Resorts run normally. Everywhere else changes rhythm, and the evenings become the best part of the year.
Ramadan moves eleven days earlier each year, so it drifts through the seasons. Inside a resort you will barely notice: hotels serve food and drink as usual and staff are used to it entirely.
Outside, the day changes shape. Many shops open late and close before sunset, some restaurants shut during daylight, and the hour before iftar — the sunset meal — is chaos on the roads as everyone hurries home. Excursion timings are adjusted; ask when booking rather than assuming.
The etiquette is straightforward and not onerous. Do not eat, drink or smoke conspicuously in the street during daylight. Nobody expects you to fast, and cafés in tourist areas serve throughout, but doing it visibly in front of people who have not drunk water since dawn reads badly.
Many shops open late and close before sunset, some restaurants shut during daylight, and the hour before iftar — the sunset meal — is chaos on the roads as everyone hurries home.
What you get in return is the best atmosphere of the year. After iftar the streets fill, lanterns go up, families eat outside until two in the morning, and there is a warmth to Egyptian towns in Ramadan evenings that is genuinely worth timing a trip for. If you are invited to an iftar, go.
