St Katherine is the launchpad for the Three Peaks Egypt Challenge. St Katherine is a major tourist hub and getting here is easy. Always bring your passport/ national ID. Checkpoints dot the roads and IDs are inspected regularly. Travelling direct to St Katherine from Cairo, Suez or anywhere else from the west the route goes through Wadi Feiran. Sometimes, restrictions are put around travel in this wadi. The most reliable way for foreigners to pass is on the public bus from Cairo. Travelling in private cars, convoy times often apply. Sometimes, foreigners are not allowed to travel through Wadi Feiran.
PUBLIC BUS – The East Delta Bus Company run a daily bus from Cairo to St Katherine, leaving the Turgoman bus station (also known as the ‘Cairo Gateway Plaza’) at 11am. It gets to St Katherine between 6pm and 8pm. From St Katherine to Cairo, the bus departs the town’s mosque at 6am, arriving in Cairo around 2pm. A one way ticket costs LE150 for Egyptians, a little extra for foreigners. There is no public bus between Sharm el Sheikh/ Dahab and St Katherine. A daily bus runs from Nuweiba to Cairo, passing a checkpoint 10km outside St Katherine where a private taxi can be taken into town.
PRIVATE TAXI – A taxi from Dahab or Nuweiba to St Katherine is LE700-1000. From Sharm to St Katherine, LE900-1200. Taxis are best arranged with local Bedouin camps: these offer Bedouin drivers who know the roads in the Sinai best. Currently, taxis are the only way from Sharm or Dahab to St Katherine. There is no public bus or minibus.
MINIBUS – A minibus runs from St Katherine to El Tur, on the west coast of the Sinai, every day, leaving the town’s mosque at 6am or 7am. A minibus also runs from El Tur to St Katherine, leaving El Tur around 4pm. It is possible to travel from Sharm el Sheikh to El Tur by public bus, then to take the minibus onwards to St Katherine.
BY FOOT – There are lots of ways to walk to St Katherine from the coasts, or go the other way, to the sea. Most take around 3-5 days. The best known route begins at El Tur, South Sinai’s capital, approaching St Katherine via Wadi Isleh and Jebel Um Shomer.
