Alexandria Day Tour: Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qaitbay Fort & Catacombs

Leave Cairo early and follow the desert highway to the Mediterranean coast, arriving in Alexandria — the city founded by Alexander the Great and made legendary by Cleopatra — by mid-morning. Begin at the striking Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the modern reincarnation of the ancient world's greatest library, with its tilted disc reflecting sunlight onto the sea and museums of manuscripts within.

Continue along the Corniche to the Citadel of Qaitbay, the 15th-century fort built on the exact foundations of the fallen Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. From its ramparts, gaze across the eastern harbor where Cleopatra's palace quarter now lies submerged, and stop at the elegant Montazah Palace Gardens for tea among royal palm groves.

In the afternoon, descend into the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, a spiral staircase leading three levels underground into a fusion tomb where Egyptian gods wear Roman armor. Cap the visit with Pompey's Pillar and the Serapeum ruins before a seafood lunch overlooking the harbor and the evening return to Cairo.