Experience the best of El Alamein

El Alamein lies on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, about 106 kilometres west of Alexandria, on a flat stretch of desert and shore. In the summer of 1942 the First Battle of El Alamein halted the Axis advance on Alexandria, and in the Second Battle that autumn the Allied forces under General Montgomery broke the Axis line and pushed it back westwards. Churchill called the victory the end of the beginning.

War graves and memorials mark the battlefield. The Commonwealth cemetery and the Alamein Memorial hold the graves of soldiers from many nations. On the hill of Tel el-Eisa stand the German memorial, built like a medieval fortress, and the Italian memorial, which commemorates thousands of Italian soldiers. There is also a Greek cemetery. A military museum displays tanks, cannon and uniforms.

The beaches of the North Coast, with pale sand and clear shallow water, fill with Egyptian families in summer, and resorts such as Marina line the shore. Grilled fish and prawns are the staple. Sea winds soften the heat of the desert here.