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Offered languages
- German
- English
- Italian
- French
- Spanish
About 100 km northwest of Cairo, in a desert depression off the road to Alexandria, sit four of the oldest working monasteries on earth.
Wadi El Natrun has been a center of Christian monastic life since the 4th century, when hermits came out to the desert to escape Roman persecution and founded a way of life that shaped monasticism worldwide. On this private day tour your guide takes you into the surviving monasteries, with their fortress walls, ancient churches, and monks who still live and pray there today. You see frescoes, relics, and keeps built to withstand raiders, all still in use after 1,600 years.
It is a calm, reflective day, about 6 hours with the desert drive included.
Ideal for travelers drawn to early Christian history and a quieter side of Egypt few visitors reach.
What's Included
Meeting and pickup
Please share your hotel name and address when booking. Your guide will meet you at the hotel lobby in the morning for the approximately 3-hour drive each way to Alexandria. This is a full-day tour with about 6 hours of total driving and 4-5 hours of sightseeing. Comfortable shoes and a light jacket for sea breezes recommended.
Itinerary
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1
You enter the Monastery of St. Bishoy through thick mudbrick walls into a quiet world of churches, gardens, and a tall stone keep where monks once sheltered from desert raiders. Founded in the 4th century, it still holds the relics of St. Bishoy and a community of monks who live here today. Your guide explains the rhythms of monastic life and the wall paintings inside the old church. The hush of the place, broken only by chanting, is the point.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket included -
2
A short drive brings you to Deir al-Suryan, the Syrian Monastery, named for the Syrian monks who once lived here. Inside, the Church of the Holy Virgin holds frescoes and a carved wooden door more than a thousand years old, and an ancient tree said to have sprung from a saint's staff still grows in the courtyard. Your guide walks you through the layers of Coptic and Syriac heritage preserved here. It is one of the best-kept of the Wadi's monasteries, still active and welcoming.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
Additional info
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Additional info
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- Please note: pickup reconfirmation is required upon booking, please refer to voucher for further details
Tags
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Cancellation Policy
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Rating
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
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