We took the 9am train from Cairo’s Ramses station to Alexandria. Alexandria is Egypt’s second largest city, but we decided to explore on foot.

We started by visiting the Roman amphitheatre next to the train station (tickets for E£40). Then we continued onto Alexandria Museum (tickets also E£40). This was a nice museum covering three floors showing a bit of the history of the city through Egyptian, Greek and Coptic times.

We then visited the impressive Alexandria Library, a massive building facing the coastline. It was a beautiful day, so we enjoyed a nice walk by the sea.

We braved the busy roads (there were no traffic lights in sight and people just cross the street in front of passing cars) to reach Mohammed Ahmed, a nice little restaurant serving delicious mezze (a big lunch for two including tip for E£33, less than £2!).

We walked around for a bit more, then went back to the station (getting lost along the way) to catch the 6pm train back).

HOW TO DO IT:

It’s possible to visit Alexandria on a day trip from Cairo, but that is a bit tight. Trains from Ramses station take at least 2h40 and can be booked online. Tickets are cheap, at about £6 each way.