Overview to Egypt: Travel Guide and Tourist Information
In travel terms, Egypt is practically shorthand for ‘exotic’. A land of unmatchable grandeur and staggering visual spectacle, not only is it home to some of the world's most impressive manmade structures, but it boasts some truly remarkable natural treasures as well.
Snaking through the country is the River Nile, which has been the geographical, industrial, economic and cultural spine of life in Egypt for several millennia. And it’s here in the Nile Valley that the majority of the country’s unsurpassable cultural riches can be found.
The iconic Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx are complemented by the mosques, bazaars and historical monuments of nearby Cairo. Not far from Cairo, Karnak has two UNESCO-protected temples at Luxor and there's also the Theban Necropolis, home to the awe-inspiring Valley of the Kings.
In addition to the archaeological treasures of the Nile Valley, in the south of the country lies the vast temple complex of Abu Simbel (or the ‘Nubian Monuments’) carved out of bare rock on the shores of Lake Aswan.
In between the towns and cities, a remarkable landscape stretches away. Over 90% of the country is made up of desert: out to the west, the vast shifting sands of the Great Sand Sea and the Western Desert roll on interminably, broken only by the occasional palm-lined oasis.
And down the east coasts, the reefs of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba (off the Sinai Peninsular) are home to an abundance of sea life that’s put them firmly on the diving and snorkeling map.
There’s a magic which, even long after the romantic days of the Grand Tour, still clings to traveling in Egypt. An ancient place of mystery and magnificent monuments which are offset by striking landscapes and stunning coastlines, it could hardly be a more evocative (or complete) destination.
