Wadi Natrun Getting there & around

Getting there & away

You can catch a West Delta Co bus to the less than inviting town functioning as the gateway to the monasteries that goes by the grandiloquent name of Wadi Natrun City. These leave from Cairo’s Turgoman Garage every 30 minutes between 6am and 10pm and cost E£5 to E£10. From the bus lot at Wadi Natrun City, you’ll have to negotiate with a taxi driver to take you around the monasteries; expect to pay around E£20 per hour. On Fridays and Sundays, when the monasteries are crowded with pious Copts, you can easily pick up a lift. The last bus back to Cairo leaves at 6pm.

A taxi from Cairo should cost about E£150 to E£200 there and back, including a couple of hours driving around the monasteries. If you have your own vehicle and you’re coming from Cairo, take the Saqqara Rd and turn onto the Cairo–Alexandria Desert Hwy. After about 95km (just after the rest house and petrol station), turn left into the wadi, drive another 4km or so to Wadi Natrun City and continue on, following the signs pointing to the monasteries.