Egypt
in Middle East

There's so much to explore, discover, and naturally, eat! From various bazaars, museums, pyramids and galleries it's safe to say that this city has so much to explore. Culturally dense, and at first, perhaps slightly overwhelming: here is our guide to navigating the wonderful place that is Cairo. 

Underwater is where the Red Sea earns its reputation. The reefs off Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh teem with parrotfish, rays and the occasional reef shark, and the visibility on a calm day is extraordinary. Above water it is largely resort territory, functional rather than charming. Come for the diving and snorkelling; stay for the warm, reliably sunny winters that the rest of Europe quietly envies.

Siwa Oasis feels like a mirage that decided to stay. Tucked deep into Egypt’s Western Desert, close to the Libyan border, this lush pocket of date palms, salt lakes and freshwater springs is one of those places where time stretches and softens. Mud brick houses glow honey gold at sunset, donkeys outnumber cars, and life moves to the rhythm of the sun. Stay in a hand built ecolodge crafted from kershef, a local mix of salt and clay, float in impossibly turquoise salt pools, and climb the Mountain of the Dead for sweeping views over a sea of palms. Siwa is not about ticking off sights, it is about slowing down, long lunches under palm fronds, Bedouin tea by the fire, and stargazing in a silence so vast it feels almost sacred.

The Nile Valley unfolds slowly, a ribbon of green cutting through desert, where life has followed the same rhythm for thousands of years. Think palm groves, ancient temples rising unexpectedly along the riverbanks, and feluccas drifting past at sunset.