Egypt Travel Guide: Entry Rules, Money, Transit and What to Know Before You Go

Entering Egypt requires most international tourists to obtain an entry visa, either online before travelling or directly upon arrival. Citizens of roughly seventy nationalities—including passport holders from the United States, the United Kingdom, European Union member states, and Canada—are eligible for the standard tourist e-visa or visa on arrival. Regardless of which method you use, your passport must remain valid for at least six months from your date of arrival. The standard tourist entry grant allows single-entry access for up to thirty days, and this thirty-day allowance begins counting on the day you enter the country rather than the date your visa is issued.

When applying online before your trip, submit your application exclusively through the official government portal at visa2egypt.gov.eg. Avoid relying on third-party agencies or fixed fee estimates published in informal travel guides: reported figures conflict across unofficial sources, and entry fees have reportedly changed recently, so check the official portal directly to confirm current costs for your passport. For travellers securing a visa on arrival, a newer digital kiosk system reportedly operates at Cairo airport specifically, while paper-based processing continues at other entry points. Treat this digital kiosk process as a recent operational update to verify on arrival rather than an established permanent fixture.

The official currency of the country is the Egyptian Pound (EGP). While major international hotels, upscale sit-down restaurants, shopping malls, and chain establishments widely accept credit and debit cards, Egypt remains an overwhelmingly cash-reliant economy for everyday commerce. Outside of modern commercial venues and luxury properties, cash is indispensable for paying local transport, settling bills at neighborhood eateries, buying goods in open-air markets, and tipping. Relying solely on cards or mobile wallets will quickly leave you unable to pay for basic services, making it essential to keep a dependable supply of physical Egyptian Pounds on hand throughout your travels.

Automated teller machines are the recommended method for obtaining Egyptian Pounds at an accurate, fair exchange rate. To withdraw cash safely, use bank-affiliated ATMs or machines located directly inside airport terminals and bank branches rather than freestanding machines. A well-documented local scam involves unofficial street money-changers who approach tourists offering seemingly attractive above-market conversion rates. Engaging with these informal exchangers frequently results in counterfeit banknotes or deliberate short counts, a problem compounded by visual similarities between different denominations that can easily confuse unfamiliar visitors. Protect your funds by avoiding street changers entirely and exchanging currency solely through authorized banks, licensed exchange offices, or official bank ATMs.

For urban transport in Cairo and Alexandria, app-based ride-hailing provides the most dependable way to travel. Major platforms including Uber, Careem, inDrive, and DiDi operate across both metropolitan areas, with partial coverage extending to Red Sea resort centres like Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh. However, these ride-hailing services do not operate in Upper Egypt destinations such as Luxor and Aswan. Official security reporting from the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) highlights ride-hailing applications as both more economical and safer than standard street taxis for visiting tourists—particularly for women—owing to built-in journey tracking and upfront pricing.

By contrast, hailing street taxis requires caution. OSAC explicitly identifies common taxi fare scams across Egypt, notably drivers claiming meters are broken or quoting arbitrary, inflated fares to arriving tourists. When travelling between major cities, Egyptian National Railways operates passenger rail services linking Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and Aswan. A dedicated overnight sleeper train connects Cairo with Upper Egypt, though travellers should anticipate basic and somewhat dated onboard facilities. Along the Nile itself, taking a felucca—a traditional wooden sailboat—is the classic river experience in Luxor and Aswan, particularly around sunset, while larger multi-day cruise vessels provide scheduled voyages along the river corridor between Luxor and Aswan.

Cultural expectations surrounding dress in Egypt are guided by social and customary standards rather than statutory law for tourists in general public areas. No national legislation mandates that visitors wear headscarves or cover their limbs when walking through city streets or public spaces, though modest clothing covering shoulders and knees is widely expected by local communities. Inside mosques and religious sites, formal rules do apply: women are required to cover their hair with a headscarf and wear modest garments to enter, while men should wear long trousers. Approaching daily dress with conservative mindfulness respects local cultural norms without mistaking customary expectations for legal obligations outside sacred venues.

Daily commercial interactions involve long-standing social customs. In historic bazaars such as Cairo's Khan el-Khalili, bargaining is standard practice: vendors quote an initial price as a conversational starting point rather than a fixed sum, and negotiations should remain courteous and friendly. Beyond retail markets, baksheesh is a pervasive social institution involving modest gratuities for minor services, such as carrying luggage or attending public restrooms; avoid budgeting rigid amounts, but plan for regular small cash outlays, using roughly 10 to 15 percent of total tour costs as a directional benchmark for full-day guiding rather than a mandatory tariff.

Photography is subject to formal legal boundaries established under a 2022 Prime Ministerial decree. While amateur photography of ordinary streets, public squares, and historic monuments is permitted, the law strictly prohibits photographing military facilities, police and security installations, government administrative buildings, foreign embassies, airports, the Suez Canal, bridges, power plants, and public water infrastructure. Pointing cameras at security personnel or critical civil infrastructure carries serious legal repercussions. In addition, when touring museums and ancient tombs, flash photography is prohibited to preserve sensitive antiquities and wall paintings. Always ask permission before photographing local residents.

The recommended period for travelling across Egypt falls between October and April, when seasonal temperatures become manageable for outdoor exploration. Within this window, the shoulder periods of autumn (September through November) and spring (March through May) deliver the most comfortable climate for sightseeing across Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan, offering pleasant daytime temperatures paired with cooler evenings. By contrast, the summer months bring intense, punishing heat throughout Upper Egypt and the desert interior, making midday visits to unshaded archaeological sites physically demanding. If you travel during warmer periods, schedule monument visits for early morning hours and maintain consistent hydration.

Travellers must also take the Islamic holy month of Ramadan into account when planning an itinerary. Because Ramadan follows the Islamic lunar calendar, its timing shifts each year and depends on official moon sightings, meaning prospective visitors should check current confirmed dates rather than relying on tentative calendar projections. During Ramadan, public life noticeably shifts: daytime operating hours for archaeological sites and museums are typically shortened or erratic, eating and drinking in public during daylight hours is avoided outside international hotels, and licensed bars close for the duration of the month. Evenings, however, become lively and festive after sunset as communities gather for celebratory meals.

Travel advisories for Egypt distinguish sharply between specific regional boundary zones and primary tourist corridors, and travellers should evaluate official government assessments with careful nuance. Search results and secondary security summaries from OSAC in 2026 indicate that the US State Department maintains Egypt at Level 2 ('Exercise Increased Caution'), with specific 'Do Not Travel' warnings designated for Northern and Middle Sinai due to terrorism, as well as the Western Desert unless travelling with a licensed tour company. Because this US rating is corroborated only secondhand through secondary sources rather than confirmed via a direct fetch of travel.state.gov, treat it as an indicative overview rather than an authoritative quotation.

By comparison, guidance from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), which was verified directly, provides precise geographic detail. The FCDO advises against all travel to North Sinai Governorate and within 20 kilometres of the Egypt-Libya border (excluding El Salloum). It advises against all but essential travel to northern South Sinai beyond the St Catherine-Nuweiba road (excluding the coastal resort strip), Ismailiyah east of the Suez Canal, most of the Western Desert (with named tourist-town exceptions), and the Hala'ib Triangle and Bir Tawil. Notably, major coastal resort centres—specifically Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, and Marsa Alam—are outside these designated risk zones.

Within major tourist hubs, official reports from OSAC document common street-level risks, including opportunistic pickpocketing and bag snatching in crowded bazaars, taxi fare overcharging, and verbal or physical sexual harassment directed at visiting travellers. Mitigate these everyday concerns by keeping personal belongings secure, using tracked ride-hailing services in major cities, and asserting firm personal boundaries. Because regional security dynamics and formal advisories can change, do not rely indefinitely on static summaries. Verify current safety assessments directly through gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt and travel.state.gov as close to your departure date as possible.