Egypt · Sinai
Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
Climb by starlight to the mountain of the Ten Commandments, then come down to one of the oldest working monasteries on earth.
Mount Sinai, Jebel Musa to the Bedouin, is the 2,285 m granite peak where tradition says Moses received the Ten Commandments, and the night climb to watch sunrise from its summit is one of the great pilgrim walks. At its foot, St Catherine's Monastery has sheltered monks behind Justinian's walls since the sixth century. The small town of St Catherine sits in the high mountains of South Sinai and is also the base for Bedouin-guided treks well beyond the famous summit.
Suggested stay
1–3 days
Language
Arabic
Currency
EGP
Timezone
UTC+3
Why you'll love Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
The sunrise the night climb ends on the summit of Jebel Musa as first light spills across ridge after ridge of bare red granite.
The monastery St Catherine's guards the Burning Bush tradition, Justinian's basilica and one of the oldest icon collections anywhere, inside walls that have stood for fourteen centuries.
Three faiths Jews, Christians and Muslims all revere the mountain, and a chapel and a small mosque share its summit.
High desert walking away from the tourist trail, Jebeliya Bedouin guides lead days through granite wadis, walled orchards and Egypt's highest peaks.
Best time to visit
all year
14-32° days
28.567° N, 33.954° E
UTC+3 · Africa/Cairo
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Weather & when to go to Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best all year
Hiking prime Mar-May, Sep-Nov
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
No bad season on the record. The quirk is altitude: the summit at dawn is cold in every month and below freezing in winter, when snow sometimes dusts the high peaks, so carry warm layers year round. The monastery's short morning opening hours shape the day more than the weather does.
Top things to do in Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
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Mount Sinai - the night climb to sunrise
hiking history ⭐ Highly recommendedWalkers set off from the monastery in the small hours up the Camel Path, a broad zigzag track, then finish on roughly 750 rough stone steps to the summit chapel. Allow around three hours up with a Bedouin guide, carry a torch and a warm layer, and expect company: the summit is shared with hundreds of others on most mornings.
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St Catherine's Monastery - the Burning Bush and Justinian's basilica
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedGreek Orthodox monks still live and pray behind these sixth-century granite walls. Visitors see the basilica with its hanging lamps and apse mosaic of the Transfiguration, the bush revered as the Burning Bush, Moses' Well and the museum of icons and manuscripts. It opens only for a few morning hours on most days, so time the descent to meet it.
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Steps of Repentance - the monks' staircase down
hiking history 👍 PopularSome 3,750 steps cut by monks run straight down the mountain's flank to the back of the monastery, steeper and far quieter than the Camel Path. Most people go up the track in the dark and come down this way in daylight, passing a stone gateway where pilgrims once made confession.
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Elijah's Basin - the hollow below the summit
history scenicA high, sheltered plateau where the steps and the Camel Path meet, with a lone cypress and small chapels to Elijah and Elisha. It is where the prophet is said to have heard the still small voice, and the best place to stop on the way down once the summit crowds clear.
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Mount Catherine (Jebel Katherina) - Egypt's highest summit
hiking adventure 👍 PopularA longer, harder day than Mount Sinai and almost empty by comparison, climbing from Wadi el-Arbain to a small chapel on the top of Egypt's highest mountain. The view runs across the whole of the high Sinai range, and on clear days to both gulfs.
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Sinai Trail - Bedouin-led trekking through the high mountains
hiking adventureA long-distance trail run by the peninsula's Bedouin tribes, with sections in the St Catherine high mountains that can be walked over a few days with a local guide and camel support. Nights are spent in the open or in Bedouin gardens, and it is the way to see the region beyond the one famous summit.
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Wadi el-Arbain - the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs
hiking historyA gentle walk from the plain below Mount Sinai up a side valley to a small walled monastery with an olive grove, named for forty martyred monks. It is a good half day for anyone not climbing at night, and the usual start for Mount Catherine.
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Jebeliya gardens - walled orchards in the high wadis
culture arts nature wildlifeThe Jebeliya Bedouin have long tended stone-walled orchards of almonds, apricots and olives in the mountain valleys around town, watered from wells and springs. A guided walk through them, with tea in a garden shelter, shows the mountains as a lived-in place rather than a backdrop.
Best areas to stay in Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
St Catherine (El Milga)
Hikers and pilgrims $Small Bedouin town below the peaks
Explore hotels in St Catherine (El Milga) →
Dahab
Beach and summit combos $Laid-back dive town on the Gulf
Explore hotels in Dahab →
Sharm el-Sheikh
Resort holidaymakers $$Big resort coast, packaged excursions
Explore hotels in Sharm el-Sheikh →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
Getting to & around Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
Getting there
Fly into Sharm el-Sheikh, then about three hours by road via Dahab to St Catherine.
Flight
Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport (SSH)
Most people arrive by pre-booked transfer or on a night-climb tour, driving up the coast towards Dahab and then inland through the mountains in about three hours. The road passes several police checkpoints, so keep your passport to hand.
Drive
Dahab
The usual approach: about two hours from Dahab up through the granite wadis, by tour minibus or private driver.
Coach
St Catherine (El Milga)
Long-distance buses run from Cairo across the Suez Canal and down the peninsula, a long day on the road with few departures.
Getting around
On foot
The monastery and the trailheads sit a short drive or a longer walk from the town centre; beyond that, everything worth seeing is reached on foot.
Free
Local taxi or pickup
Bedouin drivers shuttle between town, the monastery car park and trailheads, and run out to Wadi Feiran and the Blue Desert. Agree the trip before setting off.
TBC
Camel
Camels wait at the foot of the Camel Path and can carry you most of the way up, leaving only the final steps to walk.
TBC
Day trips from Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
Wadi Feiran
Half dayPalm oasis valley
The longest palm oasis in Sinai threads beneath Jebel Serbal, a jagged peak that some early traditions held to be the true Mount Sinai. A small convent and the ruins of an early Christian town sit among the palms, and the drive out through the granite is part of the reason to go.
Getting there
car | tour
About an hour west by road, by taxi or with a guide
Blue Desert
Half dayPainted boulder field
A spread of granite boulders painted blue by a Belgian artist as a monument to peace after the Egypt-Israel treaty, now faded and weathered into the landscape. Odd, quiet and at its best in late afternoon light, it pairs easily with a Bedouin tea stop.
Getting there
car | tour
A short drive out of town, usually by jeep or pickup with a local driver
Coloured Canyon
Full daySandstone slot canyon
A narrow slot canyon whose walls are streaked in reds, yellows and purples, walked in a loop with some scrambling through tight sections. It works as a full day from St Catherine or as a stop on the drive down to the coast.
Getting there
car | tour
Around two hours east towards Nuweiba by jeep, normally as a guided trip
A little history of Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
Christian hermits were living in the caves and valleys around Jebel Musa by the fourth century, drawn by the tradition that this was the mountain of the Law and the bush that burned without being consumed. Tradition credits Empress Helena with a chapel at the bush, and in the sixth century Emperor Justinian ringed it with the fortified monastery that still stands. He also sent families to serve and guard it, and the Jebeliya Bedouin trace their descent to them.
The monastery took the name of Catherine of Alexandria after her relics were said to have been found on the neighbouring peak, and it survived the centuries that followed partly by keeping good relations with each new power, including a mosque built inside its walls. Its library is one of the oldest in continuous use, and the Codex Sinaiticus, among the earliest complete New Testaments, left it in the nineteenth century. Pilgrims have climbed the mountain throughout.
Hermits settle around the mountain, and tradition credits Empress Helena with a chapel at the Burning Bush.
Emperor Justinian builds the fortified monastery and its basilica around the chapel.
Families sent by Justinian to serve the monastery become the ancestors of the Jebeliya Bedouin.
Relics of Catherine of Alexandria are said to be found on the nearby peak, and the monastery takes her name.
A mosque is built within the monastery walls during the Fatimid era.
Constantin von Tischendorf takes the Codex Sinaiticus from the monastery.
Israel occupies the Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War.
The Sinai returns to Egypt under the 1979 peace treaty.
UNESCO inscribes the Saint Catherine Area as a World Heritage Site.
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Limited
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+20
Mobile network & SIM card
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FAQs about Mount Sinai (St Catherine)
▸ When is the best time to visit Mount Sinai?
Any month works on the weather record. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable for longer treks, summer days are warm in the wadis, which is one reason the classic climb happens at night, and winter brings freezing summit dawns and the odd dusting of snow. Whatever the month, pack a warm layer for sunrise.
▸ How hard is the climb?
Moderate rather than technical. The Camel Path is a long, steady gradient of around two to three hours, then the last stretch is roughly 750 uneven steps to the 2,285 m summit. Doing it in the dark is the hard part: bring a good torch and decent shoes, and a camel can take some of the load.
▸ Do you need a guide to climb Mount Sinai?
Yes. Walkers are expected to go with a local Jebeliya Bedouin guide, arranged at the monastery trailhead, in town or as part of a tour. For anything beyond the main summit, including Mount Catherine and multi-day treks, a guide is essential anyway.
▸ When is St Catherine's Monastery open?
Only for a few hours on most mornings, and it closes on some days of the week and on Orthodox feast days. Check the current schedule before you plan your descent; the night-climb timing is built around reaching the gates as they open.
▸ Should you stay overnight or visit from Dahab or Sharm el-Sheikh?
A night tour from the coast is the easy option, but it means no sleep and a rushed monastery visit. Staying a night or two in St Catherine lets you climb rested, see the monastery properly and add Mount Catherine or a day in the wadis.
▸ Is it safe to travel to St Catherine?
The road from the coast runs through regular police checkpoints, so carry your passport, and expect tours to move on fixed schedules. Official travel advice for the Sinai differs by area and changes over time, so check your own government's current guidance before you go.
▸ Is this really where Moses received the Ten Commandments?
It is where tradition has placed the event since at least the fourth century, and Jews, Christians and Muslims all honour the mountain. Scholars have proposed other candidates, including nearby Jebel Serbal and sites outside Sinai altogether, but none has displaced Jebel Musa as the pilgrims' mountain.
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