A holiday in Egypt rewards with history, culture and a landscape as old as time. There’s always an opportunity to live another life in Egypt and you can choose the life to lead. From walking in Cleopatra’s footsteps beneath the lighthouse at Alexandria to treading the twisted alley ways of T.E. Lawrence’s Cairo, or sleuthing in Hercule Poirot’s footsteps on the Nile, the worlds of fact, fantasy, history and hearsay collide in this fascinating bipolar land of the ancient and ultra-modern.

A country of extremes, Egypt’s charms range from the soothing beaches of the Red Sea and Sinai to the blistering dunes of the western deserts; from the serene tranquillity of a Taba resort to the frantic souks at the heart of Cairo. Holidays in Egypt can be as active or laidback as you like, and it’s a safe bet you’ll come across attractions you’ve never seen elsewhere.
Of course there’s the Egypt we all know, the land of the Pharaohs. On everybody’s hit list is Giza; the pyramids and Sphinx and further afield Karnak and Luxor for more monumental majesty. Consider a Nile cruise, the sunsets are magical and if you get down to the Aswan area don’t miss a cruise on the Nubian Sea where you’ll visit historic sites painstakingly relocated when the Aswan high dam was built.

For a spot of adventure, head way out west on a 4WD safari. Out here you’ll be dune bashing like never before, and you’ll come across Bedouin culture and authentic oases where you can cool your heels in the lap of luxury in five star hotels and safari camps. When you’ve chilled out, grab a camel train for a four-legged cruise on the Great Sea of Sand.

If chilling out in the Egyptian heat is your scene, you’re well served with great resorts, coral reefs and diving along the Red Sea; probably not as good as our own beach culture, but you can’t beat it for an exotic atmosphere.

Cairo’s population is 18 million during the day and 16 million at night

Eucalyptus trees grow everywhere

The Sphinx was cut from a single piece of limestone