Kafr El-Sheikh Museum

Kafr El-Sheikh Museum is the Nile Delta's regional museum, built around finds from Buto, traditionally the first capital of Lower Egypt. A foreign adult ticket costs 220 EGP, and it is open 9 am to 5 pm (last tickets at 3 pm).

The recently opened Kafr El-Sheikh Museum gathers the archaeology of one of the least-visited parts of the Nile Delta, and it is worth the detour on any trip to the north. The star finds come from Buto (Tell el-Fara'in), one of the Delta's most important cities in Predynastic and Early Dynastic times and, by tradition, the first capital of Lower Egypt before it was united with the south around 3100 BC.

Three halls follow three threads: Egyptian history in the Delta, the Holy Family's journey through nearby Sakha, and an engaging section on the history of medicine, veterinary science and pharmacy in Egypt over the millennia. The prize piece is a Horus falcon statue carved so finely that the curators say its only equal is the famous Horus statue at Edfu Temple.

The town of Fuwa in the same governorate is recognised as Egypt's third "heritage city" after Cairo and Rosetta, and tiled objects from its Ottoman mosques are also on display.

What to see

• The Horus falcon statue from Buto
• Predynastic pottery and figurines from Buto
• Objects from the Holy Family route at Sakha
• The history of medicine and pharmacy gallery
• Ottoman tiles from Fuwa

Visiting

• Opening hours: 9 am – 5 pm; last tickets at 3 pm
• Tickets: 220 EGP for foreign adults, 110 EGP for students; Egyptians 20 / 10 EGP
• Best time: as a day trip from Alexandria (2 hours) or Cairo (2.5 hours)
• Nearby: Rosetta, Sakha (a Holy Family stop), Tell el-Fara'in