Hurghada
Egypt
A reef the length of a coastline, and three hundred and sixty days of sun over it
Photo by XAVIER PHOTOGRAPHY on Unsplash
Photos by VResorts, Vegan Oazïs, Zyanya and Hasmik Ghazaryan Olson on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Egypt
October to April (May to September is 35°C and up)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 2mm in Nov
Where it is
27.26°N, 33.81°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Dive or snorkel the Giftun reefs
- Take a liveaboard to the Thistlegorm wreck
- Kitesurf at El Gouna or Soma Bay
- Cross the desert to Luxor for a day, which is four hours each way
- Eat fish by the kilo in Sekalla
Hurghada travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Egypt
Good valueThe pound has moved a great deal in recent years, so check the rate the week you travel rather than trusting a printed figure. Resorts quote in euros and give a poor rate for them; pay in pounds where you can.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines at CIB, Banque Misr and QNB in Sekalla and the marina work with foreign cards. Take the larger withdrawal — the per-transaction fee is flat and the limits are low.
Avoid these
- the machines inside hotel lobbies, which charge and offer a poor rate
Use these instead
- CIB
- Banque Misr
- QNB
- HSBC
Limits are low and the fee is flat per withdrawal, so take the maximum. Always decline the conversion offer — the machine’s rate is several per cent worse than your bank’s.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Egypt
SafeVery safe within the resort corridor, which is where almost everybody stays. The genuine risks are in the water and on the road: strong currents outside the reef, coral that cuts, and a coastal highway driven at speed. Desert excursions should be with a licensed operator.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- El Dahar — the old town, at night, where the bazaar touts are persistent
- Quad and jet-ski hire, and the damage claims that follow — photograph it before you take it
- The coastal highway on foot or by bike, which is driven at speed and has no pavement
- Coral and lionfish on the reef, and the current outside it
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Egypt visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 30 days$25 single entry
Also available on arrival at the airport for the same price, paid in cash dollars. If you are only visiting Sharm el-Sheikh or Dahab, a free Sinai-only permit covers up to 15 days but does not allow travel to Cairo.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at visa2egypt.gov.eg — the only official site — or buy the sticker at a bank window in the arrivals hall before immigration.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Egypt
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for longer stays
- Hepatitis B for extended stays
Getting treated
Private hospitals in Cairo are decent and cheap by European standards, and the international ones have English-speaking staff. Public hospitals are basic and overcrowded. Insurance is worth having; private facilities want payment up front.
Do not drink the tap water and avoid ice outside good hotels — stomach illness affects a large share of visitors. Summer heat at the pyramids is a genuine medical risk. Rabies is present in street dogs.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodResort buffets are what most people eat and are not the point. In Sekalla the fish restaurants let you pick from ice and pay by weight, and a plate of grilled bolti with tahina and baladi bread costs a fraction of the hotel price.
Nightlife
Resort bars, a marina strip and a handful of clubs that stay open until the divers have to get up.
- Hurghada Marina — the bars and restaurants along the water
- Sekalla, Hurghada — the cheaper strip, and where locals drink
- El Gouna — the smarter version, 25 minutes north
Closing: 03:00 at the marina; the resorts earlier.
A beer in a bar: EGP 80–180
Alcohol is served in licensed hotels and restaurants and nowhere else; it is not sold in ordinary shops.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- CareemWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
- DiDiWorks here
- BoltNot here
- Against a taxi
- Far cheaper than a white taxi, whose meter is a suggestion, and removes the argument at the end.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Cairo — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Egypt
Why these are Egypt's numbers and not Hurghada's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 76% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 48% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Hurghada, so these are medians for all of Egypt. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Egypt, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Arabic
- Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
- Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
- Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
- Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
4 more phrases
- Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
- How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
- The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
- Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan
Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.
Religion
Sunni Muslim, with a Coptic Christian minority
Around 90% Muslim and 10% Coptic Christian, one of the oldest Christian communities on earth. Cover shoulders and knees at mosques and churches alike; women cover their heads at mosques.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Use your right hand for eating, greeting and handing anything over
- Dress modestly away from resorts — shoulders and knees covered, and a scarf for women entering mosques
- Agree a price before accepting any service, including a photograph with a camel
- Carry small notes for baksheesh; it is expected constantly and is part of how the economy works
Don't
- Do not photograph military or police installations, bridges or airports — this is taken seriously
- Do not show the sole of your foot to anyone, or point with your feet
- Do not show public affection beyond hand-holding; it is illegal in some readings and always poorly received
- Do not accept an unsolicited guide at the pyramids who then demands a fee — say la, shukran, firmly and keep walking
Where to stay in Hurghada
No Holistay rentals in Hurghada yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Hurghada on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Hurghada International HRG
10 minfrom the airport· 9 km as the crow flies
10 min to the resorts, 25 to El Gouna.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
