Breathtaking stars and sunrise in the mountains - This trip was a great experience. It is a long drive in the night from Sharm El Sheikh but with plenty of stops along the way. There are many tour busses leaving together at the same time and we travelled in a convoy with police armed with AK47s for safety. The hike is long and pretty steep in the night. We were given flashlights, but the experience was better without as you can see all the stars in the black sky. There are a lot of tourists but I liked watching the trail of lights snaking up the mountain in the night. It was really cool watching the sunset reveal the hidden landscape full of mountains. St. Catherines Monastery was quite nice to walk around. The only thing that detracted from the experience were the relentlessly annoying people everywhere asking for money, trying to get people to rent camels or buy ponchos/blankets.

Mount Sinai and st Catherine’s monastery - St Catherine’s monastery was amazing. Both the setting and the historical importance. Seeing the ancient manuscripts was a huge highlight. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, good driving and everything was on time and well communicated. Our kids were 11 and 9 so in between the young kids and teens section. They were the youngest there by far but they managed fine (mum and dad more struggled) staying up all night and heat on way back down the mountain are all things you need to take into account to weigh up if this is for you, but it’s worth it. The only thing that could really be improved on is our Bedouin guide (who is separate from sun tours I believe) rushed us really fast at the start of the walk for no reason as we had plenty of time and kept overtaking the other groups. This stopped us being able to enjoy the walk at an easy pace and also made us feel that he was trying to get us to take the camels / buy drinks as getting hot and then get sweaty and then cold from the sweat to hire the rugs at the top. Once the camel rides were over (which is the east part of the walk anyway) he slowed right down and could tell he was as exhausted as us! We were at the top well before sunrise just a shame we could not enjoy the walk more.

Absolutely Blessed - Blessed Trip, we started from the hotel the guide picked up, and we reached the monastery by 1 AM, started hiking toward the summit and reached by 5 AM, had a blessed time in the summit, my eyes saw the place where mosus received the word of God means the 10 Commandments. Joyfully came down and visited the burning bush.

Sunrise at Mt.Sinai and St.Catherine private tour - What an incredible experience! We were group of 4 and opted for private tour with Cleotours.All communication about tour was prompt, clear and correct.The trip was well organised from start to finish. Mohamed our well informed guide was in control of all the logistics and made sure everything run smoothly. Then another young Mohammed ,our guide ,took us up the mountain was likewise firmly in control of the group for the climb and made sure we are safely. We were a little nervous about the hike as one of member has some health problem, therefore we opted for camel ride which was amazing experience. We enjoyed millions stars on the sky.How memorable experience!Last 700 steps was challenge but sunrise was worth it. Next to St.Catharine, our guide Mohamed waiting for us, provided very interesting tour of the monastery, well explained.. Thank so much everyone for make this amazing experience for us. Margita and Ivan

Amazing experience! - As a solo traveler I was a bit hesitant taking this trip but decided to do it and it was truly the highlight of my holiday. What I don't like about tours in Egypt generally is the amount of stops they do on the road. I was picked up from my hotel at 21:30 and the drive together with 6 stops was 3h 40min (time altogether for all the stops on the way was about 1.5h).. so my suggestion to the tour company would be to cut down the stops to minimum and do only the necessary ones. We started to climb the mountain at 01:40 and we were lucky to get a really nice and friendly bedouin (Mohamed) as a guide to the top. Our group was 12 pax + guide, pleasantly small group. In my opinion, the main walk to the top is not really hard, the incline is not too big. What makes the situation a bit difficult is the sleeplessness. But we chatted going up and also did enough short stops on the way, so it was all good. But if you're struggling, it's possible to go up by camel as well, there are bedouins offering it basically the whole way up (fortunately no one was pushy to buy the service). Btw, during the night there are also small "shops" open on the way, so if you need water or sth, it's possible to buy. If you reach to the steps before the end, there's also possibility to rent a big warm blanket ($3) if you're cold. I had a scarf, hoody and a jacket but it was not enough for the cold at the summit (proper winter jacket would be suitable), so be wiser than me and layer properly and use clothing as you'd go out to proper winter weather. When you finally reach the top and wait for the sun to rise, you can enjoy seeing the sun colouring the sky in different hues of yellow and orange, take millions of pictures and just enjoy the scenery. It truly was magical. :) And when you go down, it's like you're experiencing a whole other excursion because now you can see the landscape what you didn't see while going up. So, this climb + sunrise as an experience was 10/10. My two wishes and recommendations for the tour company would be to 1) cut down the stops on the way and 2) buy new buses! Raise the price of the tour or whatever you need to do but it was pure torture to sit in the back row 4-seater seat, where I felt like the seat wasn't even at 90° angle but tilted forward + seat itself wasn't very comfortable either. If you score a seat in 2+1 row, you're in luck because these are much more comfier.

Tired but exhilarated - Exhausting, exhilarating and exciting. Ascending at night adds mystique and charm. If you feel you can’t make it, then Bedouins are on hand (for a fee!) to take you some of the way on a camel. Amazing photos. Shame couldn’t stay in the monastery mins longer.

Amazing spiritual experience - There are many different booking options for this trip. I liked this one because (a) all fees included (other than optional camel ride and snacks) and (b) honest about the length of the trip. Others in my group had to pay entrance fees in cash which took some by surprise. And some were also surprised by how late our return was. (Expect to return about 1 to 2pm. That said, the experience is phenomenal. Our guide in the bus (who also conducted the monastery tour) and hike guide were both trilingual (Arabic, English, Russian) and thorough with explanations. Admin prior to the trip was clear on expectations and what to bring. The hike is long (my GPS watch measured 18 km total) but is definitely doable for people of good fitness. Camel rides are optional for those who need help, but the camels cannot do the last tough climb to the top. The youngest in our group was 8 and he was able to do it all. (Will admit he napped at every break and began to give up and cry when we were nearing the top but he hung in there. It was obvious he had a definite sense of accomplishment in the end.) The monastery trip at the end was fantastic. However everyone is so exhausted at that point that few have any real interest. Too bad as the monastery deserves a visit on its own. Be sure to bring cash to purchase snacks and water as needed (or bring your own) and tip your guides!! The tour is not costly on its own. Tips are much appreciated.

Amazing excursion - 10 out of 10.... Our bedouin guides were amazing. We had a big group but no one was left behind and was taking care of. Amazing sunrise on top... Thank you.

We had a good time, but wished a few things were different - Overall, we had a good time. Watching the sunrise from the top is so beautiful and definitely worth it! Cleotours was alright, but there were some things that we wished were different (see below). Here’s a description of our experience: The pre-trip communication was great. Natalie was very helpful and clarified where to meet the bus and let us know when the driver was going to be a few minutes late. We got picked up around 9pm and drove about 3 hours, with a couple stops along the way. Unfortunately, the bus was not air conditioned and there was less leg room than the back of an airplane. So it was very hot and stuffy, which made the ride pretty miserable. Our group was also a mix of English and Russian groups, which was a surprise after picking an “English” tour. We arrived at the entrance around 1:45am and waited in the security line for a half hour while one security person checked every single bag. While we waited, there were some vendors from whom you could buy ponchos. Started climbing with the Bedouin guide around 2:15am. The climb is pretty easy/moderate, not hard for those who are used to hiking, but a bit of a challenge for less athletic people. There were 18 people in our group at various fitness levels. At first, the guide made us go at the pace of the slowest person, an older woman who probably should have rented a camel but didn’t. This was very slow with lots of stops, a bit frustrating for those of us who were capable of going a lot faster. Eventually, the guide let us go by ourselves to each of the next kiosks (about 1km apart the whole way up) and then wait for everyone else to catch up. This was better since we could take each small section at our own pace (faster). Once we reached the steps (the last section before the top- there are 750 steps), we were able to go on our own and made it to the top around 5:15am, which was perfect because we were able to see the first part of the sunrise that many in our group missed out on because they had been held back. Don’t stop at the booths mid-way up the steps that claim they are the last place to rent a blanket/buy snacks before the top. This is not true, as there is another kiosk at the actual top. The top has a lot of places to watch the sunrise, but because we were there earlier than most people, we were able to get a prime spot away from the people on the rocks to the right side. The sun rose around 6:20am, but the colors were best for the 30 min before the sun actually came up. We had plenty of time to eat breakfast and enjoy the sunrise. It wasn’t as cold as we were expecting - about 48-50 degrees Fahrenheit, so we were okay without the blanket rental. We stayed at the top until about 7:00am and then started back down. The views the whole way down are gorgeous, especially since the whole way up is dark and you can’t see much besides the trail (and the stars!) And on the way down, you are allowed to go on your own without the guide, which we liked. We were back at the monastery by 8:25am, about 20 min before when they told us to meet back there, but ended up waiting for the group until 9:05am. There were only 4/18 of us back at the stated time so there was a lot of waiting around. The monastery tour was pretty disappointing, the “English” guide couldn’t really speak English - as native speakers, we could barely understand him - I have no idea how people for whom English was their second language could understand him. He basically stood in one spot and pointed around at a lot of things and then let us walk into the main sanctuary of the church. We didn’t get to see the library or any of the manuscript rooms (St Catherine’s is the second largest library of manuscripts in the world!) After the monastery “tour,” we got back on the bus around 10am and went back to Sharm el Sheik, arriving around 1:15pm, ready to sleep! Overall, we had a good time. A few things that Cleotours/Viator could do to make this tour better would be: -Clarification that the “English” tour will actually be English and Russian -Actually have air conditioning on the bus. Don’t advertise that there will be air conditioning when there isn’t. -Have different tours for different levels of fitness or don’t hold back the entire group when 1 person can’t keep up. We would definitely recommend that people do a sunrise hike of Mt. Sinai - it is amazing! We’re not sure we can fully recommend Cleotours though. The detail in this review is to give others an accurate assessment of their tour. Hopefully it helps others decide which tour to pick.

Terrible Experience - I waited for the car 45 min outside the gates, sweating in the heat, as directed by the tour operator for 15 min before the scheduled pickup time...and they never showed up. I tried calling and messaging the tour company via whastapp as well as sending Viator messages and there wss no response until over an hour later when they simply said they would refund me. This was not a good option for me because the monastery is closed on Sundays and so now I have no option to see it before I leave. They claimed the bus came and waited for me but I never saw them and got no calls or messages until after the "bus already left". Extremely disappointed at the terrible communication as this ruined the experience that I was most looking forward to. Do not risk missing this trip by using this unprofessional company.