🇪🇬 Egypt

October to April is the comfortable season and the main tourist period. Days are warm and clear, nights cool, and the sites in Luxor and Aswan are bearable through the middle of the day.

May to September is very hot, with Upper Egypt regularly exceeding 40°C. Travel is still possible if you start at dawn and stop by late morning, and prices and crowds fall accordingly. The Red Sea coast is more tolerable than the interior in summer because of the sea breeze.

Ramadan shifts by about eleven days each year and changes the rhythm of the country: restaurants outside hotels may close during daylight, hours are reduced, and the evening is lively. It is a rewarding time to visit if you plan around it.

The khamsin, a hot sand-laden wind, blows occasionally in spring and can reduce visibility for a day or two.

Egypt is arid to hyper-arid. Rainfall is negligible almost everywhere except the Mediterranean coast, which gets a modest winter wet season.

The Nile Valley and Delta have hot summers and mild winters. Upper Egypt — Luxor, Aswan and the desert south — is significantly hotter and drier than Cairo, with a large daily temperature swing. Desert nights in winter are genuinely cold, which surprises people camping in the Western Desert or at Mount Sinai.

The Red Sea coast is hot and dry with warm water year-round, which is what sustains its diving season through the whole calendar.

Most nationalities need a visa. Egypt operates an official electronic visa service for eligible passports, and visas on arrival are available to many nationalities at the main airports. Apply through the government's own e-visa portal rather than a commercial intermediary, and verify your own nationality's options before travelling.

Passports are generally expected to have at least six months' validity from the date of entry.

One important regional exception: travellers arriving at Sharm el-Sheikh and remaining within the South Sinai resort area have historically been able to receive a free entry permission valid for a limited period, which does not cover travel to the rest of Egypt — including St Catherine's Monastery under some conditions. If your plans extend beyond the resort strip you need a full visa, so confirm the current rules before relying on this.

Photography restrictions apply at military sites, bridges and some infrastructure, and drones are effectively prohibited without prior authorisation.

Domestic flights connect Cairo with Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Red Sea quickly and cheaply, and are the usual way to avoid long road journeys.

Trains run the Nile corridor between Alexandria, Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. Sleeper services between Cairo and Upper Egypt are a comfortable way to cover the distance overnight and should be booked ahead.

The Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, usually three or four nights, is a form of transport as much as an experience, stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo along the way. A dahabiya is the smaller, slower, sailing alternative.

In Cairo, the metro is cheap and effective and has carriages reserved for women. Ride-hailing apps work well and remove the fare negotiation that taxis otherwise require. Some road journeys, particularly in Sinai and the Western Desert, pass through checkpoints and may require convoy arrangements — follow local guidance.

Egypt is inexpensive for food, transport and everyday costs, and the currency has moved substantially in recent years, which affects relative prices for visitors.

The costs that dominate are site admissions, which have risen and are charged per monument with separate tickets for the more famous tombs; Nile cruises; and guided arrangements, which are genuinely useful at the archaeological sites where context makes the difference.

Budget realistically for tipping. Baksheesh is embedded in daily life here: small amounts for service, for a guard who opens a gate, for the man who carries a bag. Carry a supply of small notes; it smooths a great many interactions.

Egypt is a conservative, predominantly Muslim country with a significant Coptic Christian minority. Modest dress — covering shoulders and knees — is appropriate away from resort beaches and is expected at religious sites, where women should also carry a scarf for mosques and shoes are removed.

The right hand is used for eating and for giving and receiving. Public displays of affection are best avoided. Alcohol is available in hotels, licensed restaurants and some shops but is not consumed publicly.

Hospitality is genuine and insistent; tea will be offered constantly and accepting is the polite response. Bargaining is expected in bazaars and not in fixed-price shops.

Ask before photographing people. At monuments, guards may offer to show you something off the marked route and will expect payment; you are free to decline.

Egyptian food is bean-based, bread-centred and inexpensive. Ful medames, slow-cooked fava beans, and ta'ameya, the Egyptian falafel made with fava rather than chickpeas, are the everyday breakfast. Koshari — rice, lentils, macaroni, fried onions and tomato sauce — is the national street dish and is vegetarian by default.

Also worth seeking: molokhia, a green leaf soup; mahshi, stuffed vegetables; fresh baladi bread from a street oven; and the Alexandria seafood tradition, where you choose the fish and it is grilled.

Drinks: black tea with a great deal of sugar, karkadeh (hibiscus) served hot or cold, and sugarcane juice from street presses. Stick to bottled water and, in cheaper places, be cautious with ice.

The main tourist corridor — Cairo, the Nile Valley, the Red Sea resorts — is heavily policed and visited by millions each year. Your own government's travel advice distinguishes sharply between these areas and others, particularly North Sinai and parts of the Western Desert near the Libyan border, which are commonly advised against. Read the current advice for the specific areas on your route.

The everyday issues are not violent crime but persistence: touts, unsolicited guiding followed by a demand for payment, and taxi overcharging. A firm, friendly la shukran and continuing to walk is the standard response.

Health: do not drink tap water, be careful with uncooked salads and unpeeled fruit outside good restaurants, and take sun and heat seriously in Upper Egypt.

Women travellers report frequent street harassment, particularly in Cairo. Dressing conservatively, using ride-hailing rather than walking alone at night, and travelling in the women-only metro carriages all help.