’ gets knocked around a lot these days, particularly in reference to the city of Rome and several of the Greek islands as well as the capital Athens. This is not an unfair description of these places; the sheer number of ancient landmarks still standing for us to admire and photograph is truly remarkable. However, another place that perhaps claims a greater stake in this outdoor museum definition is Egypt. From the Pyramids to the Sphinx, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, Thebes and Karnak, Egypt is dotted with remnants of just one ancient civilization, and being one of the most powerful, intelligent, creative and industrious, the landmarks still induce questions, conundrums and gasps of amazement.

Obviously, there is much to see in Egypt, however 95% of it is comprised of desert. The remaining amount is a fertile valley running along the banks of the Nile from where the majority of the Ancient Egyptian sights can be found as well as the bustling, crowded, chaotic but endearing capital city of Cairo.

However, not everyone comes to Egypt for its history. A huge number of tourists come to its beaches. Whether in Hurghada or the peninsula resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh, tourists flock in their millions to plush, modern hotels, palm lined beaches and oasis like swimming pools. However, for many the real draw isn’t what’s on land, but what’s in the water. The Red Sea lays claim to some of the best scuba diving and snorkelling in the world. From vibrant coloured coral reefs to preserved-in-time shipwrecks, the sea is alive with activity, colour and intrigue. Here you can swim with giant manta rays, warily admire reef sharks and snap rainbow coloured fish with your underwater camera.

Egypt offers something quite unique. There are few places that offer so much of so many things. However, the country is large, as we mentioned above it’s mostly desert and the roads aren’t exactly well maintained; therefore two-centre holidays are advisable if you want to make the most of this incredibly country. A great way to get the most for your money is with a cruise and stay package. You can cruise along the Nile, the flowing heart of Egypt’s ancient and modern culture from Cairo to Aswan and then you can hop on over to Hurghada for a relaxing beach break or scuba diving trip.

This entry was posted on 26/09/2011 at 02:34 pm and is filed under Recommended Holidays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.