Egypt travel tips: what to sort out before you go

Egypt is one of the oldest tourist destinations in the world, and it has spent that time refining exactly what a visitor needs and exactly what a visitor will pay for without noticing. The result is a country that is easy to enjoy and easy to overspend in, and both are decided by what you arranged in advance.

The visa, and why it comes first

Most visitors need a visa for Egypt. The country runs an official e-visa portal, and many nationalities can also buy a visa on arrival at the airport, which is quicker than it sounds and slower than you want after a long flight.

The rules depend on the passport you hold, so the only source worth trusting is your own government’s travel advice plus the official portal. Apply early. A visa that arrives after your flight is not a visa.

While you are checking, read the regional advice properly rather than skimming it. Egypt is a large country, and some areas have restrictions that do not apply to Cairo, Luxor or the Red Sea coast.

Water, food and the first week

Egypt is a country where the most common travel complaint is entirely avoidable. Drink bottled water, and use it for brushing your teeth if you are sensitive. Ice from a street stall is a gamble, and salad washed in tap water is the other common cause of a lost day.

Cooked food from a busy place is generally safe, and busy is a good sign rather than a bad one, because it means the food is turning over. Street food in Cairo is excellent and worth eating. The risks sit in things that were washed and not cooked.

Pack rehydration sachets before you go. They weigh nothing, they are hard to find at the moment you need them, and they turn a bad afternoon into a manageable one.

Tipping, and how to stop it being annoying

Baksheesh is part of daily life in Egypt. Someone opens a door, watches your car, hands you a towel or points you at the right platform, and a few pounds changes hands. It is a small payment for a small service rather than a reward for excellence.

The practical answer is to treat it as a budget line. Keep a pocket of small notes and coins, decide in advance what you are comfortable giving for each kind of service, and it stops being a source of low level friction. Ten percent in a restaurant, and something for a guide or driver at the end of the day.

Dress, photographs and the small rules

Light, loose clothing that covers shoulders and knees is right almost everywhere. Nobody will ask a visitor to cover their head. Beach resorts are relaxed inside their own grounds, and the same shorts that are fine in Hurghada will make you uncomfortable in a Cairo market.

Photography is mostly permitted at the ancient sites, and some charge a camera fee on top of entry. The exceptions matter: photographing military sites, bridges, airports and police is not permitted and this is enforced. Ask before photographing people, and expect to be asked for a tip if you do.

Money, and the shape of a transaction

Change money on arrival rather than at home, because the rate inside the country is better. What the Egyptian pound does covers the detail, including why a wallet in Egypt feels thick.

The habit that matters most is agreeing a price before the service rather than after. For hotels, museums and anything with a printed tariff, the price is the price. For a taxi, a guide or a market stall, it is an opening. Saying the number first is polite. Arguing about it afterwards never is.

Where to base yourself

One practical note about distances. Cairo to Luxor is a long drive and a short flight, and internal flights are cheap enough that most people use them. The Nile valley is a line rather than an area, so a cruise or the train is the natural way to travel it, and the Red Sea is a separate trip that many people combine with a few days in Cairo.

Getting there, and getting around inside

Flights into Cairo and into the Red Sea resorts are the two main doorways, and the choice between them shapes the whole trip. Cairo puts the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum within an hour and the Nile valley a short flight beyond that. Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh put you on the water with a transfer rather than a flight to reach the monuments.

Inside the country, internal flights are cheap and worth using. Cairo to Luxor takes about an hour in the air and saves a long, hot day on the road. The sleeper train between Cairo and Luxor or Aswan is a genuine experience and sells out, so reserve early if it appeals. Road travel between the Nile cities is slow, and most people fly or take the train.

For getting around a city, ride-hailing apps work in Cairo and Alexandria and take the negotiation out of every journey, which is worth more than the money. They are patchier in smaller towns, where you will be back to agreeing a price before you get in.

Before you fly

If you are sorting out the phone before the trip, an eSIM for Egypt covers the data side, and what a local SIM costs is the comparison worth reading if you would rather buy on arrival. Checking what your charger needs takes two minutes.