Must-see attractions in Alexandria

  • Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

    Bibliotheca Alexandrina

    Alexandria

    Alexandria’s ancient library was one of the greatest of all classical institutions, and while replacing it might seem a Herculean task, the new…

  • Exhibits at the Alexandria National Museum.

    Alexandria National Museum

    Alexandria

    This excellent museum sets a high benchmark with its summary of Alexandria’s past. Housed in a beautifully restored Italianate villa, the small but…

  • Mahmoud Said Museum

    Alexandria

    Mahmoud Said (1897–1964) was one of Egypt’s finest 20th-century artists, even though he is little known outside his country. A judge by profession, he…

  • Catacombs of Kom Ash Shuqqafa

    Alexandria

    Discovered accidentally in 1900 when a donkey disappeared through the ground, these catacombs make up the largest-known Roman burial site in Egypt and one…

  • Kom Al Dikka

    Alexandria

    Kom Al Dikka was a well-off residential area in Graeco-Roman times, with lovely villas, bathhouses and a theatre. The area was known at the time as the…

  • Fort Qaitbey

    Alexandria

    The Eastern Harbour is dominated by the bulky walls of Fort Qaitbey, built on a narrow peninsula over the remains of the legendary Pharos lighthouse by…

  • Mosque of Abu Abbas Al Mursi

    Alexandria

    This stately mosque was built over the tomb of a revered 13th-century Sufi saint, Abu Abbas Al Mursi, from Murcia in Spain. Several successive mosques…

  • Cavafy Museum

    Alexandria

    The Alexandrian-Greek poet Constantine Cavafy spent his last 25 years in an apartment above a brothel on the former Rue Lepsius, a flat now preserved as…

  • Mamoura Beach

    Alexandria

    About 1km east of Montazah, Mamoura is the ‘beachiest’ of Alexandria’s beaches. There’s a cobblestone boardwalk with a few ice cream shops and food stalls…

  • Antiquities Museum

    Alexandria

    The Antiquities Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has a well-curated exhibition of artefacts that romp from the Pharaonic, through the Greek and Roman…

  • Museum of Modern Art

    Alexandria

    This wonderful and little-visited collection of 16th- to 20th-century paintings reflecting the city's cosmopolitan flair is housed in an old villa. Some…

  • Terbana Mosque

    Alexandria

    The beautiful little Terbana Mosque stands at the junction of Sharia Faransa and Wekalet Al Limon. This entire quarter, known as Gumruk, is located on…

  • Shipyards

    Alexandria

    Where northern Anfushi hits the sea, you can wander among huge wooden vessels in various states of construction. In small workshops, craftspeople make…

  • Montazah Palace Gardens

    Alexandria

    The 19th-century Montazah palace is off-limits, but the surrounding lush gardens are prime strolling territory. There’s an attractive sandy cove here with…

  • Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue

    Alexandria

    Among the largest synagogues in the Middle East, this magnificent Italian-built structure served Alexandria’s once-thriving and cosmopolitan Jewish…

  • Herakleion-Thonis

    Alexandria

    For archaeologists the discovery of the port of Herakleion-Thonis in Aboukir has been a triumph. Excavations have revealed a huge amount of treasure…

  • Cleopatra's Palace

    Alexandria

    This royal-quarter area in the Eastern Harbour has yielded some of Alexandria's most interesting underwater antiquities. Today divers can see a couple of…

  • Pharos Island

    Alexandria

    This site, just offshore from Fort Qaitbey, contains sphinxes, columns, capitals and statues dating from the Pharaonic, Greek and Roman eras as well as…

  • World of Shadi Abdel Salam

    Alexandria

    The World of Shadi Abdel Salam, named for the late cult-film director, painter, script writer and set designer born in Alexandria in 1930, shows a display…

  • Ras El Tin Palace

    Alexandria

    Along Alexandria's western shore, past the shipyards, you’ll spot Ras El Tin Palace. It is most spectacular seen from the Mediterranean Sea. Originally…

  • Coptic Cemetery

    Alexandria

    The Shatby area of central Alexandria has been a home to the city's necropolis for centuries, although this Coptic cemetery is a more recent (for…

  • Manuscript Museum

    Alexandria

    The Manuscript Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina hosts a beautifully displayed collection of ancient texts, antiquarian books and maps, including a…

  • Planetarium

    Alexandria

    The planetarium at Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a futuristic neon-lit sphere, looming on the plaza like a mini Death Star from Star Wars. It shows 3D films…

  • Miami Beach

    Alexandria

    Miami Beach (pronounced me-ami) has a sheltered cove with a water slide and jungle gym set up in the sea for kids to frolic on, but note that these get…

  • Jewish Cemetery

    Alexandria

    This intimate walled Jewish cemetery has largely escaped vandalism and is pretty well kept. The many graves stand as lonely reminders of Alexandria's once…

  • Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

    Alexandria

    This neoclassical monument is a tribute to the Egyptians who lost their lives in the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel.

  • Stanley Beach

    Alexandria

    On a tiny bay with the old Stanley Bridge soaring above it, this beach has a modest patch of sand for bathing backed by three levels of beach cabins. The…

  • Shorbagi Mosque

    Alexandria

    The picturesque Shorbagi Mosque lies at the heart of the old Ottoman Anfushi district. Built in the mid-18th century, it shows how salvaged remnants of…

  • Mosque of Al Qaid Ibrahim

    Alexandria

    This massive mosque, built in the 1940s, is a major landmark. It played an important role in the 2011 revolution as a gathering point for many of the city…

  • Statue of Mohammed Ali

    Alexandria

    This statue of Mohammed Ali, Egypt's modernising 19th-century ruler, presides over Midan Tahrir.