Resorts of Egypt: where is the best place to relax? My month trip

You can go to Egypt! I show this by my own example - I recently returned from a trip lasting almost a month. It turns out that I visited a relatively new Egypt: after the lockdown was lifted and the borders opened.

Of course, for such a long period of time, one place of residence will quickly get bored, so on the trip I visited all the popular resorts of Egypt. I'll tell you how Sharm wins over Hurghada (or vice versa?), About calm bays and about another Egyptian coast with white beaches.

Where is the best place to relax in Egypt?

As I expected, there is a lot of everything here - this is a huge country. It took me to visit her twice to figure out where to go to Egypt. It is even a little offensive that we, Russian tourists, traditionally limit ourselves to places with the letter "Sh" and "X".

Here are a few resorts in Egypt, where it is better to relax at sea:

• Sharm El Sheikh
• Hurghada
• Dahab
• Marsa Alam
• Alexandria

This time I discovered the beautiful small town of Dahab. People come here not for beaches, but for active entertainment - diving and kiting. I also had a good rest in Hurghada with sandy beaches, explored the coral reefs of Sharm el-Sheikh and heard a lot of stories about Alexandria - a paradise with white sand (you can argue about “paradise”, but the sand is really white).

How to get to Egypt now?

For Russians, the country is open with one condition: before departure, it is necessary to pass the PCR test and present a certificate with a negative result at the landing and at the border (its validity period is 72 hours from the date of the analysis). If you arrive in Hurghada or Cairo, you must pay a visa fee of $ 25. This does not apply to Sharm Airport.

1. A simple way involving an airplane.
   There are no direct flights from Russia to the Red Sea resorts. But you can find on Aviasales tickets to Hurghada or Sharm with a short stopover in Minsk or, if there are enough seats, in Istanbul (after the closure of flights to Turkey, there are 2 regular flights a week to Istanbul).
2. A simple but less comfortable way involving an airplane and a bus.
   But there are direct flights to Cairo - from Moscow and Rostov-on-Don (don't ask, I agree, it's strange). Accordingly, either take them to Aviasales, and then upon arrival, rent a transfer or buy a bus ticket to Hurghada or Sharm.

Or see tours to Egypt - they are also with a flight to Cairo and a subsequent transfer to the sea, but it is already included in the price:

• Travelata
• Level.Travel
• Onlinetours

On aggregators, prices for tours directly from tour operators, and the entire database of hotels open for the 2021 season is collected.

Sharm El Sheikh

Approx. editor: as an Arabist by education, I cannot help but note that it is correct to say Sharm-ash-Sheikh :)

We can say that Sharm is a young resort in Egypt on the Red Sea, it began to develop only in the 80s. And it was built, in fact, especially for tourists, a kind of hotel reservation for "all inclusive". Therefore, there are not many attractions here: the Old Town and the promenade in Naama Bay.

Why Choose Charm? Rich reef and underwater world, the weather is warmer and more calm bays for the winter.

These are the three strengths of the resort.

But with the beaches of Sharm El Sheikh, not everything is so simple: they are coral, sandy, with pontoons, stairs. All Sharm is divided into bays (in English. bay), and each has its own characteristics of the coast. Hotels are the luckiest with beaches to Naama Bay, here they can be called classic sandy, and I will devote a separate section to this area below.

Other notable beach areas are located in the bays:

• Sharm El Maya - a natural sandy shore, a gentle entrance to the water and a beautiful shallow sea. But there is no reef, the combination of "good beach" and "corals" is rare. Mountains overhang from all sides, so it is not windy here. If your hotel does not have a beach, the public Terrazzina Beach will save you in the bay - entrance costs 100-150 pounds (470-700 rubles), sun loungers and umbrellas are included in the price.
• Temple Bay - great reef and coral beaches. Swim with a mask, catch fish, turtles, starfish with a glance, this is here! Need coral slippers. In addition to the hotel areas, the bay has a city beach accessible to everyone - El Fanar for 100 pounds (470 rubles). Descent into the water by stairs or a long pontoon, from where they dive into the reefs.

In general, hotels in any bay except Sharm el-Maya and Naama Bay (because they are sandy) are suitable for snorkeling and observing the marvelous living creatures. The entire coastline of Sharm belongs to hotels: accordingly, the beach is free for guests. "Strangers" will have to pay up to 1000 rubles a day for the entrance.

About hotels.

Hotel nuances depending on the season:

• If you are traveling in the best months for Egypt (from April to October), you can immediately start choosing a hotel on RoomGuru and focus only on your preferences for bays - sand or coral.
• If you are traveling from November to March, then keep in mind that during this period the bays are divided into windy and calm, because the worst winds blow in Sharm in winter.

Although the resort is protected by the approaching mountains - due to which it is warmer here than in Hurghada - in some bays tourists are blown off their feet, and in others it is quiet. Windproof areas: Naama Bay, Sharm El Maya, Sharks Bay, Temple Bay, Gardens Bay and Coral Bay.

We lived in 4 * Labranda Tower Bay. I would give it 5 stars, but it is not suitable for the winter, only for May-summer-autumn. There is a sandy beach and two coral pontoons, there is everything for families with children (playground, entertainment, animation), and for adults there is a decent "all inclusive".

Here are some other good hotels in Sharm:

• 4 * Coral Sea Sensatori - cool, with a reef, not winter
• 4 * Reef Oasis Beach Resort - Suitable for the winter
• 4 * Sentido Reef Oasis Senses - calm, with a smooth entry into the sea, loved by families with children
• 5 * Baron Palms Resort - with a reef, but not for winter
• 5 * Sultan Gardens - for children, but not for winter
• 4 * Albatros Aqua Blue - a family hotel with a water park, very popular all year round

Outcomes.

+ Picturesque Red Sea with colored fish and corals.
+ You can go diving and snorkeling for hours.
+ The airport is close.
+ In winter, it is warmer and most windless here.
+ Good selection of hotels.

- There are few sandy beaches.
- Difficult entry into the water, often you can't do without coral.
- Nothing to watch.

Naama Bay

Positive feedback from tourists about their holidays in Sharm el-Sheikh goes to the Naama Bay area. This is the ultimate beachgoer's dream with priority requests for:

• good sand
• and easy entry into the water without corals

Naama can be inscribed in large letters in resorts for families with children, because here you can't scratch your legs or tumble down the stairs. And he won't even blow his ears, this is the most windless part of Sharm. From here, by the way, the construction of the entire city began, and therefore all the infrastructure and entertainment are concentrated here (including a long promenade, which attracts tourists from neighboring bays every night).

Hurghada

Hurghada is older than Sharm El Sheikh. If you look at the reviews superficially, you might think that it is worse, they say, it is useless for a self-respecting tourist to rest here. This is wrong. Hurghada beats Sharma in many ways, you just need to find a hotel in the area that suits you.

Why Choose Hurghada? Sandy beaches and a gentle entrance to the water - this is abundant here.

For clean, smooth sand, you have to pay with the beauty of the sea: there is almost no reef off the coast of Hurghada. So, maybe the fish will swim. But you can not be afraid to step on the sea urchin. In addition, in winter, the resort is blown from all sides, there are few places protected from the wind - but at the same time it is not hilly here. In general, prices in Hurghada are lower than in Sharm, it is easier to find a hotel for families with children, and more entertainment - from the aquarium to mosques and Coptic churches.

In Hurghada, tourists are divided into several areas:

• The city of Hurghada itself - central, noisy, inexpensive and dirty.
• Makadi Bay - the area is more expensive.There is little here, except for hotels, but what kind of hotels they are: with large territories, all-inclusive and extremely pleasant (sorry, not for the price). And since the resort is young, they are also new. Plus, this is a bay, in winter you can find wind-free hotels here.
• El Gouna - European, self-oriented (there are more apartments than hotels), windy and therefore adored by kitesurfers.
• Soma Bay and Safaga - a haven for divers and kitesurfers on a par with ordinary holidaymakers (but only in season).

About hotels.

If, nevertheless, you really want to see the beach with sand and the underwater world, then you need to choose certain hotels. Such as:

• 5 * Pharaoh Azur Resort - praised for a good beach with a convenient approach and an interesting reef
• 4 * Coral Beach - the same situation
• 5 * Prima Life Makadi - one of the best hotels in Hurghada, tourists with children come here, and it is great for the winter; sand and reef included
• 4 * Fort Arabesque Resort - there is some kind of reef and fish too

Well, and just "excellent" hotels in Hurghada:

• 5 * Sunrise Royal Makadi Resort - both the rating is high, and the reviews are off scale, and a huge territory with water slides; suitable for winter
• 5 * Jaz Makadina
• 5 * Steigenberger Aqua Magic - children's hotel
• 3 * Zahabia - surprisingly decent "treshka" in the very center of Hurghada, good and inexpensive rest in Egypt - you can
• 3 * Giftun Azur Resort - with a cool beach

Outcomes.

+ Sandy beaches.
+ There is no living creature that can scare.
+ Active, fun, but you can also find quiet places.
+ The airport is close.

- Hotels with a reef - count on one hand, for this in Sharm.
- It is dirty in the center of Hurghada, and Arab molesters are operating.
- In winter, the winds walk here.

What to choose - Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada?

Let me summarize right away:

• Hurghada has better beaches
• and in Sharm - corals.

So Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada? Where is the best place to relax in Egypt by the sea? For me, the first option is more interesting: the charm is bigger, livelier, warmer, and the reef is richer and more beautiful. I am personally bored in Hurghada. In terms of the famous Egyptian sights (the pyramids of Giza, for example), both resorts are approximately the same distance from them - 5-7 hours by car.

If the main thing for you is a beach vacation in Egypt, you prefer a clean sandy coast, you are traveling with children and you do not need corals, then you are in Hurghada. In Sharm - more active vacation, coral shores, without special slippers it will not be easy (we swam in trekking sandals).

Dahab

I highly recommend visiting this quaint little town 90 km from Sharm el-Sheikh, not far from the border with Jordan and Israel!

It is always windy here, and therefore the coast is occupied by kite and windsurfers. People are coming from all over the world to tick off the "ride in Dahab" list! Diving is also very popular: you check into a local hotel, go to a diving school, of which there are many, and take training for a day, two or several weeks. The price of the issue, of course, is rather big - from 40 euros per dive.

Dahab has its own atmosphere: free, people wear whatever they want, weave dream catchers and create other interesting hand-made things, the air does not feel the pathos of other popular resorts. By the way, the price tag here is lower than in Sharm or Hurghada. Perhaps for this reason, there are many Russians in Dahab for the winter.

A nice feature of Dahab is the main street along the sea, very beautiful and with spectacular cafes with swings. The city is only 4 km long, but it has a large grocery store, a sea without coral and sandy hills all around. You can rent a bike (about 500 rubles a day) and ride around.

What to see in Dahab and its surroundings?

• Blue Hole - or "Blue Hole", a popular diving site 10 km from the city. Even if you don't dive, you can walk in the mountains and look at the dive site from above
• Monastery of St. Catherine and the Colored Canyon nearby
• Assala Bedouin Village

Usually, tourists are taken to Dahab on excursions one day, but I recommend staying at least a couple of days - the atmosphere of another Egypt will definitely please.

Outcomes.

+ Very active and not Egyptian.
+ Exact place to upgrade (or get hold of) your kitesurfing and diving skills.

- Eternal winds.
- Cheaper than in Sharm or Hurghada.

Marsa Alam

The name of the city is translated as "fish village", and it justifies itself. Compared to Sharm, Marsa Alam is still not ruined by mass tourism (after all, to go 270 kilometers from the nearest airport in Hurghada) a piece of the real Red Sea: with reef walls, turtles, millions of fish species, dugongs and dolphins.

Marsa Alam is also divided into sub-resorts:

• Marsa Alam herself - where rarely anyone stays, because resorts are located in neighboring bays.
• Brayka Bay - small, cozy, with sandy entry into the water and a reef - only 2 hotels, but perfectly protected from winter winds.
• Abu Dabbab Bay - a favorite place for big turtles and tourists (because in addition to sea inhabitants there is a beach with sand).
• Coraya bay - sandy bay occupied by Jaz hotels (good grid in Egypt).

It's almost always windy in Mars. But at the height of the tourist season, it is not as crowded with tourists as Hurghada - it is also fresh and pleases with its beautiful sea and its inhabitants.

About hotels.

There are no frankly awful hotels in Mars, point your finger at any and you will find yourself in a good one. Here are the best ones:

• 5 * Malikia Resort Abu Dabbab - sandy beach, stunningly beautiful reef, large water park
• 4 * Brayka Bay
• 4 * The Three Corners Equinox

Outcomes.

+ It is very difficult to stumble upon a bad hotel.
+ Which resort to choose in Egypt for dream diving and snorkeling? Be sure to Mars Alam!
+ Less tourists.

- Winds, winds, winds ... the season of "no sand on the teeth" is shortened to the period from May to September.
- It takes a long time to get from the airport (if you are arriving not to Mars itself, but to Hurghada).

Alexandria

Photo taken from PxHere

But what are we talking about the Red Sea and the Red Sea, there is actually the Mediterranean! Here, for example, is the most famous resort in Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea - the coast between Alexandria and the town of Marsa Matruh.

The beaches here - Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada will be envied. Snow-white, with fine sand, which makes the water in the sea azure blue. Tourists have to put up with the impossibility of diving - there is nothing to look at - but, I repeat, you can find other entertainment for this color of water (like exploring the capital and the pyramids far and wide, because the Mediterranean part is very close to Cairo, 2.5 hours away by car).

But not everything is so wonderful, otherwise we would not have known about the resorts of Egypt on the Red Sea and would have driven here like to Turkey.

• Firstly, if Sharm and Hurghada are resort villages for tourists, then Alexandria is a huge bustling city with a beach.
• Secondly, if our grandparents at work were given vouchers to Kislovodsk and Sochi, then Egyptian workers - to the domestic Mediterranean. It is now primarily considered a resting place for the Egyptians themselves, and the entire infrastructure remained from the times of the 20th century. "All inclusive" and 1 line here are unknown phenomena.
• Third, the short season. The sea is warm from June to October, but summer holidays are spoiled by the unbearable heat above + 30 ° C. Snow falls in winter ...

A Russian tourist arrives at Alexandria. As a rule, as part of a 2-day excursion "Pyramids + Alexandria" from Sharm el-Sheikh. To see with your own eyes the city founded by Alexander the Great.

If you decide to go to Egypt in an atypical way to the Mediterranean Sea, it is better to consider the resort towns: Marsa Matruh or al-Alamein, 150–250 km from Alexandria. And if you then write below in the comments your impressions of the rest, then you will only have to kiss, on the Internet this information is worth its weight in gold!

About hotels.

Egyptians also like to have a good rest, therefore, decent hotels are being built here too (there are just very few of them, and specifically - only two):

• 5 * Rixos Alamein
• 4 * Beau Site Belle Vue Marsa Matruh

Outcome.

+ Beaches and sea as pictured on request "Best Beach Vacation".
+ Near Cairo.

- The infrastructure is lame under the burden of the past decades.
- No diving and snorkeling, you can't even catch a fish by the tail.

What excursions are worth visiting in Egypt?

In Egypt, as in Turkey, you can take excursions from a hotel guide (expensive), find tents on the streets, where they will offer to join a tourist group and will not lag behind until the end of life, or book at the same price online:

• on Sputnik8
• or Tripster

On some excursions, except with a guide, you cannot get - for example, on a safari. You can't handle an ATV or a camel by yourself. Here's what I recommend to see and try in Egypt:

• Pyramids in Giza ($ 55- $ 65) - this is a suburb of Cairo, excursion from Sharm or Hurghada takes a whole day
• Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo - usually included in the excursion to Giza
• Valley of the Pharaohs in Luxor ($ 50 from Hurghada)
• Cave temples of Abu Simbel
• Desert Quad Safari ($ 20- $ 30)
• Climbing the Sinai together with meeting the dawn and visiting the Monastery of St. Catherine ($ 30- $ 35 from Sharm)

In addition to antiquities, the main attraction of Egypt, of course, is the Red Sea. If I go for the third time, I will give the maximum of my vacation to him.

My review about the rest in Egypt

The trip to Egypt on my own left two impressions.

On the one hand, this is a country with beautiful ancient monuments, natural resources, but there are also disadvantages here, which greatly hinder the enjoyment of this splendor. Among them is the eternal desire of the locals to make more money from you. For this, they are ready to deceive, pretend that they cannot speak Russian / English. The second point is slight negligence in "simpler" hotels that do not belong to the all inclusive category: there may be dust and dirt, broken door handles, stale blankets on the bed, etc.

• By the way, I wrote a travel guide to Egypt: to explain that an independent trip is not difficult and interesting. In the same place she told in more detail about, mmm, let's call it the "zest" of Egypt.

Although, in my opinion, Egypt is more suitable for a package vacation. The best resort in Egypt for me is Dahab with its free atmosphere. Others like Hurghada - sandy and as close as possible to Turkey. Well, for some people Sharm el-Sheikh is touristy "combed" and with bright reefs. Need to try!

Season - when is the best time to relax in Egypt?

In short, in April-May or autumn in November-October. In more detail, it goes into a separate article about the season in Egypt.

In summer it is difficult because of the heat, but perhaps why not. And in winter, too - it is enough just to find a windless bay, which I told about in the text. In Egypt, the water is always warm, and there is never snow and temperatures close to zero, however, it is in the autumn-spring months that there are no sandstorms and scorching heat, it is comfortable to rest and go on excursions.