Tips and Advice
Before coming to Egypt you will have some questions about the country, culture, weather, arrival, and more. So, we have created some tips and advice to help you prepare for your journey.
What to Wear
Men-you can dress how you do in your day to day life - T-shirts, long sleeves, shorts and trousers are accepted.
Women- dress sensibly - Full length bottoms or capris, with modest tops and t-shirts. Half sleeves are not a problem anywhere. In beaches and resorts, you can dress like you would in a beach anywhere else in the world. Sleeveless clothing is quite ok, just remember to carry a scarf to throw over your shoulders to visit mosques (and keep the sun off of you).
Check the weather before you go. Even in December, it can be quite hot during the day & cool at night. During the day, use a lot of sun-block, sunglasses and a hat. It can get cool at night so make sure to bring layers during the winter months. The desert is the coldest with temperatures at night hovering around 5 degrees celcius. The wind makes it much colder.
Weather
Egypt lies almost entirely within the Sahara desert and has hot and dry conditions year round. Only a small strip along the Mediterranean coastline is a wetter and has more mild temperatures. It is generally still warm during winter, and hot during summer - potentially extremely hot (50 °C in some cities, for example Luxor and Aswan). Don't go out during the day without plenty of water, a hat, shades and sun screen. Nights can be extremely cold in the desert, although only during the colder winter months of December to February. Most of the country averages only between 25 mm and 50 mm of rain a year, while the coastal strip has roughly 150 mm of rain a year, still quite dry to support crops.
Most of the rain here (for example in Alexandria) falls between November and February, during the cooler months. Temperatures are still around 20 °C during the day and slightly above 10 °C at night. In summer, temperatures are roughly 10 °C higher, both during the day and night. With southern winds though temperatures can reach 44 °C in summer as well. These high temperatures (also in Cairo) mainly occur during spring and early summer when hot, dry and dusty winds (Khamsin) blows from the Sahara.
More to the south, Egypt becomes very very dry and sunny as well. Aswan for example has virtually no rain whatsoever, making it one of the driest places on earth. Temperatures between November and February are pleasantly warm, between 23 °C and 28 °C, while average daytime temperatures in summer are above 40 °C, but records of 51 °C have been measured here!
Toilet out of the Hotel
Almost everywhere you can find a toilet. And almost in all of it you will have to pay a tip. Make sure you always have coins in your pockets (2 pounds - 0,10 cents USD) and make sure you always carry tissues or wipes.
VISA
For almost all the countries/nationalities you can buy the entrance Visa in your arrival at the airport in Cairo (make sure if your country need a previous request before your flight).
When you arrive you will find windows for money exchange. Chose one of those windows and buy your visa. They will give you a self-adhesive paper that you have to stick in a empty page of your passport.
Then, head to the line of the police control, deliver your passport and wait until they give it back to you with the stamp.
At the airplane they will give you a paper to fill in with your information. Deliver this paper together with the passport once you are at the police control.
Local Coin and Language
The local coin is Egyptian Pound. Although they accept almost everywhere Euros and Dollars too. But be carefull with the exchange rates. Always ask for our opinion. The language spoken here is the Arabic, and anywhere in this country you will find some people speaking English, specially in the touristic areas.