Sharm El Sheikh’s Best Holiday Excursions By Claire Bryant
A holiday in Egypt’s diving Mecca of Sharm El Sheikh is the perfect place to enjoy snorkelling, scuba diving and ample watersports. With the famous Red Sea located on one side of the resort and Mount Sinai on the other there are so many incredible destinations that you can visit from the resort, with many of the excursions bookable from most hotels in Egypt, here is a selection of our favourites:
Cairo by Plane
Egypt’s capital is located just a one hour flight from Sharm El Sheikh and no holiday in Egypt is complete without a trip. A day gives you plenty of time to visit all the wonderful sites, which of course include Giza’s Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. Riding up to the Pyramids on a dusty camel is one of those quintessential experiences that no holiday in Egypt should be without. The next stop on your Cairo itinerary should be a visit to the Egyptian Museum, which contains, amongst other items, antiquities from the tomb of Tutankhamen, including the Pharaohs famous funeral mask. Your day-trip ends with a spot of shopping at the Khan Khali Bazaar, which has souks that stretch for miles and which offer all manner of Arabian treasures from effigies of Ancient Egyptian Gods to fragrant incense and faux designer goods.
Mount Moses and St Catherine’s Monastery
Mount Moses is another destination that you can visit on an excursion from Sharm during your holidays in Egypt. The tour is bookable from most hotels
in Egypt and is of particular religious significance to those of Christian, Jewish or Islamic religions, as Mount Moses is said to be the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. Although Moses is considered to be one of the most important prophets in Islam, to Muslims this site also holds further religious significance as it is the place where Muhammad’s horse is said to have ascended to heaven. Sunset from the top of the mountain is considered to be truly spectacular. Whilst on your holiday in Egypt many people also take time to visit St. Catherine’s Monastery which was built on the site of Moses’ burning bush and is nowadays inhabited by monks from the Greek Orthodox religion.
Blue Hole Safari
If you have chosen a holiday in Egypt’s diving hotspot – Sharm el Sheikh – there will be plenty of opportunities for discovering theunderwater world However, a Blue Hole Safari day trip to Dahab, another diving hotspot, is an experience you will remember long after you return from your holidays in Egypt. There is only one other blue hole in the world, located in Belize, and the phenomena is caused by a submarine pothole cave. En route to the area you will pass through Bedouin houses and tombs where you will have the opportunity to look around for a while before arriving at the Blue Hole, where you’ll be able to snorkel. After snorkelling for around an hour your tour guide will drive you to Dahab, where you can spend some time shopping in the many traditional bazaars for papyrus and perfumes before heading back to your hotel in Egypt.
