Sumptuous ancient treasures, delightfully eccentric hotels and the friendliest welcomes await you in Alexandria
Long before I was born, my father, an inexperienced boy from a modest family, dreamed of the stage. When the Second World War broke out, he was only 17 and auditioned for Ralph Reader’s Royal Air Force Gang Show. A few weeks later he was in the Middle East ‘entertaining the troops’.
When I was a child, he told me so many stories about Egypt and the Middle East that I longed to visit these areas. And since then, most of them have been reached – except Alexandria.
A few weeks ago, friends called to say they were renting an Airbnb in Alex, as the city is often called. Would I go with them?
Why not? The Foreign Office advises that Cairo and Alex are safe to visit, many miles away from the devastating conflict in Gaza.
The added benefit is that the crowds at the major attractions would be light. And so a few days later I was in Cairo, on my way to Alexandria.
Carol Drinkwater spends six days in Alexandria, Egypt’s ‘fantastic crumbling city’. Above – the Citadel of Qaitbay
‘The advice from the Foreign Office is that Cairo and Alexandria (above) are safe to visit, many miles away from the devastating conflict in Gaza,’ writes Carol
There are several ways to visit Alex. Dozens of tour operators offer private limousine trips from Cairo. The journey time is about three hours each way via the Desert Road. If you are staying in Cairo, I recommend the Ritz-Carlton. It is adjacent to the Cairo Museum, which houses phenomenal exhibits on Tutankhamun.
If you choose to use Alexandria as a base, there are several fascinating hotels that are tourist attractions in their own right.
Built in 1902, Le Metropole is delightfully eccentric and lavishly decorated, with a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean. It was once home to royalty: a gilded chair given to King Farouk by Queen Elizabeth II stands in the reception area.
Carol says the view from Alexandria’s Corniche (pictured) rivals that of the South of France
Carol, pictured, says her trip brought back memories of her father – he was sent to Egypt during World War II
Directly opposite Saad Zaghloul Square, where Cleopatra’s Needle was once displayed, is the equally iconic Cecil Hotel. Winston Churchill, Al Capone and W. Somerset Maugham have all stayed here, and King Farouk played poker here.
On the first floor, the Monty Bar celebrates Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s victory at El Alamein. Equipped with dark leather chairs like a Pall Mall club, it offers nightly entertainment. The hotel also has a rooftop restaurant with views across the Corniche promenade to the sea. Through the windows of the second restaurant you can see the Qaitbay Citadel, which houses a maritime museum and is an excellent place for walking and visiting the sea.
One street behind the Cecil Hotel is an excellent patisserie, Delices, which opened in 1922. Back on the coast is Windsor Palace, also with a rooftop restaurant. The views are fantastic and there is an outdoor pool and spa.
I stayed with my mates in their apartment overlooking the Corniche, with views that rivalled those of the South of France. Every now and then I saw turtles swimming in the bay.
We took an open top hop on hop off bus along the coast (50p each way). Alexandrians are the friendliest people so I never felt scared. I stayed for six days and could have easily tripled that to explore the city further, rich with so many layers of history.
My first excursion was to the newly built library, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, across the street from the shore.
The original library was one of the great learning centres of the ancient world. It burned down and was destroyed under uncertain circumstances in 48 BC. The new library, opened in 2002, is huge – it can hold eight million books. Browsing through the shelves I found works by British and Irish writers and sat for a while on Shakespeare’s Bench. It is designed as an open book and is covered with extracts from his sonnets.
The library also has four museums and a planetarium.
Above, the iconic Cecil Hotel in Alexandria, where Winston Churchill, Al Capone and W. Somerset Maugham were among its guests
The breathtaking library of Alexandria, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has space for eight million books
The open-air markets are as lively and colorful as anywhere in the Mediterranean.
On Fridays there is a bird market, where you can buy a live pigeon in a cage for one euro. Rabbits and snakes are also for sale.
Sadly, the colonial buildings on Alexandria’s beachfront are crumbling: one earthquake and the city would likely be reduced to rubble.
But many historic sites, such as the Royal Jewelry Museum, housed in a magnificent Art Deco palace once owned by Princess Fatma Al-Zahra, have been restored. The recently reopened Greco-Roman Museum, with 40,000 ancient treasures, is also beautiful.
We hired a driver and made the journey to El Alamein along the coast. I had hoped for a great view of the sea, but the beach is mainly construction sites. Old El Alamein is dusty and chaotic.
By contrast, the Commonwealth Cemetery outside the city is immaculately kept, with its golden stone monuments and hundreds of war graves lined up in a row. I strolled along the rows, reading the inscriptions on the headstones. So many young men, my father’s age, were missing. Had he been drinking with some of them in Alex’s bars?
For my last night in Alex we headed to the bar at Le Metropole. This is where the iconic final scene of the 1958 film Ice Cold In Alex was filmed. We toasted the riches of this wonderfully crumbling city with ice cold lagers and I promised myself I would be back soon for another one.
