Sinai, Mount Sinai, St Catherine's Monastery and Dahab, 7 days

Two altitudes, one week

The trip is built around two places about two hours apart by road. Up high, St Catherine, a small town at around 1,600 m at the foot of Mount Sinai, where nights are cold and the day starts before dawn. Down below, Dahab, a small divers' town on the Gulf of Aqaba, which lives by the reef and the wind. The first part takes effort; the second lets you recover.

Mount Sinai is the Mount Horeb of the Old Testament, where Moses received the Tablets of the Law, and Muslims know it as Jebel Musa, the "Mountain of Moses". St Catherine's Orthodox Monastery, at its foot, was founded in the 6th century: it is the oldest Christian monastery still serving its original purpose without interruption. The "Saint Catherine Area" has been a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site since 2002.

Fixing the dates around the monastery

The whole trip depends on a short timetable. The monastery is open from 09:00 to 11:30 local time, and closed on Fridays, Sundays and major Greek Orthodox feast days.

The night climb ends at sunrise, and you come down just in time for opening: the day of the climb therefore has to be an opening day. With two nights in town, the trip has two mornings available, on day 2 and day 3. Arriving on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday makes both usable: one for the climb and the monastery, the other in reserve if wind or tiredness forces you to postpone. Arriving on any other day leaves only one, since one of the two mornings falls on a Friday or a Sunday.

Greek Orthodox feast days should also be checked before fixing the dates.

Day 1: up to St Catherine

From Sharm el-Sheikh airport, allow about 2 h 30 by road to the north-west, in daylight. A visit to the monastery is possible, but the journey between the monastery and the coast is not made at night. Day trips from the coast drive precisely at night, reaching the foot of the mountain around 01:00: sleeping in St Catherine avoids that journey.

A flight landing in the afternoon means putting the drive off to the next day. In that case, a night in Sharm el-Sheikh or Dahab before heading up keeps to the principle: you only drive by day.

St Catherine does not yet have an address in the Sabaro selection. The town has a guest house run by the monastery, just below its walls, with dinner and breakfast, booked by phone, as well as hotels and Bedouin camps.

Day 2: the Mount Sinai night

Setting off. Depending on your fitness, you leave between midnight and 03:00 local time, head torch on, with a Bedouin guide. Allow three to four hours for the climb; the monastery reckons five to seven hours for the round trip.

The two paths. Both start on the north-eastern side of the monastery and meet at Elijah's Basin, a natural amphitheatre with a refreshment stall:

• the Camel Path, laid out in the 19th century, longer and gently graded. You can hire a camel for most of the way, but the last section is on foot, up steep steps;
• the Steps of Repentance, the 6th-century route, about 3,750 steps cut by the monks: shorter, but steep.

From Elijah's Basin, about 750 steps remain to the summit, at 2,285 m, where there is a chapel and a mosque. Many people go up the Camel Path in the dark and come down the steps in daylight.

The cold. The difference between day and night temperatures is large. In winter the summit can freeze and snow is possible; even in spring and autumn, several layers, a hat, gloves and plenty of water are essential.

The monastery, on the way back. The descent brings you back to the foot of the mountain in time for opening. The visitor route is fixed: the northern gate, the Well of Moses, the katholikon (the main church), the Burning Bush, then the sacristy, now a museum. The monastery does not allow organised guided tours inside and prohibits video recording; clothing covering shoulders and legs is expected. The afternoon is for sleeping.

Day 3: the reserve morning, then the sea

If the climb has happened, the morning is free for a shorter walk in the valleys around town with a local guide. If not, it is the second chance for the summit and the monastery. You then leave for Dahab, about 2 hours by road, in daylight.

Walkers stay south of the St Catherine–Nuweiba road: beyond it, the northern part of South Sinai Governorate, except for the coastal areas, may be advised against depending on your ministry. Before you leave, check France Diplomatiediplomatie.belgium.beDFAE (eda.admin.ch)mae.gouvernement.luGOV.UK (FCDO)ireland.ie (DFA)Auswärtiges AmtRegeringen (UD)Udenrigsministeriet (um.dk)RegjeringenOdyseusz (MSZ)MZV ČRBMEIANederland WereldwijdViaggiare Sicuriexteriores.gob.esPortal das ComunidadesUlkoministeriö (um.fi).

Days 3 to 7: four nights in Dahab

The Retac Qunay, the former Le Méridien, is the big hotel in a town of small addresses: 182 rooms, five pools, an artificial lagoon and a beach reserved for guests, with a shuttle into the centre. After Mount Sinai, its pools and spa come into their own.

Shore diving. In Dahab you almost always dive from the shore: you drive to the site, cross the reef flat, a shallow coral platform, and descend along a reef that drops quickly into deep water. Three days are enough for the best-known sites:

• the Blue Hole, a few kilometres north. The classic dive starts from a nearby crack, the Bells, follows the wall to the Saddle, a sill at around 6 to 7 m, and ends in the hole itself. The Arch, the tunnel linking the hole to the open sea, has its ceiling at about 55 m: it lies beyond the 40 m that the CDWS (Chamber of Diving and Water Sports, the Egyptian diving chamber) sets as the maximum depth for recreational diving on air;
• the Canyon, the other major shore site;
• Ras Abu Galum, a protected area to the north, reached by car and then by small boat, for its blue lagoon and snorkelling.

Prices recorded. At Circle Divers, the try-dive listed in this idea, a half-day PADI Discover Scuba Diving dive, costs €56 and is open from age 10. Certified divers pay €79 on site, or €74 online, for a day of two dives. The Ras Abu Galum snorkelling trip costs €75, guide, lunch and equipment included, for a minimum of 4 people. The national park fee comes on top: €20 per person per entry, at the Blue Hole as at Ras Abu Galum. These prices, recorded on 14 October 2026, include 14% VAT (value added tax) and a 10% entertainment tax; card payments carry a 3% fee.

Without diving. Snorkelling along the edge of the Blue Hole in calm seas, windsurfing or kitesurfing on the lagoon south of town, a camel ride in Wadi al-Toalat, the Friday market.

Safety. Dahab has two decompression chambers. Your travel insurance should cover diving to the depth you plan.

Day 7, departure. Sharm el-Sheikh airport is about 90 km away, a little over an hour by road.

Visa

For this trip, get the standard visa on arrival at Sharm el-Sheikh, 30 US dollars in cash, or an e-visa before you leave. The free entry stamp issued at the airport covers stays of under 15 days in the coastal resorts; the standard visa also covers St Catherine and the rest of the country.

When to go

Spring and autumn. At the St Catherine station, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 1961–1990 normals, the average maximum ranges from 18.5 °C in March to 27.9 °C in May, and from 25.7 °C in October to 19.9 °C in November, with nights of 6 to 14 °C; the summit is markedly colder. From December to February, maximums fall to 14–16 °C and nights to 2–4 °C. In Dahab the sea is at 22–24 °C from March to May and 26–27 °C in October and November. In summer the average maximum reaches 32 °C in St Catherine and exceeds 37 °C on the coast.