Alexandria Travel Forum

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of anywhere to go instead of sharm? I've heard so much about it being built up and toristy,it sounds like one big nightmare. what are the beaches, people, culture, places to stay like around Alexandria? Or perhaps other areas around the red sea? We went to thailand for two months last year, and i guess we're looking for this same sort of relaxed friendly atmosphere, that makes it easy and enjoyale to travel and have the time of your life.

People and culture in Alexandria are just great, fantastic. It is a city bubbling with life, culture and diversity. Muslim, Copt, Jewish, Greek, pharaonic, ptolemaic, Roman, early Christian, Ottoman, modern history: you name it, Alexandria has it.
Not to mention the food!
It is one of my favorite cities in the world.
There are some nice beaches in the city (they are often crowded) but outside Alexandria there are very nice places where the Cairo elite comes and spend the summer months, although I would not go to Alexandria for the beaches.

not only Alexanderia is too crowded is the summer, It is far beyond that . Dont be any where near Alexanderia in the Summer. My cousine has an Apartment in Alexanderia but it usually empty in the summer and used by us in the other seasons, I personally love going there in winter.

The north coast between Alexanderia and Marsa Matrooh is very nice esp Marina. Which I think has a hotel that is booked during summer time. Mars Matrooh is also nice. The North coast has pleanty of Hotels and beaches that serve Egyptians and Lybians on summer vacation. Hopefully some body will come up with a good suggestion.

Unfourtinatiouly I never visited the red sea but I hear that Marsa Alam and Alqusair are not crowded at all.

Good luck

To able to help you people will probably want to know your age, sex, family status, do you have Kids?. all this will come into play. For example if you want to be able to go a disco and party all night long and get drunk than forget about the North coast. The North coast is for more conservative Egyptian/Libyan families.

Sharm and the red sea is more for international toursit and has more relaxed (less conservative) atmosphere.

Nuweiba...

If you want a beautiful beach destination with great unspoilt empty beaches, excellent snorkelling, lovely, cosy natural atmosphere and with plenty to see nearby ( the mountains, canyons, St Catherine, Pharaohs Island etc etc etc ), then its got to be...

Nuweiba.

Check my VT pages

True too: I was in Alexandria in both summer and winter (February).
Alexandria is a city for all seasons...

thankyou for your responses. In answer to your questions doctor, we are a couple in our 20's, we are not interested in disco's or clubbing. I have a quote from our guide book on sharm el sheikh "Las Vagas-style strip with all the charm of a shopping mall. Loud music, fast food, unimaginative architecture and hordes of aimlessly wandering package tourists make an unimpressive mixture for anyone looking to get away from it all" this is exactly what we would like to avoid. Although we are keen to dive and snorkle as we have our PADI diving certificates. We will be in Egypt from Aug 11th - Sept 19th and really just want to relax, see lots of culture, meet fellow travellers and egyptians, and not get too caught up in americanised tourism.

Since you are divers: have you read about the underwater archeological sites of Alexandria?

We're not really divers, just did our padi last year, have not dived since so will have to do a refreshers course. Quite nervous about diving again, but still would like to have another go.

Alexandria is simple a city, but it has its charm with slower pace than other big cities. There are great restaurants and dessert shop. There are a few dives cites near the fort/light house which are very famous, but each dive cost at least US$50 due to monopoly operator. As for beach/resort type of places, I personally recommend Dabah or those town along the Gulf of Aqaba (except Sharm). You know a bit of Sharm, so I say no more. Dabah is quite and charming. You can do diving there at about US$22 per dive. Reefs are nice. There are plenty of restaurants by the bay for lunch or dinner. Even a cup of afternoon tea is an enjoyment. You can easily spend a week or so there. Cheers

Hi, if you're looking for "same sort of relaxed friendly atmosphere" as in Thailand, Dahab is the perfect place to go:
Although close to Sharm (90 km from Sharm airport), it is the total opposite: a pure travellers/backpackers place, consisting of small nice hotels and camps (often run by Europeans living here), lots of little restaurants with good and cheap food where you sit on the floor and enjoy a Shisha after dinner, listening to reggae music.
And they are about 50 diving schools, and lots of tour operators which offer trips, from 1-day-trip by jeep to an oasis up to 2-weeks camel-safari.

Have a look here:
http://www.dahab.net/html/home_gb.html
www.bishbishi.com
www.sea-and-c.de
http://www.christinahotels.com/e/index.html
www.penguindivers.com

I would not go to Alexandria for the beaches, because in summer they are crowded with locals anjoying their holiday, and it can be difficult for Westerners in particualr for women (you can't wear bathing suits on this beaches as local women are totally covered).

Best,
A.

It is true: Alexandria is the place where the local people are going to to escape the heath of summer. It is a beautiful place, but if you are going there for the beaches; you don't want to be here. On most beaches women aren't allowed to ware the bathingsuites we are used to, only on some private beaches.

And Alex is situated on the Mediteranean Sea, not the Red Sea.

For the Red Sea:
Alvin's Nuweiba is quiet and good. Close to the Israel and Jordanian border.
Dahab is a perfect, relaxed place with beautiful diving and snorkling places. The Blue Hole is magnificent and world famous. Dahab managed to keep some of the atmosphere it had during the 70ties, when it was very popular with hippies in their way to India.
Also the former mentioned Marsa Alam is a yet undiscovered place (I wonder for how long....?) that is very popular with divers.

Good luck, Dora.

thankyou all so much, you're info is great. I think we will def head to dahab, and then maybe to alexandria at the end of august just to see it as a city. Cheers

Good Choice!!!!

The best remembrance I have of Alex was the picknick we had on Miami Beach. We went to a fish shop in one of the streets, chose our fish and had it prepared the way we liked. We bought some extra bread and drinks and had a great meal!!

Take a look at my Egypt pages for some pictures and tips.

Love, Dora.