Port Said Travel guide | Egypt

Port Said is one of the canal cities which located in north east Egypt for about 30 km along the Mediterranean Sea coast, north of the Suez Canal, with population of 603,788 The city was erected in 1859 at the same time of building the Suez Canal .Port Said was always an international city, It was the gateway between two continents Africa and Asia that was in the twentieth century. 

Port Said is a vital harbor for Egyptian exports such as Rice and cotton, also as a station to fuel the ships that pass through the Suez Canal. It famous for industries such as Cigarettes and Chemicals, a lot of people there work in fishing.

History:
1859:  Erected at the same time of the construction of the Suez Canal.
1869: Opening of the Suez Canal. This is the beginning of decades of prosperity for the city.
1956: Heavy damages from bombing during the Suez-Sinai War.
1967: New damages from the Six-Day War.
1973: Bombing destroys the centre of Port Said, during the Yom Kippur War.
1976: Declared duty-free zone.

Facility:
It is an essential port for the ships coming from the East towards Europe and also those vessels which come from Europe to the East. It has a vessel repairing facility.

Port Fouad : 
It is considered as a part from Port Said and located in Sinai , you can reach it from port Said in a few minutes using the ferry boat

National Day : 
It is the day when we forced our enemies to escape from Egypt with a great defiance , that happened on December the 23rd and we celebrates it annually

The Free Zone : 
It was established to connect among the three continents as for its geographical position . among Africa, Asia and Europe also it connects between The Gulf area and Middle east . Our authorities have propagated for that place then attracting the international investments to it

It was divided into two areas:

        *    The Southern Area is for all vessel kinds.

        *    The Northern Area for vessels with deep drafts.

Districts

  It is divided now into 6 areas:1- El Dawahy area
2- El Manakh area
3- El Zohour area
4- El Arab area
5- El Sharq area
6- El Ganoub area

Transport

Highways
* The International coastal road. (Port Said - Alexandria)
* Cairo – Ismailia - Port Said desert road.(Cairo- Port Said /220 km)
* Port Said - Damietta road.

Airports
Port Said Airport situated about 6 km away from down town.

Train
The train station is on Mustafa Kamal St. There are daily train services from Alexandria, Cairo and other cities to Port Said. It takes around four hours from Cairo to Port Said while it’s only six hours between Port Said and Alexandria. You can reserve your Tickets online through the website of the Egyptian National Railways.

Ferry
Port Said Ferry is used to connect Port Said with Port Fouad on the west bank  , It holds cars and people and it takes only 10 Minutes That’s in addition to other means of public transportations such as Public buses , Private Transport are available too like Micro Buses (14 seat minibus). Taxicabs are comfort, blue and white with reasonable price.

Cultural Museums

    * The National Museum, It is situated in Palestine street opposite to the tourist jetty, near the centre of the city and contains around 9000 artifacts that tells the story of Egypt and Port Said.

   * El-Nasr Museum which narrates the battle against the Tripartite aggression in 1956.

    * The Military Museum was inaugurated in 1964 and it is locates in 23 July street, It tells the story of the Egyptian resistance happened in Port Said for the tripartite aggression 

    * Museum of Modern Art in Egypt, The Museum of Modern Art in Ports Said is in Shohada Square, and narrates the Modern History of Port Said by Egyptian artists.

    * El-Shahid Guad Hosni Museum, who was captured and imprisoned by the French , then he wrote his story with his blood on the walls of the prison , the museum was established at the same place where he died .

Climate:
Port Said is famous for its desert climate, the most coolest months are the 1st two months while July and August are hotter than others , It's winter and summer are always Moderate.

Things to do:
Port Said is the second most important port after Alexandria , some Cruise Lines use Port Said as one of their destinations so Tourists have the opportunity to make a quick trips in Egypt, You can visit Cairo and Alexandria and the tour may take around 12 hours also you can overnight in one of these cities where you can visit other sightseeing on the second day before departure.

In Cairo you will be able to see : The Pyramids of Giza , Sphinx , Salah Din Citadel , Mohamed Ali Alabastar Mosque , Step Pyramid of Sakkara , Khan El Khalili Bazar and the Egyptian Museum which located in Tahreer square where the Egyptain youth held the demonstrations in the 25th of Jan 2011 and ended with the President step out and the Dismissal of the government

In Alexandria you will have the opportunity to see : the Catacombs of Kum El Shukafa, Qayetbay citadel, Pompey's Pillar and the Library of Alexandria and Montazah palace.