Saraya Express

You’re standing on Carrer del dos de Maig, and the air smells like diesel, roasting coffee, and the heavy, humid weight of a city that’s seen too many tourists. Just a few blocks away, Gaudí’s Sagrada Família is screaming for attention, a stone forest of ambition and cranes. But here, at number 282, things are quieter. More purposeful. You aren’t here to gawk at stained glass; you’re here because you’re looking for an exit strategy. Welcome to Saraya Express.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a museum. It’s not a park. It’s a travel agency, a specialized outpost for those who have decided that the Mediterranean isn’t enough and they need the dust of the Sahara in their lungs. In an age where everyone thinks they’re a travel expert because they have a smartphone and a data plan, there is something stubbornly old-school about a physical office dedicated to the complex, beautiful, and often frustrating logistics of Egyptian travel. It’s a storefront that sells the roadmap to Luxor and Aswan while the local 19 bus rattles past the window.

The Sant Martí side of the street is the real deal. It’s where the district's rigid grid starts to fray at the edges, giving way to a more lived-in, less polished version of Barcelona. It’s a place of hardware stores, corner bars where the vermouth is cheap and the olives are salty, and people who actually live here. Saraya Express fits into this landscape not as a shiny tourist attraction, but as a service for the curious. It’s a gateway. You walk in off a standard Barcelona sidewalk and suddenly you’re talking about the Nile, about visa requirements, and about the kind of deep-history tours that don’t involve a guy with a megaphone and a numbered paddle.

Why Egypt? And why here? Because travel, real travel, isn't about the 'express' nature the name suggests. It’s about the expertise. The people behind Saraya know the terrain. They know that navigating the Valley of the Kings requires more than a Google search; it requires a connection to the land. They represent a bridge between the Catalan capital and the ancient history of the Nile valley. There’s a certain irony in sitting in a city that is currently wrestling with its own identity as a global tourism magnet, planning a trip to another place that has been defined by outsiders for centuries. It’s the great human cycle of wanting to be somewhere else, and Saraya Express is the machinery that makes it happen.

Is it worth your time? If you’re looking for a photo op for your feed, keep walking toward the cathedral. But if you’re the kind of person who still values the tactile feel of a brochure, the weight of a physical ticket, and the advice of someone who actually knows which side of the river to stay on in Cairo, then this is your spot. It’s an honest business in a neighborhood that doesn’t have time for bullshit. It’s for the dreamer who’s tired of the local tapas and wants to know what a real koshary tastes like under a desert moon. It’s a reminder that even in a city as saturated as Barcelona, there are still corners where you can plot your next serious move.