Sacred Sinai Sunrise: St. Catherine Monastery Tour from Sharm

3 star entirely due to staff Location is 5 star. Amazing experience. Beautiful. Hike is challenging, but camel would be good alternative and reasonable - 10USD for entire 3 hour time. Views are amazing. Too is cold, get the blanket (200EGP)! Our tour provider didnt follow their own instructions on pick up. Wasted 15 min and caused everything after to be rushed. Vehicle did not inspire confidence. Do not take a tour without motor coach. We had airporter, uncomfortable, no power, no facility. Staff almost lost one of our group. Staff discouraged shopping in monastery and pushed a commercial stop in morning that was far more expensive. I would do trip again, but avoid this tour company.

Highly recommend. This was an amazing tour. Once in a life time experience. I would definitely recommend.

The communication about the programme was poor. The guide became rude when we informed that we did not fave torch and fad not organised breakfast. He charged £20 in local restaurant for breakfast which consisted of a few pieces of tomato, cucumber a stale bread with cheese and cup of coffee. The trip through saint Kathrine monastery was quick finishing in less than 10 minutes and when I insisted on going through the museum I was charged $5 and then 5 minutes through the museum as he was worried to miss the convey and asked us to spend $2 on taxi to reach the coach. Then we left without convey. Earlier the trip to mount senai was extremely disappointing with no facilities and I wil suggest Viator to visit public toilets as I saw distressed people. The whole trip was enjoyable as it was on my buck list but it left me with the impression that we were to be fleeced on every step. The guide who accompanied us to the mountain Senaie was excellent and gentle soul. I strongly recommend Musa. This trip us not got faint hearted.

The best trip ever. So worth it. It's a long 16 hrs but so so worth going. The guide was amazing. You feel so proud of achieving getting to the top. Pick up was on time. We had a few stops on the way and got to the base at about 01.45 a steady walk up, stopping at little cafes run by locals on the way up. The option for a camel can be taken at any time. It gets so cold so wrap up but you can rent a blanket for the top. The view was amazing. I'm not religious so my trip was just for the sunrise. I highly recommend doing this. This trip has made an otherwise terrible holiday a great memory. On the way down you do encounter local kids begging, or just demanding you give them food or your clothing. So I would say take warm clothes you are happy to give away because it gets hot walking down and you get less to carry. Absolutely bloody brilliant. You will never see a sunrise like it.

Definitely recommend, the tour company was very communicative and responsive ahead of time, letting us know what we needed to pack and bring with us. The hike itself was tough, but there were plenty of breaks provided which really helped. It can get cold at the top so definitely take warmer clothing and coats. It’s a long trip overall so be prepared, but the views are absolutely worth it.

The level of difficulty is under played in this 16 hour adventure of an excursion. It is excellent yet the hike up the mountain is not for the faint hearted or unfit. The sunrise is spectacular, the hike guide good and sensible. The drive to and from the hike is about 3 hours with stops. Our driver drove at 140kmph and frequently took and made calls, as well as texted whilst driving. Facilities are limited, for those that may need, take a roll of paper.

This trip was a great experience. It is a long drive in the night from Sharm El Sheikh but with plenty of stops along the way. There are many tour busses leaving together at the same time and we travelled in a convoy with police armed with AK47s for safety. The hike is long and pretty steep in the night. We were given flashlights, but the experience was better without as you can see all the stars in the black sky. There are a lot of tourists but I liked watching the trail of lights snaking up the mountain in the night. It was really cool watching the sunset reveal the hidden landscape full of mountains. St. Catherines Monastery was quite nice to walk around. The only thing that detracted from the experience were the relentlessly annoying people everywhere asking for money, trying to get people to rent camels or buy ponchos/blankets.

St Catherine’s monastery was amazing. Both the setting and the historical importance. Seeing the ancient manuscripts was a huge highlight. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, good driving and everything was on time and well communicated. Our kids were 11 and 9 so in between the young kids and teens section. They were the youngest there by far but they managed fine (mum and dad more struggled) staying up all night and heat on way back down the mountain are all things you need to take into account to weigh up if this is for you, but it’s worth it. The only thing that could really be improved on is our Bedouin guide (who is separate from sun tours I believe) rushed us really fast at the start of the walk for no reason as we had plenty of time and kept overtaking the other groups. This stopped us being able to enjoy the walk at an easy pace and also made us feel that he was trying to get us to take the camels / buy drinks as getting hot and then get sweaty and then cold from the sweat to hire the rugs at the top. Once the camel rides were over (which is the east part of the walk anyway) he slowed right down and could tell he was as exhausted as us! We were at the top well before sunrise just a shame we could not enjoy the walk more.

Blessed Trip, we started from the hotel the guide picked up, and we reached the monastery by 1 AM, started hiking toward the summit and reached by 5 AM, had a blessed time in the summit, my eyes saw the place where mosus received the word of God means the 10 Commandments. Joyfully came down and visited the burning bush.

What an incredible experience! We were group of 4 and opted for private tour with Cleotours.All communication about tour was prompt, clear and correct.The trip was well organised from start to finish. Mohamed our well informed guide was in control of all the logistics and made sure everything run smoothly. Then another young Mohammed ,our guide ,took us up the mountain was likewise firmly in control of the group for the climb and made sure we are safely. We were a little nervous about the hike as one of member has some health problem, therefore we opted for camel ride which was amazing experience. We enjoyed millions stars on the sky.How memorable experience!Last 700 steps was challenge but sunrise was worth it. Next to St.Catharine, our guide Mohamed waiting for us, provided very interesting tour of the monastery, well explained.. Thank so much everyone for make this amazing experience for us. Margita and Ivan