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Travel notes & guides

Practical tips, itineraries and local know-how to help you plan the trip.

100 articles · guides, tips & itineraries
Getting into Egypt: visas, stamps and the Sinai exception Travel tips · 1 min read Getting into Egypt: visas, stamps and the Sinai exception

Most visitors buy a visa on arrival for $25. The details that trip people up are elsewhere.

Read article → Water, ice and stomachs: staying well in Egypt Travel tips · 1 min read Water, ice and stomachs: staying well in Egypt

Most travellers' stomach upsets are avoidable, and the usual advice is only half right.

Read article → The Red Sea sun burns faster than you expect Travel tips · 1 min read The Red Sea sun burns faster than you expect

Sea breeze removes the warning signal. Most bad burns here happen on a boat.

Read article → Haggling without the stress Travel tips · 1 min read Haggling without the stress

It is a conversation with rules, not a confrontation. Learn the rules and it stops being uncomfortable.

Read article → Travelling Egypt as a woman: a practical account Travel tips · 1 min read Travelling Egypt as a woman: a practical account

Attention rather than danger, and it varies enormously between the resort coast and the cities.

Read article → Visiting Egypt during Ramadan Travel tips · 1 min read Visiting Egypt during Ramadan

Resorts run normally. Everywhere else changes rhythm, and the evenings become the best part of the year.

Read article → Hurghada explained: Dahar, Sekalla and the Marina Entertainment & Spa · 1 min read Hurghada explained: Dahar, Sekalla and the Marina

The town is three quite different places strung along twenty kilometres of coast.

Read article → Sahl Hasheesh, Makadi and Soma Bay: which bay to stay in Entertainment & Spa · 1 min read Sahl Hasheesh, Makadi and Soma Bay: which bay to stay in

Three purpose-built bays south of Hurghada, and they are genuinely different holidays.

Read article → Getting around: taxis, apps and hotel transfers Travel tips · 1 min read Getting around: taxis, apps and hotel transfers

Meters are theoretical. Apps solve most of it, and where they do not, agree the fare first.

Read article → Photography in Egypt: tickets, rules and manners Travel tips · 1 min read Photography in Egypt: tickets, rules and manners

Camera tickets at monuments, hard bans at others, and the one rule about photographing people.

Read article → Landing at Hurghada: the first forty minutes Travel tips · 1 min read Landing at Hurghada: the first forty minutes

Visa desk, immigration, baggage, and the taxi negotiation you can avoid entirely.

Read article → What to wear in Egypt, and where it matters Travel tips · 1 min read What to wear in Egypt, and where it matters

Beachwear on the beach, covered elsewhere. The rules are simpler than the internet suggests.

Read article → Sataya reef: the long day south that people rate highest Sea excursions · 1 min read Sataya reef: the long day south that people rate highest

Four hours of driving each way for a horseshoe reef most visitors call the best day of the trip.

Read article → Liveaboards: what a diving safari boat is really like Sea excursions · 1 min read Liveaboards: what a diving safari boat is really like

Sleeping on the boat gets you to reefs day trips cannot reach. It also means four dives a day.

Read article → Sharm El Naga: a reef you can swim to from the beach Sea excursions · 1 min read Sharm El Naga: a reef you can swim to from the beach

No boat, no crossing, no waiting for a mooring. Walk in and the coral starts thirty metres out.

Read article → Fishing off Hurghada: what you catch and what happens to it Sea excursions · 1 min read Fishing off Hurghada: what you catch and what happens to it

Line fishing on the offshore banks, no experience needed, and the cook will grill your catch.

Read article → Wadi El Gemal: Egypt's best national park almost nobody visits Safari and Extreme · 1 min read Wadi El Gemal: Egypt's best national park almost nobody visits

Seven thousand square kilometres of mountain, desert, mangrove and reef, with Roman emerald mines in it.

Read article → Camel riding, honestly: comfort, welfare and whether to bother Safari and Extreme · 1 min read Camel riding, honestly: comfort, welfare and whether to bother

Getting up and down is the alarming part. Choosing a well-run operation matters more than the ride.

Read article → Desert safety: the four things that actually go wrong Safari and Extreme · 1 min read Desert safety: the four things that actually go wrong

Not snakes. Heat, sun, dehydration and quad accidents, in that order.

Read article → Evenings in Hurghada, beyond the hotel bar Entertainment & Spa · 1 min read Evenings in Hurghada, beyond the hotel bar

The marina, the old town, a shisha café and the one thing worth staying up for.

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Good to know

Frequently asked questions

We really have some of the lowest prices that can be offered while keeping the quality of service high. We are an online booking company working directly with large organizers in Egypt, so we can offer very favorable prices thanks to the large flow of tourists. Buying from us, you get quality service and don't overpay intermediaries.
The organizers' fleet has plenty of vehicles - cars, minivans and large comfortable buses. Vehicles for short, medium and long distances are equipped with air conditioning and safety systems, and buses with toilets are provided on long routes. All vehicles are regularly serviced and sanitized, hold the necessary tourist permits, and drivers are inspected before every trip.
We work without prepayment. Group excursions are paid on the bus or during the trip. The exceptions are individual excursions where plane tickets or documents are involved. The organizer comes to you - there is no need to look for anyone to pay. You can pay in cash in dollars or euros, and an alternative payment method can be arranged.
Egypt is heavily regulated when it comes to tourism. For a car or yacht to run a tour, daily permission from the police and military is required, and organizers without a license don't get permits. That is why on some tours we may ask for voucher and passport details (this applies to marine excursions, individual tours and some group tours that leave the city). For other excursions only the number of people is needed.
Some hotel guides wrongly claim insurance does not apply to third-party excursion organizers. That is not true. Your travel insurance is valid throughout Egypt, and once you are on the organizer's ship, bus or transport they carry full insurance responsibility for passengers - otherwise they could not obtain a tour permit at all.
Please check your belongings when you leave the bus or boat at the end of the tour. If something is lost it is hard to recover, as vehicles leave immediately to be cleaned. We will always help you look, but we cannot guarantee a 100% return - so please be careful!
We have a large daily flow of bookings, so most excursions run every day (or on set weekdays per the program's schedule). After booking we send the exact hotel pickup time. Many trips are shared with small hotel groups who bought the same tour from operators - the only difference is that our price is 40–60% lower.
Tour photographers are independent and do not work for the company, so any arrangement with them is your responsibility. We do not recommend paying in advance unless you are sure the photos will be delivered. If you do not want photos, tell the photographers early to avoid any pushiness.