Egypt's second city unfairly overlooked (Alexandria)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Alexandria
Date:	20/07/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well connected to Cairo, plenty to sightsee and places to relax

Disadvantages: Cheap accomodation a bit limited

Alexandria is Egypt's 2nd city, small compared to Cairo but still a pretty large city by European standards with a population of over 4 million. The name always stood out for me due to its history as a major Hellenistic city and the trade center between the Nile and Greece. I didn't know what would remain though and had tried to catch a glimpse of what I believed to be it on the flight over from Cyprus but in retrospect probably hadn't got that close.

I'd been in Cairo for at least a month and Alexandria was to make a nice little break from the hustle and bustle of the capital. Egyptians can tend to become a bit annoying after a while, so me and a fellow lodger at the New Sun Hotel decided to sea if things were more relaxed by the sea (also the busiest port city mind).

Both of us were known in downtown Cairo and therefore left alone by the hustlers who knew their attempts would prove unsuccesful (they tend to give up on the 2nd week), we were fresh meat to the Alexandrians thogh so were hassled quite a bit but not quite to the extent as when someone arrives in Cairo for the first time.

Alexandria had a lot of enjoyable markets, a long coastline where it was fun to walk along the rocks or eventually the beach, an absolutely stunning fort, the famous Biblioteca Alexandrina which looks pretty cool from the outside (can't say I bothered entering unfortunately). The best sightseeing opportunities for me apart from the fort, were Montazah Palace located 8km or so away (I've reviewed this seperately) and the wonderfully dark and slightly morbid Catacombs of Kom ash-Shuqqafa. The fishing boats down in Anfushi also make for an interesting sight. We also noted at the time that the prettiest Egyptian girls were in Alexandria!

One of my regrets whilst being in Egypt is not having taken a train and I want to return for this very reason, the fact is that the air-conditioned buses that run from Cairo to Alexandria and back are comfortable, cheap, regular and unbelievably straight-forward.

The budget hotel options are not as good as in Cairo, there's an International Youth Hostel on the outskirts of town which is kind of in the middle of nowhere and the staff didn't seem keen to give a room and a handful of cheap options in the center which are about double the price of similar accomodation in the capital (still pretty cheap though at around £40 egyptian. Medium priced options are fairly plentiful and you can expect to find all the big hotels too.

Overall, I'd say Alexandria is definitely worth a visit - I had a good time and there's enough to keep you occupied for a few days, it's also a great place to visit on the way to Siwa or Marsa Matruh.

Summary: Have some sugar cane juice, grilled fish and a yam!