Two Days Trip to Sinai with St. Catherine’s Monastery and the Colored Canyon
Two Days Trip to Sinai with St. Catherine's Monastery and the Colored Canyon
1st Day:
We will pick you up directly from the entrance door of your hotel in Hurghada and take you to the speed ferry which will bring you within about only one and a half hours to Sharm El Sheikh, where your driver and a guide will wait for you, again with your name on a sign. From there you will start directly to your visit.
St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the food of Mount Sinai, where Moses is supposed to have received the Ten Commandments, on the place, where he is said to have seen the Burning Bush. The first monastic life around this place is supposed to have taken place already in the 4th century AD, which makes the monastery to one of the oldest in the world. Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine I, the first Roman emperor converted to Christianity, ordered a chapel to be built on the site of the Burning Bush in the early 4th century AD. The monastery in its current form has been built by the Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century AD, with strong fortifications to protect the monks. Due to this measure, its isolated location and the protection by Mohamed, the Prophet of Islam, who in written form promised St. Catherine’s Monastery to be not attacked by any Muslim forces, it remained untouched during the centuries.
For this reason you cannot only see the buildings, walls and decorations in their nearly original form, but also countless precious items have survived until today and turned out to be an extraordinary treasure to modern scientists walking on the path of history. The library features the second large collection of ancient codices and manuscripts in the world – overtrumped only by the Vatican Library!
And you can see the greatest collection of antique icons in the world as behind the monastery’s walls they could even survive the time of the Byzantine iconoclasm where most of the early icons have been destroyed. Further you can discover the buildings, have a look at a bush in the courtyard that is purported the original Burning Bush, and the beautiful mosaics.
The monastery still houses monks and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since the year 2002. As you see now, it fully deserves this title.
Please be aware that, before you enter the monastery,
you must cover your legs, arms and head!!
After this visit we will take you to your hotel in Nuweiba where you can spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and enjoying the hotel`s facilities.
2nd Day:
On the second day we will pick you up from your hotel after breakfast and within a short transfer we will bring you to the entrance of the Colored Canyon. The rock formations are extraordinarily beautiful as you cannot only find diverse shapes, but also a multitude of different colors which gave this canyon its name.
Please be aware that the tour through the Canyon requires a certain mobility and fitness
and is therefore only recommendable for people who are adequately fit and in good health!!
After this great experience you will enjoy lunch in a local beachside restaurant in Nuweiba and then finally return to Sharm El Sheikh, where you will enjoy a short city tour before in the late afternoon you will take the ferry back to Hurghada.
Our driver will wait for you at Hurghada Port to take you back to your hotel.
Included:
- Transfers between your hotel and the ferry and between the sights, the hotel and the ferry on the Sinai Peninsula in high-class vehicles with A/C
- Ferry trips Hurghada – Sharm El Sheikh – Hurghada
- Guided tours in your language
- Entrance fee for St. Catherine’s Monastery and the Colored Canyon
- Accommodation in an all inclusive hotel in Nuweiba (3, 4 or 5 stars – it’s your choice!) with dinner on the 1st and breakfast on the 2nd day
- Lunch in a local restaurant on the 2nd day
- Mineral water and soft drinks
Not included:
- Gratuity (tips) for drivers and tour guides
- Personal items, meals, drinks or services not mentioned
- International and domestic flights
- Visa