EGYPT travel REVIEW! ..Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea..... Itinerary/ Approx Costs/Tips

dartboardio

hi all :) want to leave my 2 cents here about my trip around Egypt. I want to note two or three key points: Egypt is very safe despite what the media or online random articles might tell you. I have never been 'scammed' or whatever stuff you see on youtube, IMO it's up to you to do your own research and know how much things should cost ( a taxi or a camel ride at the pyramids for example... if that's your thing lol) and is becoming a very popular destination nowadays due to being so diverse and so many places to visit (Cairo, Luxor,Aswan, Dahab, Alexandria, Red sea destinations like Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh in the summer)

Go with an open mind and sense of humour. Egyptians are very hospitable, funny people, quite like the Irish in that respect. Egypt is an islamic and very religious country. However in saying that, I still dressed in my normal clothes (sure, you should cover your hair while visiting a mosque, but westerners don't dress as modest as the local women and that's perfectly acceptable there. you will see plenty of tourists in t-shirts and shorts and don't get me started on the people in nightclubs lol :-) )

I will say, it was my first ever time in Egypt and certainly in any place like it. I flew to Cairo direct from Dublin with Egyptair. Huge culture shock when I first arrived, just due to the chaos, crazy traffic, people riding donkeys down the motorway! that sort of thing, but if you keep an open mind and embrace it then wow! I fell in love with the good and the bad.

I never realized Cairo was such a megacity with amazing nightlife, shopping, restaurants, historic things to do. I actually have travelled back there since and stayed for several months, nightlife is insane, cost of living very cheap, international shopping malls 5 times the size of the manchester trafford centre! Then onto the beautiful, peaceful Luxor and Aswan to see the astonishing temples, nubian villages, meet the nubian people, visit the West bank of luxor and experience life there in these tiny villages where it's a very traditional lifestyle.

At the moment the Egyptian pound has devalued quite alot, it's around 25 EGP to 1 euro at the minute.

Approx costs/

Uber to centre Cairo hotel from airport - 150 EGP / 6 euro (20km or so)

A beer at your hotel / - 100 egp - 4 euro

A main course at a 5* hotel restaurant - 150-200 - 6 to 8 euro

Safe, clean bed and breakfast style hotel in downtown cairo or zamalek - 350- 400 egp - 15-20 euro per night

5* world known chain hotel in central cairo - 2000 EGP - approx 100 euros per night

Recommended tip. always use Uber as they have fair prices, and most local taxis don't use meter so you must try guess the price from looking at Uber! :)

Things to do in Cairo/Giza

Pyramids of Giza- 10 euros per person - You can take an Uber there yourself for around 7 usd from central Cairo, or organise a daytrip with a proper tour guide (I've just done it myself multiple times and was perfectly fine. 'La shukran' goes a long way if anyone's trying to annoy you to buy trinkets ;)

Citadel

Khan el khalili 12th century market

Ibn tulun mosque (featured in tomb raider!)

Sunset felucca on the nile, many boat nightclubs, amazing restaurants perfect for sunset, many 5 star hotels, bellydancer shows, shopping centres, parks

What else to do while in Egypt:

Fly to Luxor from Cairo ( usually costs around 50 euros with egypt air or nile air) once you arrived in Luxor you can do a Nile Cruise to Aswan (3-4 days on a cruise ship with all food and drink included for around 200 euros per person total) the boat usually has a swimming pool, gym, bar etc, lobby lounge, and 4* rooms (if you'd like any suggestions on who to book with and how to get it for that price feel free to pm me) you can also bring your own alcohol on the boat (Egypt has off licenses called 'Drinkies' in every town!

The Nile Cruise will stop at the popular temples and villages- Luxor Temple, Philae Temple, Kom Ombo, Edfu over the course of the 3 days to Aswan. During this cruise you will pass through remote villages and see some memorable things for sure :-) I found the whole experience extremely peaceful. Tickets to attractions are generally not included, they on average cost around 10 euros per attraction, not much anyway.

Recommended hotels in Luxor: Pyramisa (around 50 euros per night, nice breakfast buffet, clean rooms and right in the centre of Luxor with beautiful Nile views for an evening wine) or Steigenberger Achti (5 star hotel with swimming pool and stunning views over the Nile)

There is a lovely English restaurant called 'The Lantern' that actually does a fabulous sunday roast in Luxor! also recommend the Thai restaurant and the Italian in the Steigenberger Nile Palace Luxor, and for a few wines.

Highly recommend to do a Hot Air Balloon ride over the temples and valley of the kings in Luxor. This goes everyday at 5am and you can get it for as little as 25 euros per person including a taxi to and from the location of the hot air balloons!!!

Valley of the kings too (entrance once again around 10 /15 euros for the whole day, you can hire a taxi driver to bring you around to all the luxor destinations for the day for around 30 /40 euros which is a bargain too..)

Red Sea/ Sharm el Sheikh/ Hurghada/ Dahab

After sightseeing and taking in so much history, it can be nice to go to the red sea for a few days to chill out on the beach, Egypt has some beautiful coastal areas that resemble the Maldives, Sharm and Hurghada and Dahab are specifically world renowned for diving, snorkelling etc with an amazing array of tropical fish and sealife.

These places above are very budget friendly in comparison to many European sun holidays! (For example, you can get an all inclusive 5 star hotel for 50 euros per person per night in low season or 100 euros in peak summer, inclusive of all food, alcohol, drinks, snacks...) there is always a swimming pool, beach, reef, included at the hotel.

All in all, an extremely memorable once in a lifetime type trip that won't necessarily break the bank.

Flights can be expensive direct to Cairo from Dublin with Egyptair as it's only a new route, but I have flown to Germany then onwards from there for around 250 euros before.

dartboardio

Irish passports and UK are entitled to Visa on arrival.

You pay 25 USD or equivalent in Euros, or EGP (egyptian pounds) when you arrive to get a 30 day plus 10 day grace Visa Stamp.

Currency

You can use euros or dollar notes in the touristy places if you wish, but I don't like doing that, it's perfectly safe to take your bank card with you and withdraw Egyptian pounds when you arrive, all visa and mastercard and revolut are accepted. You can't get Egyptian pounds in Ireland I believe as it's not a hard currency.

You do not need any travel vaccines or covid tests/ vaccines to go to Egypt

Muahahaha

Great write up @dartboardio , especially handy for me as I intend to go to Egypt next year to see much of what you covered. I was in Dahab years ago scuba diving but never got to see the rest of the country as I ran out of time at the end of a larger trip through the Middle Eas. So I always said Id go back and see the proper cultural sites around Luxor & Aswan as well as Cairo. Im also looking to try to combine this trip with Lebannon as I missed out on there due to needing a double entry visa from Syria so it would have cost me 4 days sitting around Damacus waiting for it to be issued, I didnt have the time so had to move on through the rest of Syria before heading south to Jordan, Isreal and then Dahab. So Im thinking of flying in to Cairo but then also having a return flight to Beirut to go see Lebannon for a week.

How many days did all that trip take you? Also would appreciate any tips on how you got the Nile cruise so cheap, knowing Egypt this involves lots of haggling till they drop the price to rock bottom? The hot air ballooning would also be something Id love to do, especially for 25 euro. Did it in Cappadocia in Turkey before and loved it.

On flights Ive subscribed to Secret Flying and I get email alerts for Europe to Egypt, one came up the other day of a return flight from Lyon to Sharm el Sheikh for £127. Lyon is a bit out of the way so Im waiting for something similar to come up from London or Amsterdam and will hop on it when it does. I had seen London to Hurgada for about £140 return back in September so they do come up at great prices.

ebayissues

This is very handy as I'm going to cairo next week for 5 days. I just looked up pyramid trio and so many are charging up to 100e. What did your tripinvolve? If you could PM any numbers, it be very helpful.Is it worth doing a day trip to other destinations?

dartboardio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119869160#Comment_119869160

I didn't do a specific pyramid trip so I can't help in that respect, I just got an Uber to the Pyramid complex myself, and then wandered around, got on a horse to bring me around the pyramids for an hour (paid around 10 euros for that after haggling, the local egyptian price would honestly be around 2 euros for an hour lol!)

but if your trip includes a few things and a driver like to the pyramids, khan el khalili, a few mosques etc then I guess 100e isn't a bad deal!

You could do a day trip to Alexandria as it's only 2 hours from cairo but I'd much prefer to see Luxor/Aswan again, I suppose you could take a really early 30 min flight to Luxor from Cairo and be back the next day. Luxor is 100% worth seeing

Muahahaha

@dartboardio could you elaborate some more about your Nile river cruise, does the company & boat you used have a website. Is 200 euro for 4 nights normal or was that a particulary good deal you got by haggling?

Cody montana

I came in via Israel and it was a bit of a nightmare.

Everything else was great though.

Use Uber, I downloaded it and was very handy.

Very safe and the people were friendly

Will return when the new museum opens.