Things to do in Port Said
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Port Said
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The sweet spot: warm sea, winter birds arriving, summer crowds gone and honest hotel prices.
Spring warmth and Sham el-Nessim picnics, with the sea swimmable again and passage birds at Manzala.
Hot, humid and crowded with Egyptian holidaymakers. Book view rooms ahead and sightsee at dawn.
Wind, rain spells and rough seas, but the best birding of the year and empty sights. Pack a proper jacket.
What's on
- Victory Day 23 December
Port Said national day marking the 1956 evacuation, with commemorations, flags and concerts across the city.
- Sham el-Nessim Monday after Coptic Easter
Spring picnic festival on the Corniche and in Port Fuad gardens, with coloured eggs and fesikh.
Best things to do in Port Said
Sahet Misr
The canal mouth promenade where enormous ships pass at walking pace, and the city gathers every evening.
Ferdinand de Lesseps Statue Base
The empty plinth at the canal entrance, blown clear in 1956 and never refilled, is itself the monument.
Suez Canal Authority Building
The green domed canal headquarters on the water, viewed from the promenade, is the city postcard building.
Port Said Lighthouse
The 1869 octagonal tower, a pioneering reinforced concrete structure, now stands retired inland as a monument.
Port Said Military Museum
The city tells its own story here, of the 1956 attack, evacuation and 1973 war, with tanks outside.
El Gomhouria Street
Arcaded shopping streets and wooden balcony tenements record the cosmopolitan port city that vanished in 1956.
Port Fuad
A garden suburb of canal company villas across the water in Asia, reached by the free ferry.
Port Said Stadium
The Al-Masry stadium quarter and its cafes show the football devotion that rearranges the city on match days.
Where to stay in Port Said
Canal Front
first trip, all round base
The ferry, the de Lesseps base and the canal domes on your doorstep, with ships passing your breakfast.
Port Fuad
quiet base, repeat visitors and birders
Garden suburb calm and the best sleep in the twin cities, a free ferry from every Port Said sight.
Tarh El Bahr
beach club days and families
The Mediterranean strip of beach clubs, pools and the restaurant row, five minutes from the canal front.
El Gomhouria
budget base inside the arcades
The historic commercial grid puts the walk, the markets and cheap eating at your feet.
Think twice about
- East Port Said industrial zone
Container terminals and truck roads beyond Port Fuad, with no hotel product or evening life. Do not confuse it with Port Fuad town.
- El Manakh industrial fringe
Port industry and warehouse streets toward Lake Manzala, with nothing to walk to at night. The Tarh El Bahr beach end of the district is fine.
- Station blocks
Maximum noise, touts and taxi hassle directly around the bus and train stations. Ten minutes walk toward El Gomhouria fixes it.
Best restaurants in Port Said
Port Said Fish Market
Choose your fish at a stall, have it grilled nearby, and eat the cheapest great seafood meal in the city.
El Borg Restaurants For Sea Food
The canal view seafood institution, where grilled shrimp and soup outrun the shabby decor by a distance.
Ibn Hamido Seafood Restaurant
A high turnover local seafood favourite, ideal for a group ordering widely and sharing sayadieh rice.
El Kastan Fish Restaurant
One of the city oldest seafood names, particularly associated with shrimp dishes by local round ups.
Portofish
A tidier, newer seafood room with the same display and grill grammar and a strong review aggregate.
Alfa Piatto
The city splurge table is Italian, a long running restaurant blending Italian cooking with an Egyptian touch.
Abdou Kofta
The famous grill house counterweight to all that fish, for kofta and charcoal grills shared family style.
Pizza Pino
The thirty year pizza institution that Port Said visitors say they must eat at on every trip back.
Outdoor things to do in Port Said
Port Fuad Ferry Terminal
The free public ferry crosses the canal from Africa to Asia in minutes, with ships sharing the frame.
Port Said Corniche
The Mediterranean seafront walk along Tarh El Bahr is the city daily ritual at dawn and in the evening.
Doaiah Beach & Kite Club
The best supported beach club on the Tarh El Bahr strip for a local style Mediterranean swim day.
Ashtum El Gamil Nature Reserve
A Ramsar wetland shore on Lake Manzala where winter brings flamingos, pelicans and vast waterbird flocks.
Lake Malahat
A shallow salt lake in Port Fuad now celebrated for flamingos and migratory birds in season.
Suez Canal Museum
The canal museum Port Said lost now lives in Ismailia, in the restored canal administration building.
Tanis
A fallen Delta capital of fallen obelisks and royal tombs, thrilling for archaeology lovers and almost empty.
Best hotels in Port Said
Resta Port Said Hotel
The city flagship by the canal entrance, where a canal view room puts transiting ships outside your window.
Helnan Port Fouad
The full service resort hotel in quiet garden suburb Port Fuad, the best sleep in the twin cities.
Aracan Portsaid
A polished mid range hotel on the seafront axis with strong verified ratings and an easy walk to dinner.
Grand Albatros
The most reviewed hotel on the beach strip, with pool and family scale at a fair mid range price.
Palma Hotel Port Said
The best review score of any hotel, a well kept mid range base near the seafront.
Hotel Panorama Portsaid
The named budget pick on Al Gomhuria Street, simple and central inside the historic arcades.
Is Port Said expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | EGP 1,600 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | EGP 3,200 a person |
| Splurge | EGP 6,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ashtum El Gamil Nature Reserve: a few days ahead
- Tanis: a few days ahead
- Resta Port Said Hotel: a few days ahead
- Helnan Port Fouad: a few days ahead
- Book canal view rooms at the Resta ahead in summer, Eid, Sham el-Nessim and late December, and confirm the view in writing.
- Book Ismailia and Tanis car days and any bird guide for Ashtum El Gamil a day or more ahead.
Is Port Said safe?
- North Sinai and the northern and middle Sinai are a hard no, as are parts of the Western Desert border areas.
- Do not improvise east into North Sinai, and take care east of the canal, where travel is restricted to essential trips in the neighbouring governorate.
- Do not photograph military, police, canal security installations or naval vessels, and never use a drone. Carry passport copies for canal road checkpoints.
- Swim only at managed beach clubs and respect flags. The canal itself is never a swimming or boating playground.
Port Said travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The duty free era ended in the early 2000s. Do not come expecting airport style savings or build a day around shopping.
- Agree species, weight, price and cooking fee before any fish is grilled, at market counters and restaurants alike.
- The Port Said to Port Fuad ferry is free. Anyone selling a foot passenger a ticket for it is selling air.
- Stale listings still show the demolished National Museum with hours and prices. There is no museum to visit on that plot.
Getting around Port Said: public transport and more
- Walk the flat core between the canal front, El Gomhouria, the fish market and Tarh El Bahr.
- Agree taxi fares before moving and carry small EGP notes. Ride apps such as inDrive and DiDi are the local option.
- The free ferry is your Port Fuad transport. Trains to Cairo take about four hours, the road about three.
Who Port Said suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Port Said your trip
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