Mount Sinai & St.catherine Monastery

Memphis Tours is simply AMAZING! A well-deserved 5 stars—or even 10/10! From our very first contact via SMS, I knew we were in good hands. The entire team is professional, knowledgeable, organized, & genuinely committed to your best interests. They even called our hotel to arrange breakfast boxes for our 10 PM departure. That level of thoughtfulness speaks volumes! Our driver, Mr. Abdul, drives like a Formula 1 champion and got us there in no time! Our guide, Mr. Sallama, was exceptionally knowledgeable and could guide in several languages, including English and German. The highlight was meeting Mr. Mohammad, our Bedouin guide, whose kindness and patience helped me overcome my fears & accomplish the mission of reaching the summit! The entire experience was truly magical, surreal, & unforgettable. And the photographs! Mr. Mohammad’s passion for photography shines through in every shot. The pictures are absolutely magazine-worthy, capturing beautiful memories we will treasure forever. What truly sets this team apart is how seamlessly everyone works together—professional, caring, efficient, & absolutely no unnecessary fuss! I would give Memphis Tours 5 stars without hesitation—or 10/10 if I could! Thank you, Mr. Abdul, Mr. Sallama, & Mr. Mohammad, for making this adventure a memory of a lifetime. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In 15 years of travelling thru out many Asian and Middle Eastern countries, this is the first tour where we feared for our lives during a tour. The driver (it was a. 280 km drive to Mt Sinai from our hotel in Sharm El Sheikh) ignored any posted speed limit, driving at times close to 150 km/hour (95 miles per hr) on a 2 way curved road. At one point tailgating a van, trying to pass 2 other tourist vans and a truck with a visible car incoming on the other side. TOTALLY wreckless!!! We had already noticed that the driver was driving way over the speed limit during the overnight drive to Mt Sinai the night before, but never made any remarks as there was little traffic at the time. we just felt bounced left and right during the drive. I have 2 advices : - Use another company to book your Mt Sinai tour; there a many good companies out there with much more responsible drivers. - to the tour company, Memphis Tours, install a speed limiter in your drivers cars/vans to prevent excessive speeding and putting tourists in danger. Driving 140-150 km/hour on a 2 way road is just wreckless.

We had a great hike ab to mousas mountain it was 7 km all the way ab Or guide Mohammed he was good Bedouin guide and he was all the with us Very beautiful landscape from the the top If you visit the place for you

Sallam is a seasoned professional who us clearly well known and respected by the Bedouin at the Mountain. He has an incredible knowledge of the area and is fluent in English and German. He arranged a guide for us, who was very experienced and thoughtful. A small group is better, if you can afford it because if there is a problem with someone then the impact is limited to your group. It’s not an easy walk and you need a certain degree of resilience more than fitness. There are plenty of opportunities to eat on the route and support the tribesmen economically. Take plenty if cash for tipping.

Unreal experience! The tour is amazing, although is very tiring and demanding. But if you do at your own pace you will reach the summit eventually. There are some tea houses on the way up so its possible to rest as well. The tour guide Amr was very polite and share with us his knowledge about history and took a good care of us. Highly recommended that you book with them!

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.

Our private trip to Mount Sinai was nothing short of amazing. It was very well organised, and the itinerary was communicated to us clearly by Mahmoud, our assigned guide. While he did not stay with us the entire journey (for the sunrise hike to Mount Senai, you are handed over to a Bendouin guide who is in contact with Mahmoud), our time with him at St Catherine Monastery was very interesting as he is very knowledgeable and shared with us the history behind the different religions. This was on top of explaining the sights of the monastery to us and helping us to take photos. The driver accompanying Mahmoud was also very kind, stopping on the way back to the hotel to treat us to falafels as he could see that we were very exhausted from the journey. Unfortunately we cannot remember his name. The view up Mount Sinai was amazing as you are away from the light pollution of the cities and can see stars dotting the sky. At the top, you will be rewarded with a sunrise. We made it to the top with plenty of time to spare despite trying to pace it out and slow our ascent. We recommend going with Memphis Tours for your trip to Mount Sinai, and do remember to ask for Mahmoud as your guide. We booked through Viator but it might be better to go directly to them as we have been seeing Memphis Tours’ vans all around Egypt and they are quite reputable. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to come back to Egypt, and to Mount Sinai.

Very well organized tour, and highlight of my trip to Egypt. My tour guide Mr.Mahmoud Hanafy was very knowledgeable and shared great details about St.Catherine monastery and Mount Sanai. I am a solo traveler and he took great care in making sure I have a good experience. He answered all my questions and took many pictures of me which are a treasure. For hiking, Mr.Salah was my guide and he is one of the most sweetest and most patient guide. Our driver was Mr. Abdul Rehman (Abdo) who was also very nice and safe driver. Overall, this was a memorable experience for me because the team took such a good care. Thank you.

My family and I had a great time on our tour. We had Engy as our guide, and she was both personable and informative. St. Catherine Monastery was unfortunately closed, but Memphis Tours was great and contacted us before hand to let us know. They offered to move our tour day, but unfortunately our tight schedule wouldn’t allow us to do that. Our Bedouin guide up Mount Sinai was also very knowledgeable, and fun spirited. We had a fantastic time despite the monastery being closed, and I would highly recommend this tour!

Mount sinai is the best Memphis Tours is definitely the tour company to use when traveling throughout Sharm El Shiek ! They are very organized and very service oriented down to the details Most impressive is the communication between Memphis Tours and their staff and in turn us the travelers. During the tour I felt very taken care of and relaxed because they took the stress out of my vacation at mount sinai for sunrise.

This is one of a kind trip, I highly recommend this tour to anyone traveling to Sharm El Sheikh it is and aventure that is well worth to try

We recently returned from a perfectly amazing two week trip to Egypt with Memphis Tours. Traveling with Memphis Tours was the best decision we made!! We spent a few days in Dahab, with a side trip to climb Mount Sinai. The experience was perfect. Here's how it went--Our tour guide, Mahmoud Elbelbisi took such good care of all the details, arriving on time, explaining everything to us and giving us the history of what we were about to experience. What's more, he was so much fun to be with, funny and warm, and that made this middle-of the-night adventure feel comfortable. When we arrived at the mountain, Mahmoud introduced us to the lovely Khalid, the guide who hiked the mountain with us. Khalid was a gem! He was patient and kind as he helped us make it to the top- and it was a long way up!! Back at the bottom the following morning, Mahmoud took us two very tired and dirty women to St. Catherine's Monastery, where we had a lot of laughs together while we discussed the story of Moses and lots of other history. We learned so much from him, and had fun doing it!! I highly recommend a visit to the beautiful Sinai Desert, made better by Memphis Tours and our truly amazing guides. They are the best!!!

The overall service with Memphis Tours, specifically with Mahmoud was outstanding. The knowledge, punctuality and overall arrangement was superb. My family felt protected and well taken care of. This blessed experience of walking or hiking Mt Sinai was by far one of the most amazing things we have done thus far. Mahmoud also arranged to have another guide, Joseph, who walked along us, provided so many teachable moments, tips to be able to endure, extremely smart, kind to carry my backpack, and encouraging to make it to the most anticipated peak. To top it all off we finish with St Catherine Monastery, and standing next to the original Burning Bush (pictured). Make sure to have comfortable shoes, a blanket, or jacket, travel toilet paper, but travel very light.

WoW! What an amazing experience with Memphis Tours and with our guide Mahmoud ! The 4 mile climb up Mt. Sinai is a purely bucket list experience!!. We felt very safe and our guide was very friendly and informative. Bring pillows and be ready to be up all night . :) Also bring a heavier jacket (not intuitive when packing for Egypt).

Memphis Tours is definitely the tour company to use when traveling throughout Egypt! They are very organized and very service oriented down to the details Most impressive is the communication between Memphis Tours and their staff and in turn us the travelers. During the tour I felt very taken care of and relaxed because they took the stress out of my vacation! Also, Mahmoud E. Our tour guide in Sharm El Sheik was terrific!

Our guide was simply excellent. Knowledgeable, articulate, friendly, experienced. I cannot say enough good things about him. Ahmed.

Touring St. Catherine's Monastery, the museum, and climbing Mt. Sinai was the highlight of our Egypt trip (and Cairo, Luxor and Aswan were amazing). We were safe with Memphis Tours; they took care of all details and we loved being in the Sinai. Thank you Memphis Tours and team. Jessica Mc in Ocala FL

What an adventure!! My night started with elite service. I was picked up from my hotel in luxury and on time by my driver and tour guide for this private tour. It was followed by 3 hours of an in-depth historical, unbiased and warm debriefing of our destination whilst travelling there by my qualified tour guide, Ahmed. On site at the base of St Catherine’s Monastery, a local experienced Bedowin took over the hiking portion of the tour and the 3hr climb up Mt Sinai. The climb was a challenge for me but the guide was patient, understanding and very helpful all the way to the summit. At the top I was blown away by heart opening, tear jerking sunrise that unveiled the magnitude and splendid beauty of mountain range. It was then followed by a decent and tour of St. Catherine’s monastery, where the original guide continued talking about the historical and unified religious aspect of the monastery. I was also guided in the museum and an explanation of each unique artefact was given. In addition, I wanted to return the next day and a driver was provided for me the whole day at a very reasonable price and arrangements were made by my tour guide with the monastery. I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences of my life! Thank you! I definitely look forward to returning :)

We had the most amazing experience hiking to Mt Sinai in the night and watching the sun rise. Our driver and guide Mohammed picked us up at about 10 pm and drive us to the mountains. Once we got there we were met by our Bedouin guide Eid who hiked with us to the top. He took great care of us and after the sun rise we hiked back down and toured St Katherine monastery. Our driver was waiting for us and drove us back to Sharm. What an incredible experience I very much recommend this.

Was the best tour that i ever experience in my life. Thanks to the guide and all. I almost cry in the morning. ;)

Had an amazing time in Sharm el Sheikh. Highlight of the trip was the visit to the Mountain Sinai and Monastery of St Catherine. Climbing the mountain during the night, enjoying the view from the top at sunrise and than visiting the Monastery and learning about all the history and background, was a lifetime experience. Memphis tour and our guide Mahmoud took great care of us. We really enjoyed the knowledgeable tour we got and all the first-hand informations on the history and culture of Egypt, and especially Sinai. Mahmoud was very helpful with my departure as well, as he took care of my late-night transportation to the airport and all the preflight procedures. Our overall stay in Sharm was exceptional, including the resort, beach, snorkelling and everything else there was to offer.

excepcional tour to Mount Sinai from Sharm el Seikh, everything was very well organized. Mr Ahmed helped us with every detail. The magic of Mount Sinai and the Monastery fills us with faith, we love the trip.

Sunrise tour of Mount Sinai was fantastic! About 6km+ each way and 750 steep steps up to the top. We got a camel ride up to 200m before the 750 step climb, it. Sunset was incredible, and only a few other tourists around made it more intense an experience. Walking downhill was quite hard, Ahmed Kassem was excellent hosts, very responsive through WhatsApp, punctual, and knowledgeable! Had a wonderful time. Highly recommended! Thank you Ahmed kassim

I had a terrific experience in Sharm el Sheikh with Memphis Tours. Spent 4 days Scuba diving with Easy Divers, including completing my PADI Open Water Cert. The diving was amazing and was the highlight of my trip. Also included a trip to hike Mt Sinai. Ahmed, the tour coordinator organized everything very well, including arranging for a COVID PCR in time for my return flight home. Great piece of mind. Will highly recommend Memphis Tours for your entire Egypt trip.

In the monastery we could see the burning bush before which Moses met God.

It was a wonderful and eventful experience! Top organized, German speaking guide! Always happy to recommend

We booked a hike with sunrise on the mountain and visit of the monastery. The tour was with pick up from the hotel in Dahab, guided tour up the mountain and back and entrance to the monastery. The organizer was "Dahab Safari Day Tours". We were picked up from the hotel in the evening with a bus around 10pm. The journey took quite a long time. We first approached several other hotels to pick up guests. Arriving at the mountain we were assigned to a mountain guide. First you have to queue at some kind of checkpoint and the passports are checked. Then we were driven up the mountain at an insane pace. On the way are always small shops where you could rest. But you can only rest where the respective mountain guide wants it. Probably at the stores of his family/friends. Again and again you are also offered to ride the first piece on a camel (50 dollars). On the last section, which is steepest and consists of 750 steps, young people offer their help to hikers who have come out of the puff. They mutter something out of 15 if they're allowed to carry the bag. It is assumed that there are 15 Egyptian pounds. Once on top, they want dollars! When you are up, it is still a good 2 hours before sunrise and it is dark and freezing. One wonders why one was actually so driven on the way. The descent is then a little easier. Once downstairs, I wanted to visit the monastery and go to the toilet first. There was no water there. Neither for flushing the toilet, nor for washing hands. For this I bought overpriced drinking water from the shop. There was supposedly no more time to visit the monastery. You could only briefly for 5min in the courtyard. But then you were allowed to wait another half an hour at the bus until the departure. Conclusion: The mountains and the sunrise were beautiful. I would do it again. But then maybe with a private mountain guide at my pace. The tourist nap through the resident Bedouins is really bad. something should be done about it.

This activity is strenuous, but very worthwhile. For part of the climb to Mount Sinai I needed a camel. The views from above the mountain at sunrise are wonderful. The monastery of Santa Catalina is very nice. I could see there the burning bush of the theophany to Moses. The staff was very attentive.

I was thinking about visiting Egypt, and when I found out that it was possible to climb Mount Sinai, I no longer had any doubts. This incredible chance to combine history and culture with trails and adventure makes the country an irresistible place. All the reports we read about this climb are true and none can describe the wonder of watching the sunrise at the top of Mount Sinai - the moon and stars still shine on the same horizon where the sun slowly emerges, revealing the valleys and invisible rock formations as we climbed. I recommend the Bedouin guide Mohammad, who I considered to be one of the best, a fluent speaker of English and other languages and knowledgeable about every detail of the trail, as well as an extremely kind person and attentive to the difficulties of those who are climbing for the first time. Your contact: +20 1030027891. I also recommend arriving in the morning to enjoy the desert and start the climb before the tourist groups arrive from the beaches of the Mar Vemelho. A good option for a guesthouse is Masoudi Lodge, which I wrote about in another post.

Perfect organization, sublime ascent of Mount Sinai, great driver, guide and Bedouin! The guide gave us many explanations about the Sainte-Catherine monastery, I recommend ++

An incredible experience and very well managed and cared for by the Memphis Tour! A team of incredible and careful professionals, who think in every detail for an incredible experience! Thank you Memphis!

La esperiencia fue interesante pero es muy exigente en cuanto a lo fisico para llegar arriba. No es recomendable para personas que no esten en forma

A nice experience, which involves physical wear and tear but is very rewarding. The scenery once you reach the top is beautiful. Then we visit the Monastery, which is a place you can not miss. Without a doubt, our guide Mahmoud made everything worthwhile, an excellent guide, highly recommended the activity.

Magnificent ... the climb to the valley mountain the pen was a fantastic experience deserves ... an extraordinary show

Everything was really wonderful, from the beginning of the ascent, the course with that beautiful starry sky, the arrival at the top, the sunrise. the view of the rock formations and I appreciate the great support and care of the guide

Very nice excursion. Fabulous scenery in Sinai. Visit of the very zen monastery. Climbing for 30 min of Mount Sinai with great views. Meals along the sea then. All with a guide, Engy who makes the tour more than interesting in a good mood

Sharm surprised us too much! At first we knew about the tourist spot by the beaches, but what we liked most were the safari tours in the desert and the climb of Mount Sinai. Our trip to Egypt was complete with these experiences! And thank you for all the hospitality and professionalism of the Memphis staff and our guide Mahmoud!

Excellent experience! We went up to Mount Sinai, the guide Mamhoud was very helpful, kind and organized. Mount Sinai is amazing!