Tanta , Egypt's fifth largest city, hosts the country's greatest moulid, which is worth experiencing for at least a day. The city also serves as a jumping-off point for practically everywhere else in the Central Delta . Depending on your bent, there are several other moulids and a host of ancient sites scattered around the region. With regular trains and service taxis to Alex (a roughly 2hr journey) and Cairo (1hr 30min) running from early morning till nigh on midnight, you don't have to stay in Tanta; indeed, you'd be lucky to find a vacant room while the moulid's on. Elsewhere, tourist accommodation is virtually nonexistent anyway. Because the northwestern corner of this part of the Delta is easier to reach from Damietta or El-Mansura, we've allocated sites there to the "Eastern Delta" section.