St Catherine's Monastery ToursCairo: 2-Day Trip to St. Catherine & Moses Mountain Climb
The St Catherine and Mount Sinai tour from Cairo run by Sun Pyramids Tours takes two days because the drive takes six hours: a private air-conditioned vehicle from your Cairo hotel, a hotel night in St Catherine with lunch and dinner, the 2 am climb with a Bedouin guide, the monastery after the 7 am descent, breakfast, and the drive back. Entrance fees and water are in the $319; tips and drinks at meals are not. Guides come in Arabic, English, Italian, Japanese, French, German and Spanish, and the listing is rated 5.0 from 10 reviews. It sits on the St Catherine tours from Sharm and Cairo compared as the cheaper Cairo option.
About This Two-Day Trip
2 days; about 6 hours' drive each way, climb 2 to 7 am on day two
$319 per person; vehicle, hotel night, three meals, entrance fees, water
5.0 from 10 GetYourGuide reviews, the latest in April 2026
Private group available; tour leader plus a Bedouin guide on the mountain
Cairo hotels; airport, New Cairo, Sheikh Zayed and the New Capital cost extra
Free up to 24 hours before; reserve now and pay later
Check Dates and Availability
Live dates and prices for the Sun Pyramids two-day trip from Cairo. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start.
Quick answer $319 with the bed, three meals and the fees paid; the tips are the number nobody prints
Day one is the road: a Sun Pyramids representative collects you at your Cairo hotel and drives about six hours to St Catherine, where you check into a hotel, eat lunch and dinner, and sleep. Day two starts at 2 am with a Bedouin guide on the mountain, the sunrise from the summit, the descent by about 7, the monastery, breakfast at the hotel and the drive back to Cairo. The $319 covers the private vehicle, the night, the three meals, entrance fees, a tour leader, the Bedouin guide and bottled water. Outside it: tips for three people and drinks at meals. Pickups from Cairo airport, Sphinx airport, New Cairo, Heliopolis, Sheikh Zayed, the New Administrative Capital and the outer suburbs are charged extra.
Key takeaways
- Ask the operator what to tip before you leave: a May 2024 reviewer wished someone had, because three people expect one
- The hotel is a category, not a name; the listing reserves the right to swap it for one of the same class
- Guides in seven languages; the Emo Tours alternative runs in English only and costs $51 more
How the Two Days Are Built
Cairo to the monastery is 450 km and six hours, so the operator sleeps you at the mountain rather than driving through the night.
Day one: the drive
Pickup from your hotel in Cairo by a modern air-conditioned vehicle, then about six hours east and south to St Catherine, under the Suez Canal and across the Sinai. Lunch and dinner are included, the hotel is in St Catherine, and the evening is yours to sleep, because the alarm is set for 2 am. An American reviewer in May 2024 described the tour guide and a driver meeting them at the airport and the five hours into the Sinai desert; a German in April 2023 said the transfer worked despite the checkpoints.
Day two: the climb, the monastery, the road home
At 2 am the Bedouin guide takes you up the mountain, and the listing has you back down at about 7 after the sunrise. Then the monastery, with entrance fees included, then breakfast at the hotel and the six hours back to Cairo. A Canadian in January 2024 called the walk up very physically challenging and the summit very cold in the early morning, with hat and gloves necessary.
An American in April 2026 kept it shorter: a great climb with beautiful scenery. The El Hez Village cold spring that the highlights mention is a stop the operator can add on request.
| Day one | Day two | |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Morning pickup, Cairo hotel | 2:00 am, hotel in St Catherine |
| Main event | 6 hours by private vehicle | Climb, sunrise, descent by 7, monastery |
| Meals included | Lunch, dinner | Breakfast |
| Night | Hotel in St Catherine | Back in Cairo by evening |
What is in the $319 and what is not
Included: hotel pickup and return in Cairo, transfer by private air-conditioned vehicle, one night's accommodation in St Catherine, entrance fees to the places in the itinerary, a tour leader, bottled water, the Bedouin guide and all taxes. Not included: anything not in the itinerary, tipping, and beverages and water during breakfast, lunch and dinner. The listing also notes that if the named hotels are full the company may change to another of the same category, and that pickup from Cairo airport, Sphinx airport, the New Administrative Capital, New Cairo, Heliopolis, Badr, Shorouk, Rehab, Obour, Sheraton, Sheikh Zayed, the Ring Road, Mirage City, the Meridian airport hotel or Madinaty costs extra.
- Included: private vehicle, hotel night, lunch, dinner, breakfast, entrance fees, tour leader, Bedouin guide, water
- Not included: tips, drinks at meals, outer-district pickups
- Languages: Arabic, English, Italian, Japanese, French, German, Spanish
- Transfer wheelchair accessible; the mountain is not
The Place You Are Driving To
Six hours of road buy this: the monastery in its valley and the mountain behind it, shot from the air and the ground.
The Tipping Question, and the Camel
Two costs sit outside the price and both are paid in cash on the mountain side of the trip.
Three people expect a tip
An American reviewer in May 2024 gave the trip five stars and one criticism: nobody says what to tip. A tour guide and a driver met them at the airport and drove five hours into the desert, and a different guide took them up the mountain, and each expected something. On a trip that is not cheap to begin with it became a real extra cost, and the advice was to ask beforehand so you neither under- nor over-tip.
Do that: message the operator through the platform after booking and ask for a figure per person for the driver, the tour leader and the Bedouin guide. Bring the answer in Egyptian pounds in small notes.
The camel is cash too
The listing does not mention camels, but Bedouins with camels wait at the foot of the mountain on every night and ride you as far as the foot of the 750 steps for cash. On the Emo Tours version of this trip a Hungarian reviewer in her fifties said she would not have reached the top without one. Nobody can ride the steps.
The season from Cairo
St Catherine sits at about 1,586 m and the summit at 2,285 m, so a Cairo departure in January means a night at the mountain near freezing and a summit below it. October, November, March and April are the comfortable months; summer is hot on the six-hour drive and still cold on the summit before dawn. The homepage month-by-month chart has the town's averages, taken from Wikipedia's climate table for Saint Catherine.
Two Days, Step by Step
From the operator's printed programme and reviewer accounts. Day one times depend on your pickup point in Cairo.
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Day 1, morning
Pickup in Cairo
A Sun Pyramids representative and a private air-conditioned vehicle at your hotel; outer districts and airports cost extra.
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Day 1, midday
Lunch on the road
Included. The route runs under the Suez Canal and into the Sinai.
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Day 1, afternoon
Check-in at St Catherine
A hotel of the booked category; dinner included; sleep early.
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Day 2, 02:00
The climb
Pickup at the hotel and transfer to the mountain with the Bedouin guide. Hat and gloves for the summit.
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Day 2, sunrise
Summit
The sunrise over the Sinai ranges from 2,285 m.
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Day 2, 07:00
Descent and the monastery
Down to St Catherine's Monastery; entrance fees included. Sleeves and long trousers for the gate.
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Day 2, mid-morning
Breakfast
At the hotel, then check-out.
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Day 2, afternoon
Back to Cairo
About six hours; hotel by evening.
Where the Trip Goes
About 450 km from Cairo, under the Suez Canal and across the peninsula to the granite interior at 1,586 m.
Drive times from all three start points are on the homepage.
Sun Pyramids Two-Day Trip: Questions About This Listing
Which meals are included on the Sun Pyramids two-day trip?
Lunch and dinner on day one and breakfast on day two, with bottled water during the trip. Drinks and water at the meals themselves are not included.
Which Cairo pickup points cost extra on this tour?
Cairo airport, Sphinx airport, the New Administrative Capital, New Cairo, Heliopolis, Badr City, Shorouk, Rehab, Obour, Sheraton Almatar, Sheikh Zayed, the Ring Road, Mirage City, the Meridian airport hotel and Madinaty. Downtown and Giza hotels are covered.
Which hotel does the two-day trip use in St Catherine?
The listing names a category rather than a hotel and reserves the right to change to another of the same category if the intended one is full. A 2023 reviewer found the room fine and the food in the accommodation less so.
How much should I tip on the Sun Pyramids Cairo trip?
The listing does not say, and a May 2024 reviewer's only complaint was exactly that: a driver, a tour guide and a Bedouin guide each expected a tip. Ask the operator for a per-person figure after booking and carry it in Egyptian pounds.
Can I book the Cairo trip as a private group?
Yes. The listing offers a private-group option, and guides are available in Arabic, English, Italian, Japanese, French, German and Spanish. The vehicle is private in either case.
What Travellers Said About This Tour
The vehicle is comfy and the tour guide, Mahmoud Okasha, takes care of everything. Warm clothing with hat and gloves are necessary as the mountain top is very cold in early morning.
It was a great climb with beautiful scenery. Climbing Mount Sinai was interesting and fun.
An exceptional place. An amazing guide and driver, extremely patient and caring. The population is breathtakingly kind and welcoming.
Excerpts from verified GetYourGuide reviews of this listing, with the reviewer's country and travel month. Full reviews sit on the operator's listing.
Page last reviewed September 2026. Price, rating and review count read from the listing on September 2026. Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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