General Information
Egypt Overview
Egypt is a mysterious and legendary country with more than 6000 years of history will amaze even as travelers are encouraged to know. The imposing and formidable pyramids of Giza have been silent witnesses to the wealth of both cultural and historical events that have been happening throughout history, also part of it due to the outstanding panorama offered on the desert.
Although, as time passed, Egypt became quite popular and busy, for both single tourists and archaeologists and scholars that were unfolding of a few mysteries that contain these monuments, but Egypt is not only the pyramids, but also it has many other historical areas such as biblical oasis or routes that even today leave amazed more than one.
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Directions to Egypt
Visas
To enter Egypt you must have a valid passport with a minimum of six months validity at the time of leaving the country. This document may include seals visit to Israel. The visa is obtained directly in the airports of Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Hurghada. If you enter Egypt through the Sinai it is necessary in advance to manage some Egyptian embassy visa.
By plane
At present there are five regular direct flights a week from Spain to Egypt served by Iberia and Egyptair. There are also several charter flights to Cairo or Luxor as well as the interesting city of Sharm el Sheikh.
Down
By land you can only enter Egypt tourist level from Israel through Eilat, via the border post of Taba in Sinai. Several Israeli bus companies cover this route.
Ferry
By sea it is possible to navigate to Hurghada or other points of Sinai from the port of Aqaba, Jordan, aboard a regular ferries and catamarans.
Weather
As fixed standard, Egypt is always hot, while from November to March temperatures are relatively mild in most of the country (Cairo: 9th-22º C; Luxor: 8th-26ºC; Aswan: 12th-30).
The climate is mild and Mediterranean just off the coast of the homonymous sea in Alexandria and the Delta, where more or less regular rainfall occurs. By contrast, in the Nile Valley they are desert environmental characteristics, becoming more bearable the terrible summer heat thanks to the very low levels of humidity. The extreme dryness is the further south you travel, the most arid strip which extends between Aswan and Nubia (Abu Simbel). There is almost no rain.
Summer, especially July and August, is particularly hellish, forcing visitors in Upper Egypt (Luxor-Aswan) should start even before dawn. This period is therefore considered low season.
Consequently, winter is the best means to travel the country, or at least point the spring or late fall. However, the waters of the Red Sea remain clear and warm, and therefore ideal for diving, only in summer. See Diving in Egypt. Occasionally, short cold periods should also be provided in Cairo in December and January, with values that may even fall 5 ° C.
More information about the climate in Egypt
Gastronomy
In Egypt we can enjoy the local cuisine, based on a conception of Egyptian-Turkish cuisine which highlights as local dishes the foul (mashed beans or lentils), tahini (sesame paste), koushari (rice, macaroni, lentils and chickpeas with hot sauce) and babaganoush (aubergine paste), not to mention the various expressions of kebab (kofta, shawarma, shish kebab, etc.), or recreated according to old recipes of the times of the Pharaohs dishes such as goose or roast duck with honey.
Among the desserts the roz bilàban launch cries of joy makes sweet tooth and legion of lovers rice pudding and basbùsa is the other great pastry base grits, yogurt and honey with nuts recipe.
Accommodation
Egypt has always been a true resort paradise thanks to its large number of properties of all ranks and especially to the favorable value in the lodgings of the highest category. However, rates have experienced tremendous growth in recent years and what is worse, the quality of services of the type tourist hotels have plummeted. However, we will always find an accommodation that suits our pocket and expectations in the main enclaves of the country.
A recommendation to take into account is that advance reservations are almost essential year-round, and can be performed on their own without the intermediary of a travel agency. We will save enough money. Not so in the case of establishments where the Red Sea off season offer very good rates through agencies.
The three largest in the country-all outlined Nile hotels, all are mythic Mena House Oberoi in Giza, the Old Cataract in Aswan and Luxor Winter Palace.
More information about hotels in Egypt
Festivals and Events
Islamic holidays
The great Islamic festivals are:
Ras el Sana the Hegira, Moharram 1st, New Year (first Islamic month)
Ramadan (ninth month of the Muslim calendar, which date varies each year in relation to the Gregorian)
Moulid the Nabi, 12 Rabi al-Awal, birth of Mohammed (third month of the Muslim calendar)
Qurban Bairam, 10-13 Zoul Hagga sacrifice of the lambs (last month of the Muslim calendar, dedicated to the pilgrimage).
Coptic festivities
Coptic festivities are governed by its own calendar, which begins in 284 AD Among these are the following:
January 7: Christmas
January 19th: Epiphany
March 21: the Annunciation
besides Easter, which culminates with the feast of Sham el Nessim, of Pharaonic origin, which falls on the Monday following the said celebration.
Secular festivities
Secular festivities are set on the following days:
April 25: Sinai Liberation
May 1: Labor Day
July 23: Anniversary of the Revolution of 1952
October 6: Day of the Armed Forces). The Sham el Nessim is also considered day national holiday for the entire population.
Security
At the level of common crime, Egypt is neither more nor less secure than any other country in the world. Precisely, only in major tourist areas, airports and train stations, it is necessary to take precautions to prevent theft of our belongings, crime king among the crowds of travelers clueless. Assaults with intimidation remain a rarity in Egypt, with the recalcitrant vendors of trinkets and the only hinder us to step fakes. If you feel overwhelmed by this fact, or have been victims of a theft, the right thing will turn to the Tourist Police patrolling in all the places of interest.
Regarding terrorism, the killing of tourists that occurred in 1997 and isolated incidents resulting in death have not been followed, which does not prevent fundamentalist dissidents still maintain their hostile attitude toward foreigners. Because of this, still it required a police escort to access any remote road area of conventional circuits, such as the Libyan desert oasis, Hurghada beach or sanctuaries Denderah and Abydos. The track between Aswan and Abu Simbel remains closed to traffic; and intermediate stops along the Nile Valley in places such as Esna continue discouraged.
Health
It is not mandatory to access any vaccination Egypt. The Certificate of Vaccination against yellow fever only to travelers coming from a country where this disease suffer is required.
Overall, Egypt is safe. Due to the large number of tourists, hygiene in restaurants and establishments for foreigners is reliable. Bottled water is everywhere, and it is usually made ice drinks served Westerners.
You can take any food at street level whenever it is cooked, roasted or fried, the main cause of gastric disorders tremendous heat, environmental dryness or excessive spices. The scorching sun can cause dizziness or sunstroke and dehydration, eye irritation or skin burns and should therefore be protected from the rigors of the sun.
However if we walked tourist establishments we can find some stomach problems, or liver amebiasis.
In desert areas they should never turn stones at ground, because they can hide scorpions, snakes or cobras whose stings are very painful and poisonous. With regard to the famous tradition of drinking water from the Nile to ensure an early return to the country, should be aware that the millennium is quite polluted river and its banks are often a focus of bilharcia usual.
Money
All kinds of hard currency can be converted into local currency at any of the multiple bank exchange offices found in airports, hotels and tourist areas of greatest influx. US dollars, British pounds, Italian lire, DEM and Spanish pesetas to be bartered by Egyptian pounds without major problems. The euro will replace the names referred to when he makes his appearance.
Travellers checks are handled as easily as similar quotes that change in cash. In any case, it is very convenient to save the supporting receipts for each transaction to convert Egyptian currency for foreign currency at the time of leaving the country, if we have a surplus.
Credit cards, especially Visa, American Express and MasterCard are accepted in almost all hotels and tourist superior rank, as well as numerous restaurants and shops.
History of Egypt
Egypt's history is one of the oldest and most popular in the world, since the beginning of settlement along the river Nile and the continued development of cultures and civilizations to the point that it is today, a maelstrom of events that have been piling of just a great culture on the African continent.
More information on the History of Egypt
Transport in Egypt
By plane
Domestic flights are covered by Egyptair and its subsidiary Air Sinai, performing numerous daily services between Cairo and the main destinations of the country. Precisely Air Sinai and a third airline, Zas, exclusively covering routes to Santa Catalina, Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh. The cheapest trips cost about $ 70 one way, and the most expensive $ 200. Prebooked seat well in advance, especially for the flight to Abu Simbel from the capital or Aswan.
Boat
Navigating the river can be made between Luxor and Aswan or vice versa I aboard luxury cruise ships (floating hotels) and feluccas. Today the complete voyage between Cairo and Qena it has been suspended for security reasons. However, it is operating from a couple of years called Cruise Nubian, tracing the Nile from Aswan to Abu Simbel in five days ago.
Floating hotels are also classified by stars (three to five), and its rates in line with their rank, and made trips up and down the Nile between three and eight days. Reservations are highly desirable and can be formalized through travel agencies and luxury hotels. Feluccas can be booked in the same way, although it is much easier to get a place in one of these boats at the docks of Luxor or Aswan. Its amenities are scarce and require the use of sleeping bag.
Trains
The train is still a good choice for nostalgic travelers, although their rates are fully present for a paying double for a ticket Egyptian abroad. There are air-conditioned trains running through the valley of the Nile between Cairo and Aswan. Cars have first and second class, plus sleeping cars and serve food on board. The cheapest trips in first class haunt the 50LE (Cairo-Alexandria) and the more expensive the 100LE (Cairo-Aswan). By car bed, sharing a double cabin, the latter route would cost 300LE. Local trains for short distances, crowded with travelers, uncomfortable without air conditioning, are only recommended for lovers of strong experiences.
Buses
Egyptian buses are effective, quite comfortable and connect all major towns in the country. Their rates are much cheaper than train and output frequencies greater. However, we recommend purchasing tickets in advance.
Taxis
This measurement is not needed if you prefer to travel by road in shared taxis, which made fixed routes between two points. The cars allowed seven passengers and depart as are full. With them you can get anywhere while enjoying a real contact with local people. If you prefer to move in a private capacity, you can always rent a private taxi, which will require an enormous bargaining power and hold the imminence of the accident continued, especially in the streets of Cairo.
Car rental
Otherwise, we can rent a car, it is only suitable option for reckless due to the lack of traffic regulations in Egypt; therefore, we rented a car, it is best done with a driver.
Find car rental companies in Egypt
What to see in Egypt
Sights
The contemplation of the grandiose remains of Pharaonic Egypt is above any consideration, the reason for a trip to the land of the Nile.
Thus, the Giza plateau and its pyramids, the necropolis of Saqqara and Memphis annexed ruins of the temples of Karnak and Luxor in the homonymous town as well as the Theban necropolis and mortuary temple at Deir el Bahri and the Ramesseum, and of course Abu Simbel in Nubia, they are the points must see that no traveler should miss.
But there are many more archaeological sites of equal interest and less popular that allow them to enjoy relative privacy, such as the complex of pyramids of Abusir and Dahshur, respectively north and south of Saqqara; the temples of Denderah and Abydos, north of Luxor; or the city of the royal necropolis workers, Deir el Medina, on the western edge of the old Thebes.
Religion
For those interested in the history of Christianity, besides travel to the south of the Sinai to visit the Monastery of Santa Catalina, where theoretically Moses received the Tablets of the Law, it is also possible to follow the path of the Holy Family in Egypt land, according a path that crosses the northern Sinai and extends between the Delta and the city of Asyut through Cairo.
Precisely this city is one of the places to which they should pay greater attention to that which is normally granted, being one of the mainstays of the Islamic world. The Citadel, the Coptic quarter and the Bazaar of Khan el-Khalili is a must.
Of course, a visit to the Egyptian Museum is all an unavoidable duty. Alexandria is also becoming an increasingly common destination for travelers, especially since they have found remains of the palace of Cleopatra submerged under the sea and even more by the lure of the inauguration of its modern-and too modernist Library .
Aswan, meanwhile, is another set of a tour of the country, although it is just to enjoy the beauty of the Ptolemaic temple of Philae, which is only accessible by boat stage.
Scorching desert
In recent years, the Route of the Oasis in the Libyan desert (Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, Al Kharga, plus a possible extension to Siwa), is also acquiring a boom, since it offers the perfect counterpoint and the ideal complement to touristed transit through the valley of the Nile, while allowing enjoy those amazing orchards that arise in the middle of absolute aridity.
Sea and diving
On the contrary, those who love the beaches and diving should not miss a stay in Hurghada, on the Red Sea, an area in which the Tourism Ministry is turning its entire interest to make it a sort of resort holiday in true Caribbean style. Sharm el Sheikh is also getting a boost as a magnet for divers and sea lovers.
Attractions Egypt
Make the walk from the Valley of the Kings Valley of the Queens through Deir el Bahari, the top of the Qurn and Deir el Medina following the path trodden by ancient tomb builders more than 3,000 years ago.
Try to visit some of the tombs of the Nobles. They are not as famous as the Tombs of the Kings and for that reason are less crowded. Moreover, the frescoes depict scenes of everyday life that have charm and are easier to decode the complex mythology of Ra, Hathor and Nut.
Placed on the left side of the cabin on planes bound for Abu Simbel, as usual glide path allows us to contemplate its incredible temples from the air shortly before landing.
Gossip arguments with either a huckster trying to convince a tourist at the tomb of Tutankhamun to buy him a piece of mummy, he said, found recently, as well as questions amazed that on such a finding made abroad gullible.
Tired of belly dancing and mint tea, we can have a drink with enough alcohol in Cairo Jazz Club while listening to Charlie Mingus and dream Bogart and Lauren Bacall in a landscape of pyramids and palm trees. At 197 26th Street in July, in Agouza, Cairo.
Do not miss the Archaeological Museum in Cairo. In the living mummies watchful eye on the faces of the Pharaohs to which humanity must some of his most glorious monuments and the basis on which our civilization has evolved. If you are free and not dependent on schedules imposed by organized trips, try to go to the museum just after lunchtime. There are fewer people and this allows for a more relaxed visit. Not a bad idea, if time permits, make two visits to the museum instead of one.
Attending the mystical whirling dervishes show held every day at the Mausoleum of El-Ghuri in Khan el-Khalili.
A cruise on the Nile. The boat cruises are a more relaxing than at first may seem from the outside experience. Watch the daily life of both banks of the Nile is one of the great experiences of the trip to Egypt. It is a comfortable and relaxing way to get around and allows you to combine visits to archaeological sites sedate afternoon reading on deck, from where you can see beautiful sunsets.
Take a felucca ride in Luxor or Aswan. For which the previous proposal has them seemed worthy of mass tourism, to know that you can also take a cruise without all the amenities of the larger ships in these boats. Must the sleeping bag and a dose of adventurous spirit.
Soaking in over azure waters of the Red Sea and feel the sensation of diving in a large tank of large corals. No need to dive, with granny glasses and a tube be excited profane. We recommend a place called Blue Hole in Dahab, but there are thousands.
Tours in Egypt
Tour 15 days
This is a basic course that allows to know the three -Oasis tourist areas of Egypt, the Nile Valley and Red-Sea.
Based in Cairo, we would cover the route of the oasis, excluding Siwa road for five days, up to Luxor, where we would use two more days to visit its most important monuments. The next three days the Nile felucca would go back to Aswan, where depending on navigation, a half-day excursion could be done by plane to see Abu Simbel.
The penultimate stage would take us back by road to Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh on the Red Sea coast, to relax in its wide beaches a couple of days. The last stretch, by car or bus, we return to Cairo, where we would spend the final 48 hours before returning to Spain.
Travel month
Thirty days in Egypt is long enough to visit all the attractions that the country possesses, unhurried and at depth.
The tour will begin in Cairo, spending five days a complete tour of the city and its Pharaonic sites nearby (Giza, Saqqara-Memphis, Abusir, Dahshur).
The sixth day, by air or road, visit Alexandria, starting the next morning by air to Siwa, at the edge of the Libyan Desert, which would begin the Oasis Road south to reach Luxor in six stages.
Spent six days in ancient Thebes allow all monuments on both sides and make the trip back and forth to Denderah and Abydos.
The next four days remontaríamos the Nile to Aswan, felucca cruise or stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo. Bastan forty-eight hours in the city of the great dam to visit points of interest and make a round trip flight to Abu Simbel.
The next step would Hurghada on the Red Sea, which can be reached by road from Aswan or by plane from Luxor. Two days of sun and sand give way to a catamaran sailing to Sharm El Sheikh, South Sinai, to make a tour and overnight in the monastery of St. Catherine. Returning by air to Cairo, still they could use two days to go and return by road to Ismailia to look and ferry to cross the Suez Canal.
Still better than Hurghada, already in the Sinai Peninsula, the town of Dahab is. Its tourism is more obscure and less crowded than in Hurghada or Sharm-el-Seik also in the Sinai, at least for now. Although traditionally it is a destination for backpackers and hippies, the truth is that there are very upscale hotels - at reasonable prices- that are a pleasure. Dahab can be made from many local agencies organize excursions, including a trip to Petra (Jordan) on the same day. It is also possible for those who have time, go on their own. But the purpose of this destination to relax and indulge in pleasures that lurk marine waters of the Red Sea.
