Egypt

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• The butler did it - Bahrain
• Dazzled by Dubai - Dubai
• Dubai’s must-do half dozen - Dubai
• The Day Chris tried to swap me for a camel - Egypt
• Ten great wonders - Egypt
• Keeping up with the Joneses - Jordan
• You CAN afford star treatment… - Middle East
• The hippy haunts of Hendrix - Morocco
• Souks you, sir! - Morocco
• Travelling in the sands of time - Oman
• OMAN! What a desert oasis - Oman

HERODOTUS WROTE OF EGYPT in the 5th Century BC that ‘nowhere are there so many marvellous things . . . nor in the world besides are to be seen so many things of unspeakable greatness’.

If we needed any reminder of how marvellous Egypt’s treasures really are, proof was supplied by the stunning Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharaohs exhibition at London’s O2 which runs until the end of August. Egypt has always been a ‘must-see’ destination. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing; the Seven Wonders were probably the first example of those now ubiquitous ‘places to see before you die’ lists.

If the Pyramids were all that Egypt had, they would be more than enough to attract millions of visitors annually. But there is more – much more.

Egypt also boasts the Sphinx, the Nile and ancient Luxor. The country’s attraction also lies in the rich mix of cultures with the legacy of the Greeks, Romans and early Christians as well as the art and architecture derived from successive Islamic dynasties over the centuries.

The Egyptian Tourism Authority has revealed that more than one million UK holidaymakers visit every year, with the UK the biggest tourist market (followed by Russia). And Egypt has announced plans to achieve its aim of welcoming 16 million visitors from around the world every year by 2014.

Much of the major growth of UK visitors is in the Red Sea resorts, now a key winter sun destination. At just over five hours’ flying time from London, the Red Sea Riviera, with resorts such as Sharm el Sheikh, is offering stiff competition to traditional winter favourites such as the Canary Isles – and may even be wooing travellers away from more fashionable destinations.

But while you will find great resorts, wonderful beaches and fabulous diving on the Red Sea, for many, it is Egypt’s glorious history that remains the main attraction.

For anyone planning an Egypt trip this year, these are TV historian Michael Wood’s Top Ten historic attractions in Egypt:

The pyramids:

Built as a ‘stairway to heaven’ but their scope, design and execution outdo anything dreamed of at a Led Zeppelin concert. It seems extraordinary to imagine that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built before 2,500BC – about the time that ancient Britons were building an early version of Stonehenge.

The Monastery of St Anthony:

Near the coast of the Red Sea, St Anthony’s is the oldest Christian monastery in the world. The church is described as one of Egypt’s great treasures with wall paintings from the sixth and the ninth centuries.

Medieval Cairo:

There’s much more to Cairo than the Pyramids and the famous Cairo museum of antiquities – the medieval city with its ancient bazaars, caravanserais, hammams, and tea shops is in many ways a living museum. There are Coptic Christian churches and a number of wonderful medieval mosques.

El-Amarna:

The beautiful Nefertiti and her husband the ‘heretic’ pharaoh Akhenaten built a new capital at a place known now as Tell-el-Amarna, between Luxor and the Delta.

Valley of the Kings:

Probably the most famous burial ground on earth. The unplundered tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun was discovered here in 1922 by the British archaeologist Howard Carter: a treasure trove, filled with statues and works of art.

Medinet Habu:

This was a Coptic Christian village in the Middle Ages and a mortuary complex of Ramesses III, originally built and decorated by the people of Deir el-Medina.

Karnak:

This has been described as a sort of theme park of ancient Egyptian religion, in which every god and goddess of that civilisation was represented over a period of about 2,000 years; a vast collection of shrines, added to by pharaohs right down to the time of Alexander the Great.

Deir el-Medina:

The village of the people who worked to build the Pyramids; it lies over on the West Bank of the Nile, tucked away in a little valley under the Western Cliffs.

Temple of Horus, Edfu:

This is the best preserved ancient monument in the world. Dedicated to the hawk god Horus, it was built in the Greek period for pharaohs descended from Alexander the Great’s general, Ptolemy.

Luxor Temple:

Four thousand-year-old Luxor Temple lies in the middle of town. This magnificient relic was built by two of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs: Amenhopis III and Ramesses II.