Ports of Call | Main Ports Of Egypt
Cruise ships arrive year-round in Egypt at several ports both along the northern Mediterranean Coast and in the Red Sea in the east. From all of these locations, it is easy to organize short daylong or two-day trips to see some of the most significant sights in Egypt.
The ports of call include Alexandria and Port Said on the Mediterranean, both of which are only two or three hours drive from Cairo and the Giza Pyramids.
Along the Red Sea Coast, ships dock in Safaga and Ain Sukhna, the last of which is only an hour driving from Cairo. Safaga provides easy day access to the wealth of sights around Luxor, known as the world’s largest open-air museum.
Alexandria Port:
Alexandria is Egypt’s second city and it has the largest port which is ideally located to provide access to a wide variety of sites. It is considered one of the most visited tourist attractions in Egypt after Giza, Luxor, and Aswan.
The city of Alexandria itself offers an array of interesting sites from the Greco-Roman Period of Egypt’s history, including the rock-cut tombs of Kom Al-Shoqafa, which is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. Also, The breathtaking memorial of Al-Alamein, commemorating the sacrifices on both sides of one of the most important battles of World War II, is also only 65 miles west of Alexandria.
The city is only three-hour drive along the edges of the Nile Delta that leads to Cairo, where there is an incomparable wealth of sights to see.
Port Said:
This port sits at the intersection of the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. The city of Port Said was founded in 1859 as the canal was being constructed and it grew up as the ‘gateway to Asia’, a crossroads for travelers and sailors alike.
This was the proposed site for ‘The Light of Asia’, the giant statue that became the Statue of Liberty in New York’s harbor after the original proposal was turned down as too expensive.
This beautiful city offers easy day trip access to Alexandria, Cairo, and the monasteries of Wadi Al Natrun, as well as more minor archeological sites in the Delta at Tanis and Rosetta.
Safaga Port:
This southern Red Sea port is far from the sights of the Nile Delta and Cairo that Egypt’s other ports service. Safaga Port is the only port of call in Egypt that provides visitors access to the most amazing ancients sights of Upper Egypt. Both Aswan and Luxor are accessible by day trips from Safaga.
Luxor is the city that has the greatest concentration of Ancient Egyptian monuments in the country, earning the nickname, “The Largest Outdoor Museum in the World”.
Aswan city allows visitors to access to the most amazing sights from the ancient history of Egypt, as well as the unique Nubian cultural of Egypt’s south.
El Ain El Sokhna:
One of the most beautiful destinations to visit while in Egypt is El Ain El Sokhna. This coastal village has been developed as a beach getaway for Cairo, accessible by a trip of fewer than two hours from the city. To cruise passengers, El Ain El Sukhna provides easy access to all of the sights of Cairo from the Giza Pyramids and Egyptian Museum to the Islamic Cairo.
It is also possible to take excursions into the Eastern Desert to explore this sparsely populated area as well as the ruins of Christian monasteries and Roman mining operations there.
The mountains of the Eastern Desert have been mined for thousands of years. This is believed to be the source of the rock used to build some of the most famous monuments in Rome, such as the Pantheon.
Points Of Interest: