North Sinai: Museum, Migratory Birds and Coastal Dunes

North Sinai combines cultural discoveries with landscapes that are important to migratory birds on their autumn migration. At the Sinai Heritage Museum, you can explore objects from everyday life and textile art; at the Zaranik Nature Reserve and the Bardawil salt marsh, bird stopovers take centre stage. When choosing the focus of your trip, you can weigh up museum culture, migratory bird themes and dune landscapes.

Museum Culture in Al-Arish

The Sinai Heritage Museum in Al-Arish was founded in 1991. Its exhibits range from a covering for the Kaaba to old copper cooking utensils. The covering bears the signature of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; it is woven with gold and silver and embroidered with several verses from the Quran. Textile design and religious writing are thus brought together in a single exhibit.

Other pieces show different aspects of material everyday life: a model of a desert well, clay vessels and bowls, as well as old cooking utensils. Those interested in craftsmanship and household objects will therefore find more than just one type of object here. The items can be distinguished by material and form without reducing them to a single collection category.

Bedouin garments from Sinai are also part of the exhibition. Their styles and embroidery patterns vary according to the respective tribes. They can be considered alongside other exhibits, such as a balance scale used for bartering, a model of a Bedouin tent and agricultural tools: textiles, trade, living and work are distinct themes that the museum presents side by side. For your travel plans, Al-Arish is therefore the specific place to visit if you would like to focus on culture.

Migratory Birds and Dune Landscapes

The Zaranik Nature Reserve and the Bardawil salt marsh are among the world's most important stopover and feeding stations for migratory birds travelling from Europe and Asia to Africa in autumn. If you are interested in bird migration, autumn is the season associated with this route. This theme is clearly distinct from a stay focused on the museum's collections.

Another type of landscape can be found in the Al-Ahrash protected area near Rafah: it covers about 6 km² and features coastal dunes reaching approximately 60 metres above sea level. The area and the approximate maximum height describe two different aspects of the site. When choosing a travel theme, you can therefore compare bird stopovers and salt marsh on the one hand with the dune landscape near Rafah on the other.

Fishing is a tourist activity at Lake Bardawil. This adds another theme to the area's natural appeal without equating it with bird migration. If you plan your stay around specific interests, you can therefore distinguish between migratory birds, landscapes and fishing rather than treating them as one and the same activity.

Places to Help Plan Your Trip

The international coastal road connects Rafah, Al-Arish and Qantara through North Sinai. This connection gives your choice of location a regional context: the three places mentioned are stops connected by the road.

More destinations: South Sinai, Port Said, Al-Buhaira, Red Sea Governorate, Al-Gharbiyya, Al-Minya, Luxor Governorate.

For the main travel overview: Egypt.