2 Best Sights in Alexandria, Egypt

These 3rd-century-BC Ptolemaic tombs are built on a smaller scale than the Catacombs at Kom el-Shoqafa, but this necropolis has more extant decoration, including paintings on the limestone walls that simulate marble and include various images from the pantheon of pharaonic gods. The tombs are on the spit of land (which at one time was an island) separating the Western and Eastern harbors, roughly a third of the way between the Palace of Ras al-Tin on the western point and Fort Qaitbay on the eastern point.

The desert west of Alexandria was the field of one of the decisive battles of World War II. In 1942, the British Eighth Army led by General Montgomery attacked the German Afrika Corps led by Field Marshal Rommel (the famous "Desert Fox") and sent them into a retreat, which would eventually clear Axis troops from the whole of North Africa. Soldiers from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, India, and other countries were buried here if they died on the battlefield. Otherwise, their bodies were transferred to the hospital in Alexandria and buried in the Commonwealth Cemetery that still exists in the city.

Three carefully tended military grave sites hold the remains of Allied, Italian, and German soldiers—each with a suitably somber monument. The gardens of El Alamein's museum display an array of military hardware used in the battle. Inside the museum, galleries offer background information on the forces involved and explain how the campaign in North Africa developed and how the decisive battle played out. The museum has also collected a wealth of personal items, including letters and photographs from soldiers on all sides that layer a compelling human story on top of the military records. The sites are about an hour west of Alexandria along the coastal road. Renting a taxi for the morning is the most convenient way to see the museum, monuments, and graveyards. Local tour companies also organize guides and transportation.