Walk Like an Egyptian.
In 2016 our family took a trip to Egypt in celebration of Jake’s 30th birthday. It was our favorite family vacation to date and was full of fun and adventure.
Only having 5 days to explore the ancient country, we made it to Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria. Some day we look forward to going back to visit Valley of the Kings and the Red Sea, but for now we’re elated with the wonders we’ve seen.
A list of musts when visiting Egypt:
The Great Pyramids… I know, I know, this is totally obvious but it still needs to be on the list of critical things to explore. Give yourself an entire day and bring lots of sunscreen and water. If you’re traveling with a 4 and 7 year old like we were, you might want to consider taking a carriage to the top.
The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities Can you believe that you’ll be bored with an over abundance of mummies and King Tut’s treasures? Well, believe it. This museum is one of the most incredible things we experienced but this place would take days to explore freely so prioritize a list. We purchased our tickets at the door and paid a little extra for a guide to help us find the things that were important to us
Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great. Alexandria is home to The Great Library, necropolis, and citadel. The city is only a few hour car ride from Cairo. We didn’t book anything in advance, just grabbed a cab outside our hotel and paid him for the day to drive us around. We made it a day trip starting and ending in Cairo.
Khan El Khalili is an outdoor craft market with both high end crafts and touristy trinkets. It’s a great place to check out and enjoy the array of colorful attractions.
At the time we visited Egypt there was virtually no Western tourism. It was a huge blow to the economy. In our week in Egypt we only saw one other couple -who happened to be from California as well. We also went during Ramadan (so I don’t have many foodie recommendations because…well, we had a very hard time finding any).
We met some amazing people in Egypt. Everyone was unbelievably kind. We loved talking with random people, hearing their stories about life, family, and politics. It was an incredibly eye-opening and humbling experience to have the opportunity to listen to strangers open up and share their hearts.
We studied ancient Egypt for months before visiting. Seeing this amazing country and it’s treasures truly made history come alive.