Sharm el Sheik, places to visit?

The diving paradise

Sharm el Sheik may suddenly appear in a thousand different guises, just like the dancer who loses her veils one by one, bewitching spectators with her beauty.

The first and most obvious veil is studded with stars. By night the starry sky in Sharm seems to light up your way with thousands of tiny flames. In the morning the sun tinges a second veil yellow and reveals a landscape that inspires relaxation.

The blue veil of the sea greets you with an intensity of odours and colours and beckons you towards the line of waves that break slowly and continuously over the coral reef.

Fish of every colour and shape, violet Gorgonian sea fans that move with the waves and pure white madrepores lapped by clear, gentle currents can be seen beneath those azure waves. In addition to all this, other veils may fall away and reveal intense panoramas and sublime experiences.

In the evening, after a day spent in the midst of unspoilt nature, the impact of the light and sounds of Sharm’s nightlife may seem an indefinable contrast. Old Sharm, with its Old Market filled with music and colours, cats and locals - the genuine kind - is a place that definitely should be visited. The souvenir shops of Sharm Old Market offer lamps, shisha pipes, spices, coffee, and in the same area also many restaurants, where to stop eating typical dishes. Inland, instead, guests are welcomed in many Bedouin camps, where the scent of grilled food and hookah pipes fills the air and veiled women with innate grace display small treasures for sale.

To enjoy the ultimate experience, you must venture further into the desert, a desert described in 5000-year-old sacred texts, which, from the route that leads beyond the Sinai chain to the foot of the mountain of the same name, continuously changes its appearance.

St. Catherine’s Monastery

Grey rocks concealing Bedouin camps and open-air camel give way to golden-colour rocks that rise up majestically and reveal signs of waves of a sea that was found here in prehistoric times. Mountains, wild, arid and rugged, recall the harshness of the place and the life of the people that live here. And beyond the mountains lies St. Catherine’s Monastery, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its Byzantine architecture, where mysticism is blended with wonder.

On one side of the monastery, a garden of olives and vines leaves visitors speechless with its miracle of lush, ancient vegetation, cultivated by monks over the centuries and fed by water that still flows from the wells. The solid and impressive fortified monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian to defend the monks and is a place of worship on ground that is sacred to three monotheist world religions.

Here, for centuries, everyone has lived in peace, custodians of each other’s lives, in the shadow of the burning bush, today always green, that told Moses of his destiny.
A short distance away lies Dahab, renowned tourist and seaside resort overlooking the Red Sea, with features that remind of long forgotten simplicity, where you can take a walk along the sea front to enjoy views of the Arabian coastline.

Text by Maria Zaccone

Aggiornamento di Alisè Vitri

Avion Tourism Magazine
Photos: Sisterscom.com, Shutterstock
Copyright © Sisterscom.com

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Where to sleep in Sharm el Sheik

Sharm el Sheik is a welcoming city and offers different possibilities for accommodation.

To find the ideal hotel and the best offers you can do a search for the stars but also for districts or landmarks.

STARS

Hotels for stars, differentiated by type of services:

DISTRICTS

Hotels in the districts

Ras Mohammed National Park

LANDMARKS

Hotels in tourist areas

AIRPORT

Hotels near the airport

Sharm El Sheik Airport SSH

WHERE TO GO a Sharm el Sheik

Monuments in Sharm el Sheik

ST. CATHERINE MONASTERY

St. Catherine’s monastery is located at the foot of Mount Moses to honour the site of the burning bush depicted in the Old Testament. With a spectacular natural backdrop, St. Catherine’s monastery has priceless multicultural works of art that include icons, mosaics, oil paintings and one of the largest collections of illuminated manuscripts.

RAS UMM SID

Located at the tip of a small peninsula a few kilometres south from Naama Bay and offering spectacular views of the Red Sea and the reefs, Ras Um Sid is a much quieter area close to Sharm El Sheikh's old souk and the Ras Mohamed National Park, where divers head to be dazzled by stunning coral formations and an amazing abundance of underwater life, including rare fish species.

NAAMA BAY

Naama Bay and the beautiful beaches shall be your destination not to be missed: the sandy beautiful bay is the pumping heart of Sharm El Sheikh and your place to stay. The area is still considered as a paradise for snorkelers and divers who can enjoy very well preserved coral reefs and amazing colourful fish species.

RAS MUHAMMED NATIONAL PARK

Ras Muhammad is the most famous national park in Egypt and one of the most famous diving sites in the world. A national park that is located between the rich coral reefs of the Red Sea and the inland desert of the Sinai - it covers the coral headland at the southern most tip of Sinai. At the southern end of the headland there is a small stand of Mangrove, Avicennia marina.

SERABIT EL KHADEM TEMPLE

On the western side of the Sinai is one of the rare traces left by the Ancient Egyptians in the peninsula. The Serabit el Khadem Temple of Hathor is located in the rocky mountainous landscape among an ancient turquoise mine settlement which provided the pharaohs with beautiful stones used to make ornaments, jewelry, and blue paint.

Excursions in Sharm el Sheik

SAFARI

Experience the calm of the desert, natural wonders and ancient ruins: going on a safari in Egypt is rewarding in more ways than one. The are different way to take a desert safaris; short range that last a few hours, a day or an overnight stay.

SEMI-SUBMARINE EXCURSION

The Red Sea underwater is an eternal source of amazement. But if you’re not a diver or a snorkeler, try the semi-submarine excursion. You’ll board the famous boat and head for a 90 minutes tour through the Red Sea underwater; the schools of colourful fishes evolving around the boat in their natural habitat, beautiful coral reefs. All semi-submarines depart normally from the jetty in the old harbour of Sharm El Maya.

SNORKELING

Snorkelling is by far one of the most popular among vacationers coming to the Red Sea coast. The reefs are amazing and the coast is peppered with easy to snorkel sites, where fishes and underwater fauna flourish like nowhere else. The temperatures of the Red Sea waters are warm enough to snorkel all year round. The water clarity is exceptional, a blessing for divers and snorkelers who can easily marvel at the underwater natural treasures.

COLOURED CANYON

The Coloured Canyon is the most beautiful canyon in Egypt, and as nature would have it, the canyon is also the easiest to reach and trek. The high iron content in the sandstone, water erosion and wind created the great spectrum of colours you’ll find as you navigate the Coloured Canyon.

Trekking the Coloured Canyon begins at Ain Furtaga Oasis, it takes a little more than an hour to reach the canyon from Sharm El Sheikh, with light climbing along the way.

CAIRO

Cairo is a vibrant, exhilarating, exotic, fascinating and welcoming city. Home to the best Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic sights in Egypt, this city is where you never know what incredible, half-forgotten monument you might stumble across while wandering around. Visit the capital's medieval markets by Khan El-Khalili, or walk down the Nile promenade. There are also plenty of cinemas, theatres and modern malls. Good for short breaks and long stays; you’ll get to see the Giza Pyramids, thousands of ancient artifacts in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

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