A Full Chatby Culture-and-Coffee Day During BA Book Fair
Why Chatby works so well for a fair day
The 21st Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Book Fair opened on 6 July 2026 and ran through 20 July 2026 on the BA Plaza and at the BA Conference Center. The fair operated daily from 10:00am to 10:00pm, except on Fridays, when hours shifted to 2:00pm to 10:00pm. This edition was not a minor seasonal stop: the Bibliotheca Alexandrina said it brought together more than 85 publishers, alongside the Azbakeya Book Market and a cultural program of 410 events with more than 1,000 speakers. The fair’s 2026 featured personality was acclaimed Egyptian filmmaker Daoud Abdel Sayed.
That scale matters because it turns a visit into more than a book-buying errand. In Chatby, the library sits directly on Alexandria’s Mediterranean edge, so it is one of the few places in the city where a serious cultural stop, a proper coffee break and a Corniche walk naturally fit into one day. For Alexandria readers planning future fair seasons or simply building a bookish day around the BA, this is the smartest way to do it.
Start early at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Make the Bibliotheca Alexandrina your anchor rather than your final stop. Outside fair dates, the BA lists main reading-area hours as Monday to Thursday, 10:00am to 6:00pm, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am to 2:00pm, with Friday closed. During the book fair itself, the fair hours extended deep into the evening, which made it practical to split your BA time into two parts: a focused browsing session earlier in the day, then a return after coffee or dinner for talks, signings or a final buying lap.
It is worth leaving time for the BA beyond the fair stalls. The institution is not only a library: it also houses four museums and a large group of permanent exhibitions. Among the BA’s permanent displays are The World of Shadi Abdel Salam Exhibition, Impressions of Alexandria: The Awad Collection and Our Digital World. If you are building a culture-heavy itinerary, these internal detours make the BA feel like a full destination rather than a single event venue.
Best BA strategy
- Morning: enter early and do your practical browsing first.
- Midday: step out for coffee and sea air before fatigue hits.
- Late afternoon or evening: return for the cultural program, talks or a second round of shopping.
First coffee stop: keep it classic at Raml Station
If you want the most Alexandrian coffee detour before or after the fair, head toward Raml Station. The square has long been one of the city’s classic meeting points, and the tram network still identifies it as a central node. It is also where some of Alexandria’s most storied café and pastry names remain part of the outing itself, not just a place to sit down.
Délices, whose current flagship is at 46 Saad Zaghloul Street, Raml Station, traces its history to 1922 and still works well for a sit-down break when you want pastries, coffee and a more polished old-school downtown Alexandria mood. For readers planning a culture-and-coffee day rather than a rushed snack, this is one of the easiest places to add a little nostalgia to the itinerary.
Nearby, Brazilian Coffee Stores is one of the city’s enduring names in coffee culture. The company states that its Alexandria shop opened in 1929 and was the first store in the city to sell ground coffee; it also notes that automatic roasting and grinding equipment was introduced there in 1959. That makes it a strong stop for anyone who wants to turn a BA day into a more specific Alexandria coffee crawl rather than simply grabbing the nearest latte.
What to order in this part of town
- At Délices: coffee with pastry if you want a slower, seated break.
- At Brazilian Coffee Stores: buy coffee beans or ground coffee to take home, even if you stop elsewhere to drink.
- Timing tip: do this stop either before the fair opens fully or after your first BA round, when downtown feels like a natural second chapter to the day.
For the seaside reset, stay close to the Corniche
One of Chatby’s biggest advantages is that you do not need a complicated plan to get a sea break. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina stands right on Alexandria’s waterfront, so even a short post-fair walk along the Corniche changes the pace immediately. If you have spent an hour or two moving between publishers, discounted tables and the Azbakeya section, a 20- to 30-minute waterfront pause is often the smartest thing you can do before deciding whether to continue with more culture or move into café mode.
This is the part of the day to keep deliberately unstructured. Walk, sit briefly, take photos and resist overplanning. Chatby works best when the sea functions as your transition between enclosed spaces: books first, horizon second, coffee third.
Best bookish detour after the fair: the BA’s own exhibitions
If the fair itself has taken most of your budget, the easiest bookish detour is still inside the BA ecosystem. The library’s exhibitions page highlights literary, visual and heritage-focused displays that complement a fair visit without pulling you too far away. The strongest evergreen choice is simply to continue your cultural day within the BA: browse the fair, then see one of the permanent exhibitions before leaving the building complex.
This works especially well for readers who come to Chatby for ideas rather than shopping alone. A fair purchase followed by an exhibition visit gives the day a proper editorial arc: discover, buy, then contextualize.
If you want a bigger historical detour, choose one museum
For a heavier afternoon stop, two nearby Alexandria museums make sense.
The first is the Graeco-Roman Museum, one of the city’s most important cultural landmarks and the only museum in Egypt fully dedicated to the civilization of Egypt during the Greek and Roman periods. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities lists its hours as 9:00am to 5:00pm from Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday evening hours to 8:00pm. Ticket prices listed by the ministry are EGP 40 for Egyptian adults and EGP 20 for Egyptian students. There is also a café on site, which makes it a practical extension of a culture day rather than a difficult add-on.
The second is the Alexandria National Museum, which the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities says opened to the public in 2003 after the property was acquired in 1996. The listing currently shows visiting hours of 9:00am to 3:00pm, with the ticket window closing at 2:00pm. This is the better choice if you are starting museum-first and book-fair-second, because its earlier closing time makes it harder to squeeze in late.
If you prefer an open-air archaeological stop, Kom El-Dikka remains one of the most rewarding options in central Alexandria. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities describes it as home to the famous Roman theatre, the only one of its kind in Egypt, plus mosaic-floored houses, baths and remains linked to the city’s Roman and Byzantine life. Its listed hours are 9:00am to 5:00pm daily, with tickets at EGP 20 for Egyptian adults and EGP 10 for Egyptian students.
A smart full-day route to copy
- 10:00am: start at the BA and do the book fair while energy is high.
- 12:30pm: break for a Corniche walk in Chatby.
- 1:30pm: head to Raml Station for coffee and pastry at Délices, or a coffee-buying stop at Brazilian Coffee Stores.
- 3:00pm: choose one cultural detour only: BA exhibitions, the Graeco-Roman Museum or Kom El-Dikka.
- 6:00pm onward: return to the BA during fair season for evening talks, signings or one last publisher round.
The real takeaway for Alexandria readers
The smartest way to experience the Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Book Fair is not to treat it as a single stop. In Chatby, the fair naturally opens onto the wider city: classic downtown coffee at Raml Station, a quick Mediterranean reset on the Corniche, and serious museum options within easy reach. For readers in Egypt who want Alexandria outings with substance, this area remains one of the rare places where books, architecture, sea views and old café culture still fit into one coherent day.