Egypt could be said to
have six different tourist super-sites. Each has its
own flavor, and mostly each serves a different purpose.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, most of these tourist
areas do not depend on ancient monuments to sustain
them. In fact, only Luxor is completely dependent on
this trade. These super-sites consist of:
Alexandria and the
immediate area around the City. It could in fact be
argued that this area extends to Marsa Matruh to the
west on the coast. The area has a Mediterranean feel
about it, and the attraction is the Mediterranean Sea,
and to the people of Cairo, a somewhat cooler climate.
Cairo and the immediate
area around the City. Cairo has everything. Cairo has
great hotels, entertainment, restaurants, all manner of
monuments from throughout the history of Egypt and it is
often the entry point for most people visiting Egypt. It
even has bowling allies and several golf courses to
chose from.
Luxor, and the
surrounding area. Luxor is a living museum with vast
numbers of ancient Egyptian monuments. It is also
highly oriented to tourists, and might be thought of in
the same regard as a theme park, where the attractions
just happen to be real monuments.
Aswan and the surrounding
area. Aswan is probably the least of the super-site
tourist areas, but has great hotels, along with the huge
Lake Nasser just to the south.
Hurghada and the
surrounding area, particularly El Gouna. Not to far
apart are El Gouna, Hurghada and Safaga, and these areas
contain just about everything a tourist would like to
have, with the exception of ancient monuments. They
make up for that with every variety of water sports,
several golf courses, casinos and more. The Red Sea area
has less of an Egyptian feel, but not as European as the
Sinai.
Sharm El Sheikh, and the
surrounding area including Sharks Bay. This is the
Sinai super-site, again with most everything any tourist
might wish. There are even some wonderful Christian
monuments nearby, and the water sports, as at Hurghada,
are all inclusive.
This is not to say that
there are many more tourist destinations, particularly
on the Red Sea and in Sinai, and on Egypt's mainland
interior, the oases. However, in much of the rest of the
mainland interior, travel and destinations are limited.
However, the tourist super-sites encompass perhaps
ninety-five percent of the ancient monuments, and most
else there is to do in Egypt.
More information at:
http://www.touregypt.net