Mount Sinai Tour: The Sunrise Climb & St Catherine’s Monastery

Few walks carry as much weight as the climb up Mount Sinai. Known as the Mountain of Moses, it rises in the heart of the Sinai Peninsula, and most travellers come for one thing: to stand on the summit as the sun comes up over a sea of bare peaks. At its foot sits one of the oldest monasteries in the world. This guide explains what the mountain is, the routes up, how the famous sunrise climb works, and what you’ll find at the top and the bottom — so you arrive knowing exactly what you’re walking into and can give the climb the respect it genuinely deserves.

The Mountain of Moses

Mount Sinai is a 2,285-metre mountain on the Sinai Peninsula, near the town of Saint Catherine, and it is heavy with meaning for Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. This is where, in the biblical account, Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments, and the mountain is associated with the prophet Musa in Islam too. You climb it less for the altitude than for that sense of standing somewhere the three great monotheistic faiths all hold sacred — a rare thing to feel under your own feet.

The two routes up

There are two principal ways to the summit. The longer, gentler path, Siket El Bashait, takes about two and a half hours on foot, and camels can be used for much of it — the usual choice for the sunrise climb. The steeper, more direct route is the Siket Sayidna Musa, up the 3,750 ‘steps of penitence’ cut into the ravine behind the monastery. Many walkers go up the easier way and come down the steps, which is hard on the knees but worth it. You can hire a guide at the start of the trails before the monastery.

The sunrise climb

The classic Mount Sinai experience is done in the dark. Many tour companies set off after midnight so you reach the summit in time for sunrise, head-torches bobbing up the mountain in a quiet line. It is cold and slow and worth the early start when the sky finally colours. If a pre-dawn start isn’t for you, a small camp below the summit rents mattresses and blankets, so you can sleep part-way up and finish the climb for first light rather than walking through the whole night.

At the summit

The top is small and striking. There is a chapel, built in 1934 on the ruins of a 16th-century church and not open to the public, which encloses the rock believed to be the source of the biblical Tablets of Stone; nearby is ‘Moses’ cave’, where Moses is said to have waited to receive the commandments. The views are the reward — a jagged ocean of Sinai peaks, with Mount Catherine, at 2,629 metres the highest peak in Egypt, rising close by.

St Catherine’s Monastery

Save time for the foot of the mountain. St Catherine’s Monastery, built between 548 and 565, is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, raised by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to enclose what is claimed to be the burning bush seen by Moses. Remarkably, it also holds a Fatimid-era mosque built in 1106 that is still preserved — Christianity and Islam side by side on one of the most storied sites on earth.

Who it suits and how hard it is

The climb is long rather than technical — manageable for most reasonably fit walkers, with the camel option taking the sting out of the ascent. The challenge is the cold, the dark and the early hour, not the terrain. Children and older walkers manage it regularly with a steady pace and a guide, but if you have knee trouble, think twice about coming down the steep steps.

What to bring, and when to go

Dress for a mountain, not a beach. Even when the days are warm, the summit before dawn is genuinely cold and windy, so bring warm layers, a hat and gloves, a head-torch with spare batteries for the dark ascent, sturdy shoes, and more water and snacks than you think you need. Spring and autumn are the kindest seasons; deep winter nights on the summit can be bitter, and high summer makes even a night climb sweaty lower down. Whatever the month, plan to be cold at the top and pleasantly surprised if you are not.

How to do it

Mount Sinai is almost always done as a guided trip, and for good reason — a local guide handles the timing, the permits and the route in the dark, and knows exactly when to leave to hit the summit for sunrise. Simsem’s Sinai experiences are guided climbs and desert trips rather than the entry itself, so check each listing for what is included and what you arrange locally.

Mount Sinai at a glance

Find Mount Sinai on the map

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Egypt

Mount Sinai

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Egypt

St Catherine’s Monastery

World’s oldest inhabited Christian monastery

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Experience Mount Sinai with a local guide

Mount Sinai travel FAQ

Find a local guide: browse all local guides in Egypt by region, from Cairo and Luxor to Dahab and Hurghada.

Sources

• sinai_wiki — supports: “Mount Sinai is a 2,285-metre mountain near the city of Saint Catherine on the Sinai Peninsula”
• stcatherine_wiki2 — supports: “Located at the foot of Mount Sinai, it was built between 548 and 565, and is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery”