Egypt is a favourite vacation destination for many holiday seekers the world over. For centuries, the biggest attractions continue to be the abundance of historical treasures- temples, pyramids and museums contained in this land of the pharaohs.

Ancient Egypt however offers more than just the wonders of antiquity. Cruises down the Nile Rivers as well as beach vacations at the Red Sea and Sinai resorts are also interesting attractions.

Just like in ancient times, the Nile sustains the country and upto 95% of the population live in close proximity of the river. The rest of Egypt is arid, mitigated only by a few isolated oases and the habitable narrow strips along the African Red Sea and the Mediterranean coastlines.

Egypt is best seen as six tourist super-sites. This covers the most popular destinations and excludes off-the-beaten-track locations. The six super-sites are anchored on: Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada on the Red Sea and Sharm El Sheikh in Sinai. Save for Luxor, none of these destinations relies entirely on ancient monuments to attract visitors.

Cairo is a huge, sprawling and chaotic metropolis and is the usual gateway for the visitor to Egypt.The city began as a Roman trading post called Babylon- in the area now referred to as Coptic Cairo. This area was a settlement of one of the world’s first Christian communities. This predominantly Christian locale houses a museum that is a repository of religious art, manuscripts, paintings and pottery.

Egypt vacations and tours aficionados will easily tuck in trips to see museums, mosques and monuments such as Pyramids and the Sphinx. To commemorate your visit to this unforgettable city, it is recommended that you visit the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar. The wide array of souvenirs on sale here includes jewelry, brass, silver and copperware, carpets, perfumes, alabaster and soapstone carvings.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 9:05 am and is filed under Egypt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.