El Alamein Getting there & around

Getting there & away

The easiest option is to organise a car and English-speaking driver through Mena Tours (480 9676; menatoursalx@yahoo.com;9am-5pm Sat-Thu), based next to the Cecil Hotel in Alexandria. This will cost approximately E£450 to E£500 per car. A private taxi will charge E£200 to E£300 to take you to the War Museum, ferry you around the cemeteries and bring you back to Alexandria.

Alternatively, catch any of the Marsa Matruh buses from the Al-Mo’af al-Gedid long-distance bus station in Alexandria. You’ll be dropped on the main road about 200m down the hill from the War Museum.

Service taxis, mostly microbuses, sometimes leave from Al-Mo’af al-Gedid in Alexandria and cost about E£8 to E£10. You can pick up one of these from El Alamein back to Alexandria or to head further west to Sidi Abdel Rahman. Some travellers have found the return trip to Alexandria more of a challenge. You’ll need to flag down the minibus by the side of the highway.

Charter flights have recently started operating from the UK and Germany to El Alamein airport in combination with a week’s stay at the Mövenpick El Alamein Resort & Spa (for more details, see right).