5 min readEgyptJanuary 2025

Egypt Travel Tips 2025: Practical Guide to Money, Safety, Culture & Food

Egypt Made Easy: Your Practical Travel Guide 🇪🇬

Egypt surprises most visitors — in the very best way. The Red Sea resorts are genuinely excellent, the historical sites are extraordinary, and the Egyptian people are among the warmest and most genuinely hospitable you'll encounter anywhere. But Egypt also has its own customs, rhythms, and practical quirks. Here's what you need to know.

Entry Requirements & Documents

Tourist visa — UK, US, and most European passport holders require a visa for Egypt. Options:

E-Visa (recommended) — apply online at visa2egypt.gov.eg at least 5–7 days before travel. It costs approximately $25 USD and is straightforward to complete. You'll receive a single-entry e-visa allowing 30 days' stay.

Visa on arrival — available at major Egyptian airports including SSH and HRG for approximately $25 USD. It works fine but means a queue on arrival after a long flight, whereas an e-visa means you walk straight through.

Passport validity — ensure at least 6 months' validity beyond your departure date.

Money

The Egyptian Pound (EGP) is the local currency — exchange rates at the airport are poor. Your best rates will be at hotels (usually reasonable) or banks in town. ATMs are available at all major resorts.

USD is widely accepted at resorts, shops, and tourist businesses. British pounds and euros are less commonly accepted outside the major resort towns.

All-inclusive resorts — if you're in an all-inclusive, most of your spending is covered. You'll still want EGP for tips, small purchases, and local taxis.

Baksheesh (tipping) — Egypt has a deep-rooted tipping culture. Tips are given for almost any service: hotel porters, bathroom attendants, guides, drivers, pool waiters. Small amounts — 5–10 EGP (or $1–2 USD) per service — are genuinely appreciated and go a meaningful way for workers in the tourism industry. Don't be embarrassed about it; it's simply how things work.

Safety

Resort areas are safe — Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada are heavily patrolled and monitored tourist zones that millions of British, European, and Russian tourists visit every year without incident. The Egyptian government takes tourist safety extremely seriously.

The UK Foreign Office — check the current Egypt travel advice on gov.uk before you travel. Advice has been varied for different parts of Egypt at different times; the Red Sea resort areas have consistently maintained a "standard precautions" recommendation for many years.

Common sense applies outside resort areas — if you're exploring local towns, bazaars, or travelling overland, maintain normal awareness of your surroundings and belongings.

Getting Around

Pre-book your airport transfer — both SSH and HRG can be busy and slightly chaotic on peak arrival evenings. A pre-booked private transfer with a named, licensed driver removes any uncertainty.

Official resort taxis — use taxis arranged through your hotel or resort for trips outside the hotel grounds. They're more expensive than random street taxis but considerably safer and more reliable.

Excursion buses — most resort-organised excursions use comfortable air-conditioned minibuses. They're a perfectly good way to see the main sites and attractions.

Egyptian Culture & Etiquette

Dress respectfully outside resort areas — on resort beaches and within your hotel, normal holiday attire is entirely appropriate. When visiting local towns, bazaars, mosques, or making day trips to Cairo and Luxor, covering shoulders and knees is both respectful and expected.

Photographing people — always ask permission before photographing individuals, particularly in local areas. Many people are happy to be photographed but appreciate being asked. Some may ask for a small tip.

Bargaining at bazaars — in any souvenir market or bazaar, the first price is never the final price. Counter-offer at roughly 50–60% of the opening price and work from there. It's a good-natured ritual, not a confrontation. Smile, be friendly, and enjoy the process.

Ramadan — if your visit coincides with Ramadan (dates shift each year), be aware that Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Eating, drinking, and smoking in public outside tourist zones during daylight hours may cause offence. Resort hotels operate normally throughout.

Egyptian Food Worth Trying

Koshari — Egypt's national street food: a hearty bowl of pasta, rice, lentils, fried onion, and spiced tomato sauce. Available from dedicated koshari restaurants and street stalls everywhere. It's cheap, filling, and completely satisfying.

Ful medames — slow-cooked fava beans with garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil, eaten for breakfast with flatbread. It's been eaten in Egypt for thousands of years and it's still wonderful.

Fresh seafood — the Red Sea provides exceptional fish, shrimp, and lobster. Both Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada have excellent seafood restaurants. The freshness is extraordinary.

Mint tea — Egyptian tea culture (specifically the sweet black tea with mint) is everywhere, offered as a gesture of hospitality in shops and bazaars. Accepting is polite; refusing without good reason is not.

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