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These 2-day tours from Cairo combine a sunrise hike up Mount Sinai with a visit to St. Catherine's Monastery, including hotel pickup, transport, and a night's accommodation in St. Catherine. Prices start at $250 with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Free Cancellation 48-hour private trip from Cairo: overnight in St. Catherine, night hike up Mount Sinai for sunrise, then a monastery visit.
Free Cancellation Two-day trip from Cairo: overnight in St Catherine, night climb of Moses Mountain for sunrise, monastery visit, return.
Free Cancellation 2-day Cairo/Giza tour with a hotel night in Saint Catherine, a Mount Sinai sunrise hike, and a monastery visit.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Mount Sinai — from practical tips to personal highlights.
From Cairo, Mount Sinai is a 48-hour commitment: 440 km of desert road each way, one night in a Saint Catherine hotel, then a pre-dawn climb with a Bedouin guide to the 2,285 m summit for sunrise. After descending, you visit Saint Catherine's Monastery — a 6th-century fortress monastery that's been continuously occupied for over 1,400 years — before the long drive back. Every Cairo tour follows this same skeleton; what varies is the hotel standard, the price, and how much is bundled in.
You start walking between 1:00 and 2:00 AM and reach the top by 4-5 AM, then wait in the cold for dawn near 6:00. The light turns Mount Catherine and the granite ridges of the Sinai massif gold. Pilgrims have climbed for this view for some 1,700 years.
Camels stop at Elijah's Basin, a sandy hollow partway up, and a steep stone stairway clamped between granite walls takes over from there. You pass the Gate of Stephen and the Gate of the Law before the summit plateau opens up. Bring a headlamp — the path is unlit.
Built by Emperor Justinian I between 548 and 565 CE, this is the world's oldest Christian monastery still running its original function. It holds about 3,500 manuscripts and 2,000 Byzantine icons, and it's where the Codex Sinaiticus — one of the oldest surviving Bibles — was found. Shoes off in the basilica.
The night walk up the Camel Path's switchbacks is half the point: no light pollution, occasional full moons, and the warm glow of Bedouin tea huts strung along the route. Walking keeps you warm; when you stop, the cold bites and rented blankets come out. Mint tea, coffee and instant noodles are sold en route.
All climbs are led by licensed guides from the Jabaliya tribe, who have guarded this mountain for centuries and are checked at the visitor centre before you set off. Unguided hiking isn't permitted. They set the pace, and they know every switchback.
The Cairo tours all build in a hotel night in Saint Catherine before the climb — you sleep properly instead of dozing on an overnight drive. Day one is the drive south and dinner at the hotel; day two is the mountain, the monastery, and the return leg.
All three Cairo options are 48-hour, two-day packages with hotel pickup, a night in Saint Catherine, the sunrise climb and the monastery visit included. The differences are in price, hotel standard and fine print.
Every Cairo-to-Mount-Sinai tour is guided — a local guide plus a compulsory Bedouin mountain guide from the Jabaliya tribe, both included in the listed price. Group formats dominate; there's no audio-tour or self-guided option because unguided hiking is banned. If you want privacy, the $250 tour can be arranged as a private run on request.
Book 2-4 weeks ahead in the peak months of March-May and October-November. Avoid Egyptian public holidays, when domestic crowds surge at the trailhead. Same-week bookings sometimes work in summer, but you're gambling on hotel availability in Saint Catherine.
The mountain itself has no ticket — the mandatory Bedouin guide (about EGP 800 per group) is folded into your tour price. Monastery entry is reported free by most recent visitors, but some tours collect around €10 per person and a 2026 Egyptian fee list prices it at EGP 200, so carry up to €10/EGP 500 in cash per person to cover it.
Camels carry you (or your bag) along the Camel Path as far as Elijah's Basin for about EGP 250, or €20 each way with some operators. The final 750 steps must be walked regardless. Pay the handler in small Egyptian notes.
The $414 tour requires a passport copy sent to the local operator at least two days before departure. You'll also need your physical passport on the hike itself — it's checked at multiple military checkpoints on the road and again at the trailhead. A photocopy won't pass.
If you entered Egypt through Sharm el-Sheikh's free 15-day stamp, that stamp covers only Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba — Saint Catherine is outside the zone. Coming from Cairo you'll already hold a full visa (US$30 on arrival in cash, or US$36 digital), so this mainly bites travellers who flew into Sharm first and then booked a Cairo add-on.
The Cairo tours are listed as wheelchair accessible for transport and the monastery ground level, but the summit is not: both routes are steep stone paths and the last 750 steps are on foot only. Wheelchair users can reach the monastery itself if security allows an accessible vehicle along the cobbled approach. Consult a doctor first if you're 65+.
All three tours allow a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Note the monastery can close at short notice — the monks shut the gates for months during the 2025 land dispute — so treat it as a bonus rather than the sole reason for booking.
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| 2-Day Mount Sinai & Saint Catherine Tour (Cairo/Giza) | 2-Day St Catherine and Moses Mountain Tour | Overnight to St Catherine Monastery and Mount Sinai | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price from | $250 per person | $390 per person (+$30 for New Cairo/New Giza pickup) | $414 per person |
| Duration | 48 hours | 48 hours | 48 hours |
| Best for | Budget travellers who still want the hotel night before the climb | Travellers who want a 4-star hotel and monastery admission included | Visitors who want the most languages offered and lunch included |
| Includes | Hotel night in Saint Catherine, sunrise hike, monastery visit, Cairo/Giza pickup, guide, taxes | 4-star hotel night, monastery entry, all meals listed (dinner, breakfast), Bedouin guide, hotel pickup | Private air-conditioned vehicle, hotel night, lunch, dinner, breakfast, Bedouin guide, taxes, infant seats |
| Rating | New listing, no reviews yet | 4.7 from 14 reviews | 4.6 from 14 reviews |
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The mountain itself is open around the clock for guided climbs. Sunrise ascents start hiking between 1:00 and 2:00 AM to reach the summit by dawn — sunrise falls near 6:00 AM.
Saint Catherine's Monastery keeps narrow hours: Monday-Thursday and Saturday, roughly 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon (some sources say 9:00-11:30 AM). It closes Fridays, Sundays and major Greek Orthodox feast days, and can shut at short notice — check status before you travel.
A typical Cairo itinerary runs like this: day one is the drive south with an afternoon arrival in Saint Catherine and dinner at the hotel. Day two starts with a 1:00-1:30 AM wake-up, the climb, sunrise, descent by 8-9 AM, a monastery visit at its 9:00 AM opening, then the drive back to Cairo.
Sunset climbs are also offered by some operators as an alternative format.
From Cairo it's 440 km to Saint Catherine. All three tours on this page cover it in a private air-conditioned vehicle with hotel pickup and drop-off from Cairo or Giza; New Cairo and New Giza pickups cost an extra $30 on the $390 tour.
Independent alternatives exist if you're not booking a package:
Expect multiple military checkpoints on the road; one 2024 visitor counted twelve. Keep your passport within reach, not buried in your main bag.
Self-drivers get free 24-hour security parking at the Saint Catherine visitor centre.
March-May and October-November are the sweet spots: daytime temperatures of roughly 22-35°C, nights at 10-20°C, minimal rain and clear sunrise skies.
December-February also works — crisp days of 15-25°C and the year's clearest skies — but summit nights sit around 0-5°C. Manageable with layers, hat and gloves; miserable without. Occasional snow falls on the high peaks.
Skip June-August if you can. The base hits 37-45°C with zero rainfall, and daytime attempts risk heat exhaustion. Climbs then need very early starts around 10 PM.
Weekdays are quieter than weekends at the trailhead. Book 2-4 weeks ahead in peak months, and avoid Egyptian public holidays entirely.
The summit is not wheelchair accessible — both routes are steep stone paths and the final 750 steps must be climbed on foot. All Cairo tours list their transport as wheelchair accessible, which covers the drive and hotel, not the mountain.
The monastery is difficult but possible: the car park sits more than a quarter mile from the church along an uneven, centuries-old cobbled road. Security staff will let wheelchair-accessible vehicles drive directly alongside the monastery if you explain the situation.
Fit seniors regularly complete the climb via the Camel Path — 2.5-3 hours at a relaxed pace, with camels available as far as Elijah's Basin. Visitors in their 70s and 80s have succeeded. Travellers 65+ should see a doctor first and consider a private tour to set their own pace.
Children around 8-10 can manage the night climb; kids as young as 6 handle daytime ascents with breaks. Families with young children should book private tours to escape the group departures.
Bedouin tea huts line the Camel Path, selling mint tea, coffee, chocolate and instant noodles at inflated mountain prices. Bring Egyptian pounds in small notes — cash solves most problems here, though cards are increasingly required for official tickets, so carry both.
Blankets are rented at summit rest areas on cold nights for a few pounds. Worth it when the temperature drops and you're standing still for an hour waiting for dawn.
At the visitor centre you'll find free 24-hour security parking, the guide-assignment desk, and the trailhead checkpoint where bags are inspected and passports checked.
The tours include hotel accommodation in Saint Catherine — the $390 option specifies a 4-star property — with dinner and breakfast generally covered. The $414 tour adds lunch. Pack at least two litres of water, a headlamp and hiking poles for the descent.
A Bedouin guide from the Jabaliya tribe is compulsory — guides are assigned and checked at the visitor centre, and unguided hiking is not permitted. Your tour price includes this.
Dress code at the monastery: shoulders and knees covered — long trousers or a below-knee skirt, sleeved tops. Women should carry a headscarf. Shoes come off before entering the basilica and at the Burning Bush.
Photography: no photos inside the basilica or the Icon Gallery, no video or audio recording anywhere in the monastery, no drones across the site. Never photograph monks or worshippers without permission. On the summit, stay quiet during sunrise prayers.
Prohibited on the mountain: littering (holy ground — pack out everything), camels on the final 750 steps, and checkpoint photography. Backpacks may be inspected at the trailhead, so keep your passport accessible.
Multi-day trekking permits, including the 200 km Sinai Trail, are currently suspended — the summit climb is the only permitted walk.
Every Cairo-based tour runs about 48 hours. Day one is the 440 km drive south with an afternoon arrival, dinner and a hotel night in Saint Catherine; day two is the 1:00-1:30 AM wake-up, the sunrise climb, the monastery visit, and the drive back. You'll be dropped at your Cairo or Giza hotel by evening.
Most beginners manage it fine. The standard Camel Path takes 2.5-3 hours up at a relaxed pace over 11.5 km round trip with 700 m of elevation gain. A camel can carry you as far as Elijah's Basin for about EGP 250, but the final 750 stone steps to the summit must be walked — roughly 30-45 minutes of steep stairway. Tours list themselves as suitable for moderate fitness levels.
Yes — all three Cairo tours include Saint Catherine's Monastery after the descent. The $390 tour explicitly bundles monastery admission; with the others, recent visitors report entry is free, but some operators collect about €10 per person and a 2026 Egyptian fee list prices it at EGP 200, so carry up to €10 in cash per person to be safe.
Warm layers, a hat, gloves and a windproof jacket — the summit sits at 0-5°C on winter nights and cold snaps bite whenever you stop moving. Add a headlamp (the path is unlit), hiking poles for the 750 steps on the way down, and at least two litres of water. Your physical passport is required at the military checkpoints; a copy won't do.
The $414 tour requires a passport copy sent to the local operator at least two days before departure, because of the security checkpoint system on the Sinai roads. Check your booking confirmation for the exact requirement — all tours pass through multiple military checkpoints where passports are checked in person.
All three tours offer a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Keep in mind the monastery itself can close at short notice — the monks shut the gates for months during the 2025 land dispute — but that's a site risk, not a cancellation trigger, since the climb is the core of the tour.
The $250 two-day tour is the cheapest way to get the full package — hotel night, sunrise hike, monastery and pickup — but it has no reviews yet. The $390 tour includes a named 4-star hotel and monastery admission and rates 4.7 from 14 reviews; that's the one to book if a review track record matters to you. The $414 tour adds lunch and the widest language coverage.
Southern Sinai, including Saint Catherine and Mount Sinai, sits outside the do-not-travel zone covering North Sinai, and the US State Department confirms its embassy staff are cleared to visit. The catch is the journey: expect many routine military checkpoints (one visitor counted twelve), passport checks, and military-controlled access. Licensed tours handle all of this, which is why they're the recommended way to go.
Children around 8-10 regularly complete the night climb, and kids as young as 6 manage daytime ascents with frequent breaks. Fit seniors do it too — the Camel Path's gentle grading suits a 2.5-3 hour pace, and camels cover most of the distance to Elijah's Basin. For travellers 65+, a doctor's check first and a private tour to control the pace are the standard advice.
Tours wake you around 1:00-1:30 AM and you're walking by 1:00-2:00 AM, reaching the summit between 4 and 5 AM. Sunrise lands near 6:00 AM, so you'll spend 30-60 minutes on top — cold, but that's what the rented blankets and the tea huts are for. You descend by 8-9 AM, just as the monastery opens at 9:00.
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This 48-hour tour leaves Cairo by private air-conditioned vehicle and drives to St. Catherine, arriving in the afternoon. You sleep one night there, then wake before dawn for the climb up Mount Sinai with a Bedouin guide, timed to reach the summit for sunrise. After descending, you visit St. Catherine's Monastery — built around the site of the Burning Bush — then have breakfast and drive back to Cairo.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Arabic, German, Chinese (Taiwan), Russian, Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, English, Italian, French, Spanish
This tour runs roughly 48 hours, starting with a 01:00 am pickup from your Cairo or Giza hotel and an air-conditioned drive to St Catherine, where you check into a 4-star hotel for dinner and the night. pickups from New Cairo and New Giza cost an extra 30 USD. Day two starts at 01:30 am with free tea at the hotel, then a 02:00 am start on the Moses Mountain climb — about 3 hours up, timed for sunrise at the summit. After descending, you visit St Catherine's Monastery and the Burning Bush before returning to the hotel to freshen up and have breakfast. The drive back to Cairo follows. Included: monastery entry, dinner and breakfast, one night in a 4-star hotel, a tour guide, a Bedouin guide for the mountain, all transport, and hotel pickup and drop-off. Guides are available in Hindi, German, Pashto, Portuguese, and Filipino. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Hindi, German, Pashto, Portuguese, Filipino, Croatian, Hungarian, Hakka Chinese, Ukrainian, Urdu, Malayalam, Marathi, Malay, Greek, English, Italian, Burmese, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Japanese, Persian, Romanian, Dutch, Norwegian, Xiang Chinese, Russian, Finnish, Chinese, Cantonese, Bangla, Javanese, French, Chinese (Taiwan), Wu Chinese, Slovak, Serbian, Swedish, Korean, Kurdish, Tamil, mnp, Gujarati, Czech, Telugu, Punjabi, Thai, Chinese (China), Polish, Hebrew, Danish, Turkish
This 48-hour tour builds in a hotel night in Saint Catherine before the climb, so you sleep in a bed instead of a bus like the overnight-drive alternatives. Pickup and drop-off are included from anywhere in Cairo or Giza, in air-conditioned transport, and the local guide can work in English, German, Russian, Italian, or Chinese (Taiwan). The core of day two is the pre-dawn hike up Mount Sinai (Mount Moses) for sunrise, followed by a guided visit to Saint Catherine Monastery. Timing is scheduled around the sunrise, so expect an early wake-up and a cold hour on the summit before dawn — bring layers. Included are the hotel accommodation (one night), all taxes and service charges, guiding, transport, and the monastery visit. Meals aren't listed as included, so budget for them. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure; after that, no refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
German, Russian, Chinese (Taiwan), English, Italian, French