Mount Moses and St Catherine’s Monastery from Sharm: the night climb, and which tour to book
7 min read
For most people the pick is Mount Sinai & St. Catherine’s Monastery: €40.84, 4.3 stars from 166 reviews, 15 hours, and the listing names the St Catherine National Park entrance fees among its services (confirm on the booking page that they are included). At €40.84 against €56.16 for the 17-hour climb, it costs less than that trip, and it is not the best-known one. That is the 17-hour trip with 885 reviews, rated 4.2 stars, for reasons the reviews make fairly clear (see below).
If you want a guide and a vehicle for your group only, the Mount Sinai tour with a private option starts at €165.70 per person; select the private option, because the same listing also sells a standard group of up to 20 people. If you want the monastery and no climbing at all, the private monastery tour starts at €157.42 per person. Either way, this is a long, cold, tiring day. Read the section on who should skip it before you pay for anything.
The four trips side by side
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating (reviews) | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharm El Sheikh: Mount Sinai & St. Catherine’s Monastery | 15 hours | €40.84 | 4.3 (166) | Most people |
| From Sharm: Mount Moses Trekking, Sunrise & Monastery Visit | 17 hours | €56.16 | 4.2 (885) | Those who want an Egyptologist at the monastery |
| Sharm El Sheikh: Private Mount Sinai & St. Catherine Tour ! | 14 hours | €165.70 | 5.0 (1) | Private option or group of up to 20, climb included |
| Sharm El Sheikh: Saint Catherine’s Monastery Private Tour | 10 hours | €157.42 | 4.8 (26) | Monastery only, no climb |
The two private trips have very few reviews. Treat their ratings as a first impression, not a verdict.
What the day actually looks like
The shape is the same on every climbing trip. You are collected from the hotel in the evening, drive for about three to four hours to the foot of the mountain, climb in the dark, watch the sun come up, come down, visit the monastery and drive back. The booking pages put it like this:
- The 17-hour trip says pickup is “between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM”, the drive is about four hours, the night trek takes “approx 2-3 hours depending on the customers”, and the summit is at 2,285 metres.
- The 15-hour trip lists pickup at around 8 PM to 8:45 PM, the ascent starting at 2:00 am and the descent at 7:00 am.
- The private climb says the drive is about three hours and that it “Runs every day except Saturdays and holidays”.
Independent hiking guides describe two routes up. One is the wide Camel Path, which is longer and more gradual. The other is the Steps of Penitence, which The Hiking Life puts at around 3,750 steps, with the last 750 steps done on foot whichever way you go. The same guide gives 4 to 6 hours round trip as the usual time for the mountain alone. Ask the operator which route your group takes; the 17-hour listing mentions the final 750 steps and says a camel ride is only possible up to them, which the operator does not recommend.
The monastery is not always open
The climb is only half the day, and the second half depends on the calendar. The Egyptian Ministry’s page for Saint Catherine’s Monastery gives opening hours of 8:45 am to 12:45 pm, except on Friday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am, and closed on Sunday. Before you pick a date, ask the operator what the group will see if the monastery is closed or open for only an hour. The 17-hour trip’s booking page says the monastery opens every day except Sundays and Christian holidays, listing 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 May, 13 and 24 June, 12 July, 19 and 28 August, 21 and 27 September, 14 November and 4, 6, 7 and 9 December, and adds that dates may vary. One of them mentions restrictions inside: the private monastery tour says sleeveless shirts are not allowed and photography is prohibited inside the monastery.
What reviewers of the best-known trip complain about
The 17-hour trip has by far the most reviews and is rated 4.2 stars. We cannot see every review, but the negative points on the booking page are consistent:
- A bus with “practically no legroom” on a drive that long.
- The refreshment stop on the mountain. Reviewers say the guide stops everyone there with the aim of renting out blankets, and they feel pressured.
- A physically demanding climb, and not enough warning about the cold at the top.
None of those is a safety complaint. They are comfort and expectation problems. They also tell you something useful for any of these trips: bring your own warm layers, decide in advance whether you will rent anything, and do not expect a quiet, solitary summit.
The 15-hour trip’s reviews share some of this. Reviewers mention transport comfort, crowding that affected the spiritual feel of the morning, and concern for the camels at busy times. So the 15-hour trip is not free of the same issues. Its advantage is the price, €40.84 against €56.16 for the 17-hour trip, and its listing names the entrance fees to St. Catherine National Park among its services; confirm on the booking page that they are included.
See availability and prices for Sharm El Sheikh: Mount Sinai & St. Catherine’s Monastery
The 17-hour trip: when it is the right one
It costs €56.16, against €40.84 for the 15-hour trip. What the listing adds is an Egyptologist guide for the monastery; that guide stays with the group only as far as the base camp, and a Bedouin guide leads the trek, as on the 15-hour trip, which also travels in an air-conditioned vehicle. Water appears in its list of services; check on the booking page whether it is included. Breakfast boxes are not included and have to be pre-ordered from the hotel. The 15-hour trip names the St Catherine National Park entrance fees among its services; for this one, check on the booking page whether the fee is included or paid on the day. If a proper explanation at the monastery matters to you, this is the one that promises it. The booking page’s not-suitable list is also the most explicit: children under 14, pregnant women, wheelchair users, elderly people and anyone with breathing difficulties or bone pain.
See availability and prices for From Sharm: Mount Moses Trekking, Sunrise & Monastery Visit
The private climb
From €165.70 per person, the Mount Sinai tour with a private option is the only one of the four that offers the night climb as a private trip; the same listing also sells a standard group option of up to 20 people, so check which option you book. The listing names hotel pickup, an air-conditioned jeep, park entrance fees, a guide, lunch, and bottled water and soft drinks on board, alongside tips and drinks at lunch; which of these are included is something to confirm on the booking page. Pregnant women, people with back problems and wheelchair users are listed as not suitable. Its 5.0 stars rest on 1 reviews; a handful of reviews tells you little. You would be choosing it for the format, not for its track record. Check the group size and the pricing for your party size on the booking page before you rely on the per-person figure.
See availability and prices for Sharm El Sheikh: Private Mount Sinai & St. Catherine Tour !
The private monastery tour, without the climb
This one does not climb Mount Sinai. Its itinerary is roughly three hours’ drive to the monastery, a two-hour guided visit and the drive back, with an optional lunch break in Dahab. It is 10 hours long and you can sleep through the night; the listing names the monastery library entry fee, the protectorate entry fee and lunch at the beach in Dahab among its services, so confirm on the booking page which of them are included. It suits anyone who wants the monastery but cannot or will not do a night mountain. Wheelchair users are listed as not suitable. The booking page says the tour runs under convoy. The monastery’s own opening days still apply (see above).
See availability and prices for Sharm El Sheikh: Saint Catherine’s Monastery Private Tour
Who should not book this
Do not book it as a casual extra on a beach holiday. It is roughly 14 to 17 hours, starting in the evening, with a climb through the small hours and a long drive on either side. You will not sleep much. Pickup around 8 PM means a night with almost no rest before a full day of walking.
Reviewers talk about the cold on top. Reviewers call the climb tough, and one reviewer on the 15-hour trip said that anyone who has never done a hike or has mobility problems should stay home. That is the honest summary. Anyone with heart or breathing problems, bone pain or back trouble, or who is pregnant, should read the not-suitable lists above. Altitude and the exertion of the climb are matters for your doctor, not for this article. On its booking page, the 17-hour trip lists children under 14 as not suitable. For the other trips, check the booking page for an age limit before booking for a child.
Safety advice and your entry stamp
Mount Sinai is not on the coast. The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to the northern part of the South Sinai Governorate, “beyond the St Catherine-Nuweibaa road, except for the coastal areas along the west and east of the peninsula”. It also says travel to Red Sea tourist areas in the southern part of the peninsula is generally low risk, and that you should “book any activities outside of resort areas through approved agents or tour operators”. See the Foreign Office regional risks page. We cannot tell you how that wording applies to your specific route on a given day. Check the current advice for your own nationality, and check whether your travel insurance covers it.
The usual free entry stamp is a separate question. The Foreign Office wording names resorts in Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba; St Catherine is not on that list. Confirm with the operator what you need to carry, and bring your passport on the day. The entry requirements page has the current rules.
For lighter days out, see the other Sinai day trips from Sharm. If you would rather do a shorter jeep day, the Dahab, Blue Hole and Coloured Canyon guide compares two options.
What we would book
For most people, the 15-hour Mount Sinai & St. Catherine’s Monastery trip at €40.84 is the sensible choice. At €40.84 against €56.16 it costs less than the 17-hour trip, it is two hours shorter, and it is rated 4.3 from 166 reviews, against 4.2 from 885 for the 17-hour trip. If you want a guide you do not have to share, book the private option of the private climb. If you want the monastery without the mountain, take the private monastery tour. And if you are not sure you want to be walking uphill at 2 am, you probably have your answer.
