Getting to St Catherine's
For the time being, St Catherine's Village remains poorly connected to certain intuitive destinations within Southern Sinai. That said, it's very much worth the effort.
Bus to St Catherine's Village
There is a daily bus service from Cairo to St Catherine. The bus leaves from Cairo each morning at 11am. It arrives in St Catherine’s the same day at 6pm. From St Catherine's the bus leaves at 6am, arriving in Cairo at approximately 1pm
From Cairo, it is advisable to buy your ticket a day in advance and arrive at the terminal 1 hour prior on the day of departure. Tickets may not be purchased in advance if travelling in the other direction from St Catherine's to Cairo.
Sadly there are no public bus connections from St Catherine’s to elsewhere in Sinai (e.g. Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba).
Bedouin Bus
If travelling to/from Dahab or Nuweiba to St Catherine's, travellers may now take a community bus service known as Bedouin Bus. Read more about Bedouin Bus schedule and prices.
Private Bus to St Catherine's
For tourists wanting to visit St Catherine’s for the sole purpose of climbing Mount Sinai, there are organised trips departing Dahab, Nuweiba and Sharm El Sheikh each evening, returning the following morning after the climb.
Buses typically leave late evening at around 11pm from Dahab/Nuweiba or 10pm from Sharm El Sheikh. You’ll be dropped off outside St Catherine’s monastery at the start of the trail around 1am.
Climbers typically arrive back to the monastery just before 9am in time for its doors to open. Buses usually head back to their point of origin at around 11am.
Read more about bus schedules in Egypt
Taxis to St Catherine's
If you’re coming from Dahab, Nuweiba or Sharm el Sheikh and you want to spend a few days in St Catherine’s you will more than likely need to involve the services of a taxi driver.
From Sharm you should take the public bus to Dahab from where taxis can be negotiated to around 200LE for a one way trip (2 hours).
The price (and distance) is similar from Nuweiba. A taxi all the way from Sharm El Sheikh will cost you in the region of 400LE.
Air
St Catherine’s does have an airport although it is currently reserved only for military use.
