Private Tour: St Catherine's Monastery and Moses' Mountain at Sunrise

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

See the sun rise over the desert on an unforgettable visit to the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments. You'll travel in air-conditioned comfort with your own personal Egyptologist guide, who will accompany you up Moses' Mountain and take you on a tour of St. Catherine's Monastery.

On this sunrise tour you will watch the sun rise over the Sinai Mountains, and retrace the footsteps of Moses when he climbed Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments. Note that the descent is not too steep, but there are around 500 steps at the very summit.

On your journey back down the mountain you will stop at St. Catherine's Monastery, built between 527 and 565 A.D. The monastery is believed to have been built around the site of Moses' Burning Bush. During your visit you will visit the chapel of a Greek Orthodox church to see famous icons and the Mosaic of Transfiguration.

Please note: St. Catherine's Monastery is approximately 142 miles ( 230 kilometers) from Sharm el Sheikh.

USD $84.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Abddalla G	August 2011
it was too hard to climb the mountain but the experience and scene up there was REALLY great but the tour guide was really suck :S

Review by: Paula Andrea A	January 2011
Excellent tour, the bedouin guide made it great! It's a fantastic and unique experience._br/_ Very happy with the guide and the driver as well.

Review by: Michael B	January 2011
The whole tour was incredible! Our tour guide, Ahmed was great. He and my husband hit it off immediately. Within 30 minutes they were joking and laughing ... and it didn't stop the entire way! He was very knowledgeable and even accompanied us up the mountain. He helped with the negotiation with the Bedoiuns for our camels. Our Bedouin guide, Mohammed was excellent as well. He was very quiet at first, but as he loosened up, he was joking around with the other guys too! I was really impressed with how many languages he spoke! This was by far, the best part of our trip to Egypt!

Review by: Philomena M	August 2010
A unique experience- Magical- Excellent guides - A memory to be treasured forever. Organisation and timekeeping excellent. Dont miss this trip if you are in Egypt!!

Review by: Anonymous, Croatia	March 2010
The guide was perfect, the venue was great, although crowded at the monastery due to a small entry and exit. Trip to the top of the mountain, recommend take camel, as it is a long way to the top. The views are worth it though. It is easier to walk down the camel path instead of the steps. Lunch was not so good, as it was a food fest! All in all a great tour, but a lot of time driving. 5 hours all in all from Sharm El Sheikh.

Review by: David G, United Kingdom	April 2009
This is not a private tour, as we went along with 3 other groups. The guide turned up late. Then we had a nightmare trip to Sinai, as the driver thought he was a F1 driver. We then booked camels to take us some of the way up the mountain. The guide left us and went with the other groups so there was no way of knowing where we were. The Bedouin didn't speak and my son got very frightened because it was pitch black and the camel he was on had fallen way behind us so he got off the camel and started to walk up the mountain with one of the Bedouins. I ended jumping off the camel I was on as the Bedouin would not stop, and ran down the mountain to where i found my 10-year old boy crying and absolutely hysterical with the Bedouin not being able to understand what was going on. After some hand waving I got though to him, so he just walked off, leaving us where we were in the dark. We then walked up and met the rest of my family. We then met the guide - how I kept my hands off of him I will never know but he was very sorry at what had happened and told us that he had no idea that this was meant to be a private tour, that he should not have left us but he had to go with the old couple that were with us. After the tour we had breakfast in what I can only explain as the bad side of Egypt - the place was dirty, run down and the food had flies all over it. I would not let my family eat anything, so we just had some bottled water.

Review by: Georges T, France	October 2008
What an atmosphere!

Review by: Stuart H, United Kingdom	June 2008
The trip is great fun, but only suitable for the fairly fit. We walked, but camels can be hired to ease the jounrey seven kilometers, but you will still have to walk the last seven hundred steps. This was well worth the effort and, as usual for Viator, we had an excellent guide and great service was provided.