Epic Sinai Journey: Sacred Summit & Ancient Monastery

This was a ‘private tour’. Meaning it was just us with the guide and driver in a van coming and going and at the monastery. They also set us up with a Bedouin guide that was just us and the guide up the mountain. I had read another review where someone said ‘Ride the camel’. So glad we did. $25 each. A little over 2 miles of uphill rocky switchbacks to start the climb. And of course it is super dark. Had people trying to hire camels part way up after they decided they wouldn’t be able to walk it very well. The 750 ‘stairs’ to the top are stairs in the sense that it is stones and boulders fashioned into stairs. Not consistent in size or steepness. A cold front was coming through the night we went. VERY windy, which made it that much colder. I really wished I had some long socks that would cover my ankles, which is the one thing they didn’t sell anywhere along the way. Saw several other people that wished the same. Other than that it wasn’t unbearably cold until you got to the very top, which wouldn’t have been terrible had it not been for the wind. They rent you blankets at the last coffee shop before the top. Very much worth the few dollars. The coffee and hot chocolate were also very good. The sunrise and the view are phenomenal. You can understand why this was the place God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. With all the cold, lack of sleep and sore legs, it was very much worth the trip. Definitely a bucket list item.

The trip was absolutely fantastic! The guides, Hanafy and Eid, were amazing. I did a great hike and the views were exceptional. It wasn’t a hard climb - did it in less than 2.5 hours - but it was a very long day/night so you’ll need the next day to recover. Highly recommend this. It was my highlight of Egypt!

The hike to Mt. Sinai and tour of St. Catherine Monastery was incredible. Taking a private tour was well worth it. We were picked up from our hotel on time and had a very comfortable ride. We were able to hike at our own pace and without headlamps (our choice) which made the hike extra enjoyable. Both our hiking guide and our monastery guide were very knowledgeable and interesting to speak with. Our hiking guide was also very skilled at taking night pictures, so we have a nice album to take home.

What a fabulous tour! We thoroughly enjoyed our trip with Memphis Tours to Saint Catherine and climbing Mount Sinai. Our driver and guide in our minibus we’re both excellent. Our guide gave us some history as we drove along, but most of the drive was time that we had to relax and sleep. The trip up to St. Catherine took about three hours. There was about a 30 minute wait just outside of Sharm el-Sheikh, at the first police check point. We went through about 4 to 5 other checkpoints, but did not have any waiting time at any of those. We stopped about halfway there at a nice convenient store called Take 5, with very nice clean bathrooms and a large assortment of food and drinks. It was a good chance to get outside and walk around and relax before continuing on. Credit cards and electric payments were accepted. Just a few minutes before our destinations, we pulled off at a site that had a number of icons that are found in Saint Catherine’s monastery. We got a great history lesson on what they all mean and information about Saint Catherine herself. It was very interesting! Then there was an opportunity to purchase different replica variants of the icons. Again, credit cards and electronic payment were accepted. We also were able to see a small replica/model of what is inside of the monastery walls to orient us before we got there later in the day. That information was very helpful because we were already oriented to where everything was when we saw it later in the day. There was also a bathroom available at this stop, but have cash on hand to tip. After we pulled into the parking lot for St. Catherine’s Monastery and the hike to Mount Sinai, we got off the bus and there’s about a quarter mile walk down to where the monastery is and the hike begins. This is where we met our Bedouin guide that would take us up the mountain. Our guide was excellent, very personable and interesting with a lot of knowledge. He even carried my wife’s backpack up the mountain for her and watched our stuff when we wanted to put things down to take photos. The hike up the mountain starts off slowly on the camel road, and then the elevation starts to increase. Note: the old Path of Repentance, with 3,750 steps to the summit is closed. There are a number of loose rocks and a very dusty soil along the camel road. There are several tea shops and rest places along the way, so you can take as much time as you want to get up the mountain, keeping in mind that your goal may be to view the sunrise or sunset from the summit. We did the tour that starts the climb at 2AM, reaching the summit by 6AM for sunrise, on the date we went. There is a part before the 750 steps that gets steeper. Then the stairs - I had not been able to find any other reviews that specifically explained details regarding the stairs. The are blocks of stone. All different sizes and depths, and heights. The stairs are not all in “one flight” per se - it’s not just one long column of stairs. The stairs twist and turn up the mountain. There are places to stand to the side to allows others to pass or to take a photo. Although there are drop-offs on the side, there aren’t any that are a really long drop - nothing more than say 10’ or so. The summit is fairly small and can get quite crowded. There are several different terraces to stand on, enabling you to get photos of any direction. There is a small chapel which is usually closed but was open for a few minutes while we were there. There are some boulders you can climb to get that classic “I’m on a rock looking over the beautiful remote landscape“ photo. My wife used walking sticks which were extremely helpful for her (a 56 year old, fairly active woman). The hike to the summit took us about 3h20m, with the descent taking about 2h15m. Some of the time on the stairs we were in a line and just waiting for it to move, but it was a nice break. We started up at 2AM and started heading down around 6:15AM. Our tour was on November 6th and sunrise was around 6AM. I would recommend being extra careful and slow going down as it is the easiest time to slip and injure yourself. Some of the terrain can be slippery because of the small gravel. Our Bedouin guide, Eid, was excellent and spoke several languages, including English and Russian! Very personable and extremely helpful. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide. He was full of interesting information and answered all of my various and wide-ranging questions. We really had a nice conversation with him along the way. After we got off the mountain, Eid handed us back off to our original guide from Memphis Tours, Halim, to visit St. Catherine’s monastery. Halim was very interesting and told us a lot of history and explained what we were seeing along the way. There is a place to rest and get a snack and tea and sit in the shade, and then we also saw Moses’s well, the outside of the area that contains the burning bush, and we were able to see its branches. We also quickly peaked in the church and saw some of the icons there. Plan to have tip money again here at the monastery in order to use the bathroom. After that you can opt to take a taxi back to your bus or walk the quarter mile back to where you were originally dropped off to start. We arrived back to our hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh around 12:45PM, slightly later than expected. You should plan to bring tip money for your Bedouin guide, as well as the Memphis Tours guide and the minibus driver. Excellent experience! I would highly recommend Memphis Tours and the Mt. Saini and St. Catherine tour.

From an American: After much deliberating and second-guessing about how to book a tour, reading reviews, and feeling lost, I booked with this one (Memphis Tours) and so glad I did. Other tours were cheaper on Viator and GetMyGuide, but that's because they round up a lot of people at a lower price. They apparently jam you into a packed mini bus, rounding up each traveler from their respective hotel, which greatly extends the timeline for an already-lengthy and tiring excursion. This was a private tour — just us, the arranged driver and our guide. Ahmed was fantastic. Picked us up from our Sharm hotel, took care of everything for security, providing logistics and timelines and even a few laughs along the way. Made what seemed like a trip packed with anxiety frictionless.

It was really fun and exhausting climb. We did the climb during the day. First we visited St Catherine's Monastery. Then we started to climb at around noon. We visited in October so the temperature was much more bearable. Climbing at night I have heard is much too cold. We rode camels up, which was a must during the heat of the day. Make sure to bring plenty of water and snacks. Luckily we did. Since we did the tour during the middle of the day there was no meal provided with the tour. The climb was very taxing but very rewarding.

An absolutely amazing experience. My guide Mahmoud was amazing. He communicated with me days before the tour what the plan was for the tour. He was full of amazing information and went out of his way to help me find a local shop after the tour. I felt extremely safe going alone a solo female hiker. The hike up was breath taking. Highly recommend

Very interesting tour of the monastery, well explained. Friendly guide. We were picked up at the hotel a scheduled and taken to start the tour to avoid any waste on time. Hike to Mount Sinai was not as difficult as thought because we did it with no sun. Just take your time and consider your fit level when doing it.

Had an amazing day trip with Mahmoud Hanafy! He was friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and made us feel like we were at home in Egypt. I was on my honeymoon with my husband and Mt. Sinai/St. Katherine’s was on our bucket list. 10/10 recommend Hanafy and Memphis Tours. Thank you!!

I highly recommend traveling to Saint Catherine's Monastery. It is well worth visiting regardless of your religious beliefs or lack of. The area is extremely peaceful, full of beautiful nature scenes, and has an excellent history. Mahmoud Hanafy was my guide, and I HIGHLY recommend him. He was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Above all, he is an amazing guide, and I recommend asking for him to be your guide.