If you need a break from the congestion of Cairo but don’t feel up to journeying all the way to Sharm El-Sheikh or Hurghada, a quick trip to Ain Sokhna is the perfect solution. The name Ain Sokhna (which translates as ‘hot springs’) refers to the nearby sulfur springs that flow from Gebel Ataqa, the Eastern Desert’s northernmost mountain, but the springs themselves are not the reason Cairenes love to visit — it’s the soft sand beaches, year-round sunshine and gentle waves of the clear Red Sea barely more than an hour from the capital that make it so amazing.

You won’t find a thriving nightlife, but you won’t need any: The point of an Ain Sokhna weekend is to lounge by the pool, stroll along the beach, play a bit of volleyball, or read a good book. If you have children in tow, be sure to bring the sand shovels and water buckets — the sand is just right for castle-building.

And while hotel options are sprouting here — some of them excellent —Ain Sokhna is also catching on as the new weekend alternative to the North Coast as an increasing number of year-round residential compounds open for business.

For those who want to cram in some sightseeing, there are appealing options: One of the world’s greatest feats of engineering, the Suez Canal, is less than an hour’s drive away. Make stops at St. Anthony’s Monastery and the Monastery of St. Paul. The former, which bears the name of one of the earliest advocates of Christian monasticism, is among the oldest inhabited monasteries in Egypt. With fortress-style architecture built to withstand Bedouin attacks, it encloses gardens, a mill, a bakery and five churches, and features a series of unique wall paintings of holy knights and the hermits who founded the monastery. Its library is home to over 1,700 handwritten manuscripts. A picturesque two-kilometer hike from the monastery will bring you to panoramic views of the mountains and the Red Sea at the cave where St. Anthony lived as a hermit.

The nearby Monastery of St. Paul is believed to date to the fifth century and encloses four churches, including the so-called ‘cave church’ where St. Paul is said to have lived to the age of 113. Its most striking feature is a qasr, various floors of which served as a cemetery for monks, a food storeroom and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

There are several resorts in the area offering luxury accommodation, water sports and in some cases, golf. A popular choice is the Palmera Beach Resort (tel: (062) 341-0816/24). Egyptians and foreign residents can expect to pay about LE 350 for a double room, including breakfast and dinner. The upscale Stella di Mare incorporates two hotels, the Plan Hotel (tel: (062) 325-0200), where a double room with half board is in the range of LE 610; and the Swiss Inn (tel: (062) 325-0100). At the Swiss Inn, where Egyptian and resident rates for a garden view room with breakfast and dinner are about LE 590 per night, you can enjoy the Thalasso Spa, which offers various treatments and massages for face and body. The Swiss Inn also has an enormous and magnificently landscaped pool sure to thrill the under-12 crowd.

If you’re taking the entire family, consider renting a four-bedroom villa at the Ramada Ain Sokhna (tel: (062) 329-0510) for LE 265 per person per night, half board. Dining options are limited mostly to the hotels. If you’re staying in one of the resorts, you will probably want to remain in the relaxing compounds, anyway. Try to steer clear of Sham El-Nessim and Eid holidays, which many families now spend every year in Ain Sokhna.

Ain Sokhna is located about 110 km east of Cairo; you can drive there in less than 90 minutes along the Katameya Road. If you don’t have your own car or are not up for renting one, getting there by bus is easy enough. From Almaza Station in Cairo (tel. 419-8533), East Delta buses leave for Suez every 30 minutes from 6:30am through 7pm. After the 80-minute, LE 7.25 trip, hop a micro-bus and pay about LE 5 for a 20-minute ride to Ain Sokhna. et