Daytrip to Alexandria

We are winding down and preparing to go home after an amazing month in Egypt. Our original plan included a tentative day trip to Alexandria. We weren’t sure if we would have the energy and time to add this trip in but we had a day that we could do it in, and we are here, so we did it.

The hostel arranged for a driver to pick us up and chauffeur us around for 10 hours. Alexandria is a good 3 hour drive away. It cost us around $100, but where else can you get a good private driver for that length of time? We opted out of a guide. Between our Lonely Planet Guidebook and the internet, we were fine.

Alexandria is a Mediterranean port city in Egypt. It was founded in 331 B.C. by Alexander the Great and grew rapidly. It eventually became the capital of Egypt until 642 AD.

It is best known for the huge Lighthouse of Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; it’s Great Library, the largest and most significant library of the ancient world; and the Necropolis, on of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.

Our plan was to see:
- the Catacombs of Kom El-Shouqafa
- Bombay's Pillar in the Necropolis
- the Citadel of Qaitbay
- the huge Mosque built in 1775
- the new Library of Alexandria
- the 10 mile long corniche or waterfront promenade

We left at 7 a.m., picked up a couple of Costa real coffees and were on our way but … the driver Hussein wanted to treat us to some breakfast falafels and water so we stopped at his brother’s shop to pick them up. Now we were in our way.

The traffic in Cairo is sparse at 7 a.m. so we made great time getting out of this big city, 45 minutes. The highway looks new and we just zipped along. There wasn’t a lot to see, farmland and some new ‘subdivisions’. Shortly after 10 a.m., we arrived in Alexandria and headed for the catacombs.Read more