Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Alexandria Travel Guide (4.7★)

A Disc Tipped Toward the Sea

You see the roof long before the doors. It is a huge circular disc that slopes down toward the Mediterranean, covered in angled glass panels. Below it, a curved wall of grey Aswan granite is carved with letters and characters from scripts around the world. The Norwegian firm Snøhetta designed it, and it opened in 2002 near where the ancient Library of Alexandria is thought to have stood.

In Arabic it is Maktabat al-Iskandariyya (مكتبة الإسكندرية). Say that to a taxi driver anywhere in town and you will end up on the Corniche at Shatby. The building is far more than a reading room. It holds space for millions of books, four museums, a planetarium and several exhibition halls, so pick what you want to see before you go in.

Inside the Main Reading Room

The reading room is one huge open hall. Its floors step down in terraces under the slanted roof, so from the upper levels you look over rows of desks dropping toward the sea side. The roof glass faces north. Daylight comes in soft and even, never as a direct glare on the pages.

Concrete columns rise through every level, ending in small capitals under the ceiling. Students sit at the desks most days, so this is a real working library and not a set. Keep your voice down on the terraces. Guided tours explain the design and the link to the ancient library, and they run in several languages; ask at the entrance for the next one.

Four Museums and a Planetarium

The extra collections are worth the time. Each one has its own ticket, so choose before you queue:

• Antiquities Museum: objects from Pharaonic to Islamic times, including pieces found during excavations on this site.
• Manuscripts Museum: rare books and manuscripts, for anyone who loves old pages.
• History of Science Museum: Alexandria’s scholars, from astronomy to medicine.
• Sadat Museum: personal items belonging to President Anwar Sadat.
• Planetarium: the dark sphere standing in the plaza, with timed shows.

If you only have half a day, pair the reading room with the Antiquities Museum. Planetarium shows run on a schedule, so check the times at the ticket office when you arrive and plan the rest of your visit around them.

Timing Around the Crowds

On weekends the slot to avoid is 11am–2pm. That’s when school groups and families fill the entrance and the reading-room terraces. The quietest weekend stretch usually runs 2pm–7pm. The library currently shuts at 2pm on Saturday, so in practice that means Sunday afternoon.

On weekdays, 6pm–7pm is usually the calmest hour. That is also the last hour before closing, so it suits a second visit to the reading room, not a first visit that also covers the museums. Friday is currently a closed day. These hours change through the year and on public holidays, so check the official website for this month’s schedule.

Getting Through the Doors

The entrance runs on a set routine, and it moves quicker once you know it:

• Security first: you go through bag screening at the entrance, and larger bags go to the cloakroom before you can enter the reading room.
• Tickets by area: the library, each museum and the planetarium are ticketed separately. Prices are posted at the ticket office and on the official site.
• Bring ID: foreign visitors may be asked for a passport, and students should carry a student card, since separate ticket categories apply.
• Dress: modest clothing that covers your shoulders and knees fits in here, as it does across Alexandria.

People do take photos in the public halls. Still, keep the camera off students at their desks, and follow the no-flash signs in the museums. Tours start from the entrance area, so give your name early if you want one in English.

Along the Corniche Afterwards

The library stands on the seafront road that curves around the Eastern Harbour. If you head west along the Corniche you reach the Raml Station and Saad Zaghloul Square area, with its old cafés and the tram terminus. Keep going around the bay and you reach Qaitbay Citadel at the harbour’s far point.

Away from the sea, the Alexandria National Museum on Tariq El Horreya and the Roman theatre at Kom el-Dikka make a good afternoon of antiquities with the library. A taxi or ride-hailing app is the simplest way to get between them, since the Corniche traffic is heavy and crossing the road takes patience.