Egypt on its own - 2021: review of the trip for a month

It's time to remember the forgotten resorts of the Red Sea: air traffic is gradually being restored! An independent trip to Egypt in 2021 is so far the only option to see the country. Alena wrote and shared her photos on how to accommodate the sea, the pyramids, and Cairo on vacation.

To the point.
Russians are used to traveling to Egypt on vouchers (approx. before the suspension of flights). Convenient, everything is turnkey, the sea is beautiful, the Arabian night and all that. What if I want to go there not for ten days, but for a month? And what is it like to fly to Egypt without a tour operator, a savage? I am telling you how we drove through the new Egypt - after the opening of the borders and in the conditions of “the world survived 2020”.

My review of the trip to Egypt

We chose Egypt because in these uncertain times it is not difficult to get there from Russia. And definitely without the risk of canceling the flight. We wanted to spend the autumn warm and exotic, and a trip to Egypt for Russians now is practically the only opportunity to fly to the equator. In addition, the price of air tickets is lower than, for example, if you fly to the Maldives, and in addition to sand and water, there is Cairo, the ancient Nile River, and pi-ra-mi-dy (I will mention them many times!).

In general, we took the deferred two hundred thousand rubles, roughly calculating that this should be enough for us for a month, and bought tickets to Hurghada. At the end of autumn, there were +31 fabulous for the Ural man, and this is how our Egypt began on its own.

• About the season in Egypt, and when is the best time to go?

Visa for Egypt

At the moment, a tourist visa for Russians to Egypt is free only upon arrival in Sharm el-Sheikh. At the airport in Hurghada or Cairo, you must pay a visa fee of $ 25 per person. You do not need to draw up anything in advance, they put a stamp for 30 days in your passport.

Entry into Egypt in 2021

Organizing a trip in 2021 is a little more daunting because of the precautions inherited from last year.

• To enter Egypt, a PCR test is now needed no older than 72 hours from the moment of taking a swab from the nose. In English, no test is required from children under 6 years of age.
• There is no self-isolation or quarantine.

If you do not have time, you can take a covid test upon arrival at the airports of Hurghada and Sharma (cost - $ 30), this is not offered in Cairo. They do not ask for any special insurance for a trip at the border, but we, in principle, do not fly without it, so we took a coated covid on Cherekhapa.

About restrictions on the spot: we put on masks in taxis, at all airports and at the entrance to supermarkets. In all other places, no one wears them: in Egypt there are few sick people, plus at 34 degrees it is simply unbearable.

How to get to Egypt on your own?

Direct flights to Egypt fly from Moscow and so far only to Cairo - 5 times a week, tourists and everyone are transported by Aeroflot and the Egyptian airline Egypt Air. But from May 1, 2021, flights to Cairo will also be launched from Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk - Azur Air will fly once a week.

Charters (that is, vouchers from the tour operator) have not yet been returned. Every year they promise to travel, but everyone is tired of waiting and therefore fly on their own.

Flights cost from 25,000 rubles per person round trip, catch profitable - or necessary - dates on search engines:

• Aviasales
• Skyscanner

You can get from Cairo to the sea by bus. It is more convenient and faster to use a pre-arranged transfer (that is, directly from the airport by car), see prices for KiwiTaxi.

Below is our option to get cheaper, but, alas, it is still unlikely, because until June 1, 2021, there are only two flights a week from Russia to Istanbul. But you can try or replace the transfer to Minsk.

While we were thinking whether to pay more for comfort, tickets to Cairo jumped to 40 thousand for one. Our strict budget meant the same amount, but still for two. Therefore, I unchecked the "direct flights only" checkbox and found another option - to get with a transfer. We flew from Moscow to Istanbul, smacked perfume in the dyutifree for four hours, and then boarded a plane to Hurghada.

Our final route:

1. There: a single flight Moscow-Hurghada with a connection in Istanbul - 8000 rubles.
2. Here: Sharm El Sheikh – Istanbul - 5400 rubles.
   Istanbul-Perm with a transfer in Ufa - 4900 rubles.

In total, tickets from Perm to Egypt and back cost 39,600 rubles for two. Great? Great.

Hotels in Egypt - my advice

If you fly to Egypt on your own, you should choose your own accommodation. It's no more difficult than with air tickets:

• There is a search engine for hotels Booking - you probably heard about it and used it,
• and the hotel aggregator RoomGuru - because hotels sell not only Booking, but a dozen more booking systems, where it is cheaper - and now Rumguru is looking for everyone.

We planned to travel through more than half of Egypt and visit 4 cities, so we booked accommodation frequently. We moved from hotel to hotel nine times.

Here are four options with which we made the right decision (the other five, as you know, are not very good). Cozy, clean and live up to their price tag:

- 4 * Labranda Tower Bay All Inclusive Sharm El Sheikh

- Pyramids Guest House in Giza, a hotel 200 meters from the pyramids

- New Cairo Heart Hotel in Cairo

- Monica Hotel in Dahab, very inexpensive and pleasant accommodation

- 5 * The Nile Ritz-Carlton Cairo in Cairo, we didn’t stay here, but this is the most chic that can be found in the capital, with species numbers on the Nile!

And important general information on Egyptian hotels.
All Inclusive in Egypt is wonderful. If we talk about 4 and 5 star hotels in the Red Sea resorts, then it is clean, there is no intrusiveness among the staff and there is a large green area - this is valuable, because in Egypt there is generally not enough greenery, and sandy tones dominate. There are also pools and very decent food with a good variety. Such a table, as we had in the Sharm four, is not easy to create, not only as a savage on a trip to Egypt - but even in Russia, where you know the assortment of all the shops. Here you can find tuna, all kinds of meat, vegetables, desserts, fruits, etc. And alcohol, of course.

On a note. If alcohol is important to you and you need it, take an all-inclusive hotel. In Egypt, alcohol is not easy to find.

The price tag is also quite affordable: for accommodation in a good hotel in Sharm on the all-inclusive basis, we paid 5000 rubles for two per day. In Turkey, such a hotel would cost 7,000 rubles, and in the Krasnodar Territory - it's scary to imagine - in ten thousand rubles.

Outside of All Inclusive, in Cairo and other non-maritime cities, the price of housing differs for the worse: in the capital, for 2500 rubles, you will only settle in the most ordinary three-star with air conditioning, but without a balcony and food. Our plans to spend up to one and a half thousand rubles a day on housing were broken against this bar.

Another disadvantage of ordinary budget hotels: cleanliness, novelty and comfort in them are relative concepts. Possible cobwebs in the corners, dust-clogged ventilation, flimsy doorknob. Therefore, if you choose to go to Egypt on your own, read the hotel reviews carefully and see the photos of the guests before booking.

Prices in Egypt

In Egypt - Egyptian pounds (EGP).
1 pound = 5 rubles.

Conclusion of the whole trip: EXPECTED THAT WILL BE CHEAPER.
In theory, we planned to spend about 5,000 rubles ($ 70) per day for two on everything, including housing, food, transport, attractions, etc. In practice, it took 6,000 rubles ($ 80).

The most impressive items of expenditure were, as I said, housing (it encroached on half or even more of our daily limit!) And food. I'll tell you more about this pleasant element of travel.

Food prices in 2021

Abroad, we go mainly to cafes for locals (cheaper and more interesting) and cook at home. But Egypt broke the usual pattern: kitchen corners in our homes were far from always, and local establishments were found only in Cairo. In all other cities, finding decent food at local rates has proven extremely difficult.In addition, Egyptian cuisine every day is another test for the stomach (I'll explain why below).

Since things didn't go according to plan, we often had to eat at tourist restaurants.

Let's compare? Prices are the same as in Perm: a meal for two in a European-style establishment costs at least 1000 rubles ($ 15).

Thanks to the large grocery supermarkets Carrefour - they are even in tourist Dahab, Sharm and Hurghada. It turned out to be much cheaper to pick up groceries than to visit cafes three times a day, although the shops were located outside the resort areas and sometimes we took a taxi. There is no alcohol in Carrefour! As in the UAE, it is sold in special places, and, alas, we were not interested in them.

We only heard about food markets: I know that there is one in Cairo, but the city is huge, and it stays in traffic jams all day, so I didn't want to spend hours on the road to the market. We also bought fruits and vegetables in tents on the street - you will have to look for them in every city, but not on every corner.

The price tag for food in street stalls and supermarkets is comparable to the Russian one in large cities (we do not take into account Moscow). We bought pasta, canned tuna, sweets for tea, bread, halva - the usual products.

Figures and examples. Purchases for 2,000 rubles ($ 25) are enough for a couple of delicious breakfasts and dinners.

• Mango, 1 kg - from 150 rubles ($ 2)
  Mango season in summer, but available year round
• Strawberry, 1 kg - 70-85 rubles ($ 1)
• Bananas, 1 kg - 75 rubles ($ 1)
• Mandarins, 1 kg - 25 rubles ($ 0.3)
• Shrimps, 1 kg - 750 rubles ($ 10)
• A bottle of water, 1.5 l - from 25 rubles ($ 0.3)
• A bottle of local beer - from 140 rubles ($ 1.9)

Egyptian cuisine

The motto of Egyptian cuisine is to feel like the dragon Smaug. It is very sharp. The main dish that the locals pointed out to us: koshari, or "all the best at once" - an original-tasting mixture of several types of pasta, tomato paste, lime, chickpeas and fried onions (approx. in the traditional version, they also add lentils with rice, yes, directly to the pasta). Very tasty and very spicy, be sure to try it! In a cafe for locals, a huge portion costs from 20 pounds or from 100 rubles.

The Egyptians also love and respect:

• hibiscus tea - red, from hibiscus flowers,
• lean cakes aish baladi, which can be bought from street vendors for £ 2,
• arabic coffee - the strongest coffee of the darkest roast with cardamom,
• koftA (or kyufte) - like in Turkey, here it is a kebab
• ful medames - like hummus, a gruel made from boiled local beans with vegetables and flat cakes,
• and roast pigeons... but let's not talk about it.

Transport prices

By city or resort.
The best way to get from the airport to the city and back is by taxi. Unfortunately, Uber works only in Cairo, in the resorts you will have to deal with taxi drivers of the tenth generation, who have a thirst in their blood to fool tourists.

So remember. Good price to get there:

- from / to Hurghada airport - 100 pounds or $ 7 (we agreed without looking for $ 10),
- from / to Sharm el-Sheikh airport - $ 10,
- from / to Cairo airport uber - 100 pounds or $ 7.

Inside Hurghada and Sharma, we went by minibuses, they cost from 2.5 to 5.75 pounds (11-27 rubles). The town of Dahab is 4 km long, here they walked and took bicycles for 1 day at 500 rubles per day per person.

There is a metro in Cairo, it is cheap - 5-10 pounds (25-45 rubles), and to some extent unique, because one of the two is for the whole of Africa. But, given that Cairo is one of the most densely populated cities, we did not dare to go down there: a taxi around the city rarely cost more than 150 rubles.

Around the country.
The most convenient, inexpensive and comfortable way to travel around Egypt is by bus. All over the country, there are brand new fast buses with air conditioning, toilets, soft seats, and tickets for them are adequate. So we moved from city to city from our route.

• Hurghada-Cairo (460 km) - 200 pounds or 1000 rubles
• Sharm el-Sheikh-Dahab (90 km) - 110 pounds or 520 rubles

Verified local carriers - Go Bus, Delta Travel and Blue Bus. Their offices are often located in the city center, and almost everyone has English-language sites where you can buy your ticket online. Buses run from local bus stations or major stops. You can still travel around Egypt by trains, but they do not go in all directions, plus foreigners are sold at exorbitant prices.

Finally, you can always rent a car on RentalCars - BUT, PLEASE NOT IN CAIRO - this is the most driver-unfriendly city. Outside the capital, it's okay, you can drive around even the whole country by car. The roads are good for the most part, although boring and dusty. They drive quite aggressively, in a Middle Eastern way.

If you are without a license, and buses with trains do not attract you, book a transfer (car with a driver). A large international service KiwiTaxi operates in Egypt. This is, so to speak, the world's long-distance taxi.

Resorts in Egypt: where to relax?

Of course, a tourist cannot help but enjoy some fun in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. But, deciding where it is better to go to Egypt, we included two more cities in the route. I'll tell you about each one.

Hurghada

We spent a week here and concluded: the city is purely tourist. In addition to hotels, there is NOTHING from the attractions. The main entertainment is the Red Sea, swimming in clear warm water. You can wander into the Old Town, but the only interesting thing here is the name of the area and the mosque. The entire coastline is in hotels, and the beaches of Hurghada are ideal for families with children. And there are also quite a few local vacationers who look at you with wild eyes if you are on the beach in a bikini.

Sharm El Sheikh

Charm is newer than Hurghada, there are more modern hotels, but it was built exclusively for tourists - which means that you will not find history and culture here, by and large. The main charm of Sharm in affordable all inclusive hotels with huge green areas and quality service. After noisy Cairo - great.
By the way, the choice "Hurghada or Sharm el-Sheikh?" for me it is obvious in favor of the second. The hotels are in good condition, the sea and the reef are more beautiful - the main arguments.

About beaches.
There are sandy beaches in Hurghada, more coral in Sharm. In any case, I advise you to buy special cheap coral sneakers on the spot - you definitely won't scratch your heels with them. I advise, but I myself just put on trekking sandals and bathed in them, the effect is the same :)

Officially, there are free public beaches in Hurghada and Sharm, but in fact we did not find them ... Everything is distributed between the hotels. Entrance for "strangers" - from 50 pounds (250 rubles) per person. I am glad that there are no merchants, masseurs and other masters on the beaches.

Well, and a special attraction of the hotels on the Red Sea is the coral reef. Handsome, with colored fish, we swam with masks every day.

• Swimming mask - $ 10– $ 15 (750–1100 rubles)
• Diving - from $ 50 per dive (from 3800 rubles)
• Wetsuit rental - $ 10 (750 rubles)

Cairo

Cairo is noisy, dirty, and its streets are full of traffic, not life. This is one of the most densely populated cities in Africa - it has grown to an outrageous size and is mired in traffic jams. There are exactly eight traffic lights in the city, and all eight are located in the central Tahrir square. Egyptians on the road communicate through a horn and beep for any reason, after half an hour of walking along the road, their head hurts from the noise. Cairo is completely devoid of greenery and is not suitable for tourists - even an ordinary store with water is not so easy to find here.

Dahab

A small town 90 km from Sharm el-Sheikh, almost on the border of Egypt with Jordan. It is famous for its diving centers - there are dozens of them here.

You can learn to dive, dive either in the city itself or in the Blue Hole - the Blue Hole: a deep depression in the Red Sea 10 km from Dahab. There is a tunnel, which is considered a great achievement for professional divers to swim through. The price of a dive with equipment and an instructor starts at $ 50. If you are not a diver, you can try snorkeling (snorkeling).

It is also great to ride a kite in Dahab - there is a good, even wind, and kitesurfers from all over the world gather. The pleasure is not cheap, at a cost slightly cheaper than diving.Prices in Dahab are below the average for Egypt, with the exception of housing (there is a lot of demand, and the city is small).

What to see in Egypt on your own? Our route

What to see on your own in Hurghada and Sharm?

There are beaches in Hurghada ... We lay on the beach, sat on the beach, passed from one to the other (entrance to a private beach, if you do not live in a hotel with it, from 250 rubles per person). We also walked along the Marina (embankment) and looked into a couple of shopping centers.

There are also beaches in Sharm, but the Old City, Soho Boulevard, the embankment in Naama Bay and the nearby town of Dahab are also worth noting. But in general, as in Hurghada, here the city does not exist outside the hotel, and the delight of an inquisitive tourist is in excursions.

What to do in Cairo?

• Go to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities (200 pounds (1000 rubles) per person). Here are collected treasures found in tombs, sarcophagi and writings that are hundreds and thousands of years old. In general, the entire legacy of the ancient Egyptian civilization, including TWO REAL MUMMIES and the mask of Tutankhamun (and his mummy itself is located in the Valley of the Kings in Abu Simbel).
• See the pyramid of Cheops to the envy of the history teacher. The pyramid complex is located in Giza (a suburb of Cairo), and the main thing here is to choose the right hotel with a view, which we did. All morning we admired the pyramids and the sphinx from the terrace.

Entrance to the Giza pyramid complex costs 200 pounds (950 rubles) per person. Do not take any of the pesky guides here: you can walk around everything leisurely and with pleasure in a few hours. Be sure to throw a bottle of water and a cap in your bag - the area is deserted and very hot.

In some pyramids you can go inside for free, but specifically in Cheops - 400 pounds (1900 rubles). We went into a small free, we were told that inside they are all the same: a corridor carved into the wall with drawings on the walls and a small stone room for the tomb.

Outside, it's much more atmospheric! The pyramids themselves are impressive: there is no more ancient handmade building in the world, plus it is the only surviving Old Wonder of the World. The pyramids have become for us the most memorable sights in Egypt, a real miracle.

What to do with yourself in Dahab?

The place is very authentic - it looks like a hippie town somewhere in Asia. Dahab is cozy, you can buy dream catchers, ride a bike to the Blue Hole and admire the red mountains along which it is located. As elsewhere in Egypt, in the cities of our route, there are few attractions here: the main activity in Dahab is diving and kitesurfing.

The best excursions in Egypt

Where there are seas, there are excursions. Moreover, in Egypt there is where to take! Most of the excursions are offered in Hurghada and Sharm - and now, due to the lack of tour operators, local agencies have taken the main interest of tourists.

In order not to mess with the Egyptians from the excursion business on the spot (and they are so intrusive!), Read the reviews and see the available options for excursions in Russian on the website:

• Sputnik8 is a Russian service for booking excursions around the world.

There are already quite a few responses this year, it is clear that the Russian tourist missed Egypt.
The most popular excursion is, of course, to the pyramids. Usually called "From ... to Cairo" - it costs, on average, $ 55 per person from Sharm and $ 60 from Hurghada. Full day excursion, the road is not short. If you don't drive and don't want to bother finding bus stops, then this is a good option.

Even in Egypt, they like activities like:

• Quad safari - $ 15- $ 20
• Climbing Mount Sinai and meeting dawn - $ 30- $ 40
• Diving or snorkeling on the islands - $ 35- $ 40
• From Sharma - to Dahab and colored canyons - $ 25- $ 35

All of them are presented on Sputnik, see photos and reviews and plan your pastime.

My experience and reviews of tourists: safety and features of traveling around the country

Before the trip, I did not think that so many tourists go to Egypt on their own - reviews in 2021 are already overflowing. Each country has its own characteristics that must be taken into account if you want to rest there comfortably. Here are my tips for those traveling to Egypt:

• Islam is practiced here, which means that in non-resort areas (in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, etc.) it is better to wear clothes that cover the knees and neckline. In Hurghada, Dahab and Sharm el-Sheikh, it is not necessary to do this, but outside the hotel in open clothes you can attract a lot of not always flattering male attention: (Not everything is so bad, it is normal for girls to walk alone, but you feel much more confident.
• You are a bag of money for the Egyptians. They will shamelessly cheat you on money. Be careful not to buy, for example, bus tickets by hand.
• Check any information received from the locals (they often lie to make money), and be sure to bargain everywhere except in large supermarkets - you will triple the price, and this is the easiest way to save money in Egypt. And take your time with purchases, first find out the price from other sellers. They will try to deceive you ten times, at least :)
• Egypt is a safe country for those who are considerate and behave like a guest. Accept that every local in the tourist area wants to sell you something and don't be rude. Just walk by in silence - it works. Otherwise, the Egyptians, especially in the service sector, are quite friendly: if you leave your glasses, they will return them to you.
• In Cairo, be careful when crossing the road: the traffic is crazy here, and you can easily be cut off by car. The number of accidents per capita per year here is several times higher than the Russian figures. Safety in Egypt is up to you.
• Well, most Egyptians know English at the resorts, but they know Russian even more. Although at any moment they can pretend that they do not understand anything, if it is so convenient for them!

How much does a trip to Egypt cost?

How much does it cost to travel to Egypt on your own? How I told before, in 23 days it took us about 140 thousand rubles for two + the price of air tickets. But your budget may be different: it will definitely be higher if you don't want to cook and intend to eat in restaurants. Plus, we didn't spend on alcohol and souvenirs.

Take dollars with you and change money at official banks and the airport, or withdraw from a bank card at ATMs - they are almost everywhere. Remember that banks are often open until lunchtime.

Feel free to buy the Internet at the airport - choose a tariff from local operators (Orange, Vodafone) according to your needs and be prepared to fork out: 15 GB of mobile Internet will cost 700-800 rubles with poor connection quality. I also do not recommend hoping for a hotel Wi-Fi, not everywhere it is at all.