Montazah Palace Gardens

The Basics

Gain admission to the Montazah Palace Gardens for a small fee, with an additional charge to visit the beach. While you don’t need to join a tour to visit, the gardens are a long way outside the city center, and many will prefer the convenience of door-to-door round-trip transportation. Many Alexandria city tours, both from within Alexandria proper and from Cairo, include a stop at the Montazah Palace Gardens and a look at the exterior of the palace itself.

Things to Know Before You Go

• The Montazah Palace Gardens are a must for lovers of formal gardens.

• There are plenty of food options within the park.

• Women will feel more comfortable dressed modestly when visiting the beach. Don’t even think about wearing a bikini.

• Accessible packed-dirt walkways make the Montazah Palace Gardens suitable for travelers who use wheelchairs.

How to Get There

The Montazah Palace Gardens hug the coast in the far east of Alexandria, about 11 miles (19 kilometers) from the Citadel of Qaitbay. Intrepid travelers can flag down microbuses that run along the seafront Corniche and ask for “Montazah”; many, however, prefer the ease of an organized tour.

When to Get There

The Montazah Palace Gardens are open from morning until late in the evening seven days a week. They can be cold in winter and crowded in summer, especially over the Islamic weekend (Friday and Saturday) and during the major Islamic holidays. Spring, which runs roughly from March to May, is the perfect time to visit and appreciate the flowers.

A Brief History of the Montazah Palace Gardens

It was the rich plant life around the area now known as Montazah that inspired Abbas II of Egypt, the last Ottoman ruler of Egypt, to build Montazah Palace in the late 19th century. Subsequent rulers added to the buildings and the gardens until Egypt’s last king, Farouk, was forced to give up his throne in 1952.