One of the largest and most advanced ancient civilizations lived in Egypt for millennia, building temples, palaces and monuments that are still visible to us after 5000 years. Crossed by the Nile River for 1500 kilometers, most of Egypt’s attractions are found right along this legendary fertile river, where life has been flowing for millennia, well before Cleopatra or Ramesses arrived. Today we will take you to discover the best things to see and do in Egypt!
Pyramids of Giza
Whenever we talk about Egypt, the first thing we think of for sure are the three great pyramids of Cheops, Chefren and Menkaure looming beyond the outskirts of Cairo. They are the only remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and have fascinated tourists from all over the world for over 4,000 years.
Today we know that these are gigantic tombs built by order of the pharaohs, but how they managed to build them is still a mystery. The same can be said of the mysterious sphinx located a few steps from the pyramids, whose function is still disputed by archaeologists around the world.
Egyptian Museum of Cairo
Whether you are an archeology lover or not in a particular way, you cannot miss a visit to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which houses the most complete collection in the world of archaeological finds from ancient Egypt.
Here you can see the famous treasure of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, found in his tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1923 by the archaeologist Carter, including three sarcophagi and a magnificent funerary mask (also in gold).
The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens
The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are located near Luxor and represent the vast royal necropolis of ancient Thebes. The Valley of the Kings is set in a canyon formed by ancient rivers and contains over 60 tombs of the pharaohs, including the famous Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Ramses III and Seti I.
The tombs are decorated with beautiful representations of the afterlife and were filled with enormous treasures that had sadly been looted before centuries.
Take a luxury cruise on the Nile
One of the things I recommend doing in Egypt is a fantastic luxury Nile cruise. It is a 6650 km long North African river and fights for the primacy as the longest river in the world, which stood millions of years ago with the Amazon, the Nile River covers 7 countries; Berundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt and each country has its own way of investing the Nile in the economic, agricultural and industrial sectors.
It is around 31 million years old, so the Nile has a great civilization and a great history to see from the time of our Egyptian pharaohs to the present day. The luxury cruise on the Nile is certainly a wonderful experience to do with friends or family and it will be an unforgettable experience.
Abu Simbel
The Abu Simbel archaeological complex was built by Ramses II on the kingdom’s ancient southern border, away from Aswan, to intimidate his Nubian neighbors and to commemorate the victory over the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh.
The site features two magnificent rock temples of enormous size, which are an engineering masterpiece and confirm the great astronomical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. In fact, inside the largest temple, twice a year, the first ray of sunlight illuminated the face of the statue of the Pharaoh.
Colossi of Memnon
The Colossi of Memnon are the remains of one of the largest Egyptian temples: the funerary complex erected by Amenhotep III in Thebes. Each of them, consisting of a block of marble, is 18 meters high and was famous in ancient times, when one could hear noises due to their progressive deterioration.
This mysterious sound led the Greeks to believe that the statues represented the divine Memnon, who every morning greeted his mother Eos, goddess of the dawn.
Saqqara
The Saqqara archaeological site is located about kilometers south of Cairo and is one of the largest archaeological sites in the entire country.
Its most important monument is the pyramid of Djoser, considered the oldest of the pyramids, the name derives from the god Sokar, patron of the Saqqara was in fact the royal necropolis of Menfi, when the city was the capital and in the following centuries it remained an important burial place.
