Alexandria Day Trip

قلعة قايتباي، الإسكندرية

Mediterranean breeze, a fort on the lighthouse site, and the new great library

⚠ Foreigners pay dollar train fares

Hours

Qaitbay daily 9am–8pm; library Sun–Thu 9:30am–5pm, Sat 10am–2pm; catacombs 9am–4pm (per Wikivoyage, October 2024)

Tickets

Citadel, library and catacombs EGP 150 each for foreigners (October 2024, may have risen). Train AC2 one-way about $35 for foreigners (October 2025)

Address

Pinned at Qaitbay Citadel on the Mediterranean; the library and catacombs are elsewhere in town

Under three hours from Cairo by train, and the air changes as soon as you step out: damp sea breeze, and faded European-style buildings lining the Corniche. Where the ancient Pharos lighthouse stood, the 15th-century Qaitbay Citadel squares up to the Mediterranean. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina's tilted disc roof hides a vast terraced reading room. And the Kom el-Shoqafa catacombs, three levels deep, mix Egyptian and Roman styles in a single tomb.