Sights and landmarks in Alexandria

20 sights worth seeing in Alexandria: landmarks, galleries, monuments and viewpoints.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

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Alexandria National Museum
Small but absorbing, well-presented museum with more than 1800 archaeological pieces. The basement is devoted to Prehistoric and Pharonic times, first floor to the Graeco-Roman period, second floor to the Coptic and Islamic era. Especially interesting are artefacts raised during underwater excavations: there's a sense of a new window opening on history.
Daily 9AM-4:30PMEGP 100, students EGP 50
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Alexandria Naval Unknown Soldier Memorial
Ismail Monument
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier honoring its military. Besides its meaning it is a picturesque neoclassical monument worth a photo during the day or when illuminated in the evening. The structure was built in 1927 to 1938 as a memorial to Khedive Ismail. After the revolution its dedication was changed.
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Arabic Calligraphy Museum
The museum was inaugurated in 2015. On two levels with three rooms each the museum presents manuscripts, but also paintings, ceramics, sculptures and miniatures with calligraphic scripts.
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Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Alexandrina
A huge modern library and research centre constructed on the site of the ancient Library of Alexandria. Wonderful display of ancient texts of the Middle East. Includes four museum areas, exhibition space, and a planetarium. Regular tours in English and other languages. The Antiquities Museum costs (EGP 100 extra and is particularly well worth visiting if you're into artefacts from the Pharonic to the Islamic period.
Sun-Thu 9:30AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-2PMEGP 150 for foreigners and EGP 10 for Egyptians - buy tickets from the office on Dr. Abd Al Hamid Dayed St. facing the university
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Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
These catacombs were probably carved out to be a single wealthy family's mausoleum, and later expanded to take other elite funerals, from the 2nd to 4th century CE. The name "Kom el-Shoqafa" means "mound of shards" as people brought offerings to the dead here in earthenware bowls, then smashed the empties before returning home. They are composed of a ground level construction that probably served as a funerary chapel, a deep spiral stairway and three underground levels (the lowest now flooded by groundwater) for the funeral rituals and entombment. The place was discovered in 1900 when the ground gave way under a donkey. Built as a separate (and older) catacomb, the Hall of Caracalla became linked when energetic tomb-robbers tunnelled through. It seems to have been a burial place for the Roman emperor's horses, as horse bones predominate. No, not the donkey's. The catacombs are interesting for their plan and for their decoration, as the last of the pharonic burials transitioned into Grecian and Roman styles. But if you've seen the richly decorated burial chambers around Luxor, this one will suffer by comparison.
Daily 9AM-4PMEGP 150 for foreigners and EGP 30 for Egyptians
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Cavafy Museum
Museum in the house of the poet Cavafy (1863–1933) where he spent the last 25 years of his life. Closed as of 02/2024.
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Citadel of Qaitbay
Set on the tip of the Anfushi/Pharos promontory, looking back over the eastern harbour and downtown Corniche. It was built by Mameluke Sultan Abdul-Nasser Qa'it Bay in 1477 CE, by re-cycling the stone of the ruined lighthouse. It tried (with limited success) to defend the city against invaders, from crusaders to Napoleon, and was in military use as late as 1882, when the British bombarded it. There are two entrances and admissions. West, facing your approach along the Harbour mall, is the ground-floor Maritime Museum, which is of little interest. (Its collection continues in a building on the mall.) Come round to the south flank facing the Corniche for the main entrance into the Citadel. There's a fortified courtyard, then a 4-storey bastion.
Daily 9AM-8PMCitadel EGP 150 for foreigners and EGP 60 for Egyptians and Arabs
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El-Mursi Abul-Abbas Mosque
Built in 1775 by Algerians, the mosque was built over the tomb of the famous 13th century Sufi saint, Ahmed Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi. The walls of the mosque are dressed in artificial stone, while the minaret, on the south side, stands at 73 m.
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Graeco-Roman Museum
A history museum with a vast collection mostly dating from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century CE, spanning the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The square in front of it is a popular place for taking marriage pictures and as a hang-out for young people in the evenings.
Daily 9AM-5PMEGP 150 for foreigners and EGP 40 for Arabs and Egyptians
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Kom el-Dikka
Roman amphitheatre
"Kom el-Dikka" means "pile of rubble" - so much for the grandeur of the Roman Empire. In Ptolemaic times this area was the Park of Pan, a pleasure garden surrounded by villas and baths. Highlights built in the 2nd century CE are the Villa of the Birds, with fine mosaics, and Egypt's only Roman amphitheatre. This has 13 semicircular tiers made of white and grey marble, with seats for up to 800 spectators, galleries and sections of mosaic-flooring. Excavations continue, and in 2010 a Ptolemaic temple was unearthed. You can see the amphitheatre well enough just by peering through the railings, but you'll have to pay to get inside to see the mosaics and other small artefacts.
DailyEGP 150 for foreigners
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Montaza Palace
Built in 1892 by Abbas II of Egypt Abbas Hilmi Pasha, the last khedive (Ottoman viceroy) of Egypt. One of the palace buildings, the Haramlek, now contains a casino on the ground floor and a museum of royal relics on the upper levels, while the Salamlek has been converted into a luxury hotel (see Sleep). Parts of the extensive gardens (over 80 ha/200 acres) are open to the public. There is an entrance fee for the park.
EGP 25
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Mostafa Kamel Necropolis
Mustafa Kamel Cemetery/Tombs
The cemetery includes four tombs dating from the 2nd century BC, all of which are in excellent condition and beautifully decorated. The cemetery bears the name of Mostafa Kamel, one of 20th century Egyptian politics' greatest legends. It was he who pronounced the famous phrase: "If I were not born an Egyptian, I would like to be an Egyptian." As of October 2025, the site is closed for renovations.
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Pompey's Pillar
An ancient monument, this 25-m-high granite column was constructed in honor of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 297. The confined area where the column stands also has other ruins and sculptures such as the Serapium oracle. Also beside this area is a very big shopping center for cloth and furniture called "El-Saa3a," where you can find many types of cloth or clothes.
EGP 150, students EGP 75
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Ras el-Tin Palace
Presidential Palace
Admire the exterior but it's now part of a naval base and not open to visitors.
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Royal Jewelry Museum
Royal jewelry from the Egyptian monarchy of 1805 to 1952 displayed in the former palace of Princess Fatma Al-Zahra'.
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Taposiris Magna
Remains of a city established by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BCE, with two monuments that were partly restored in the 1930s. One is a tower that has been used in the reconstruction of the lighthouse of Alexandria and the other is the remains of a temple of Osiris that is also believed to be the last resting place of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
See Not mapped
Attarine Mosque
Built as a church dedicated to the Saint Athanasius in 370 AD and was converted into a mosque following the Muslim conquest of Egypt.
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Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue
معبد إلياهو هانبي اليهودي
There has been a synagogue at this site since 1348, the current Neo-Gothic building has been standing since 1850. The interior can be visited on some weekdays in the morning.
See Not mapped
Menasce Synagogue
كنيس منشا
Built in 1872.
See Not mapped
Museum of Fine Arts
Mostly modern and Orientalist paintings

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Alexandria (CC BY-SA 4.0).