Practical Information

Passport

Remember to check the expiration date of your passport if travelling internationally. Many countries require your passport to be valid for at least six months after the date of your scheduled return.

Visa

Egypt

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally need a visa to enter Egypt. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/egypt
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/egypt
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Egypt.html

If you are obtaining your visa online, please ensure you have a scan of your passport ready. The file size should be small and ideally saved as a JPEG or PDF otherwise you might not be able to load it on the visa application.

You will need to provide your host’s information on the application – please use the following details:

South Sinai Travel
79 Merghany Street
Cairo
Egypt
Telephone: +20 22418 7310
www.southsinai.com
salwa.ibrahim@southsinai.com

Please note, Egyptian officials have requested tourists carry a copy of their passport with them while in the country. Please also note, some prescribed medicines are controlled substances in Egypt.

Vaccinations and Health

There are no mandatory vaccination requirements. Recommended vaccinations are tetanus, typhoid, hepatitis A. Although not usually advised, other vaccinations to consider include rabies and hepatitis B.

Local Time

Egypt's time zone: Africa/Cairo (UTC +03:00)

Electricity

Egypt's electricity: Plug types C (two round pins, European standard) and F (two round pins) – 220V, 50Hz

Money

Egypt's currency: The official currency is the Egyptian pound (EGP), though US dollars are also widely accepted

ATM Availability

There are ATMs in many parts of Egypt and you can use Visa, Mastercard and Switch using your normal PIN. Credit cards are accepted in most hotels, restaurants and tourist bazaars. It is also possible to purchase larger items such as carpets with Visa, American Express and some other major cards.

There is no limit to the amount of foreign currency that can be brought into the country, and we do not recommend you pick up Egyptian currency prior to departure.

Money can be changed on arrival at the airport or at local banks/exchange offices. Any hard currency, including British pounds, euros and US dollars can be exchanged. Additionally US dollars can be used to pay in Egypt; however, you usually receive change in Egyptian pounds. Your tour leader can assist with exchanging money throughout the tour. When you leave Egypt it is possible, though not always easy, to re-exchange Egyptian pounds into foreign currency. It is easiest to try to budget wisely to avoid having too many Egyptian pounds at the end of your tour.

Extra Expenses & Spending Money

Optional excursions
Prices are per person and in US dollars as this is the most stable currency used in Egypt but excursions can be paid in any hard currency (including British pounds and euros). Payment cannot be made in Egyptian pounds. When booking and paying for these tours locally a three percent charge will be added for all card payments. The flight to Abu Simbel is to be requested with Exodus at the time of booking your tour. We will then check availability. Unless indicated otherwise, the below prices are based on a minimum of six people taking part and are subject to change. Please note that prices include entrance fees, guide, private transport and police permissions.

Cairo: (minimum six travellers) 

• Sound and light show, Giza US$48 Does not run everyday.
• Citadel and Mohamed Ali Mosque US$40
• Coptic Cairo including Coptic Museum US$38
• Trip to Sakkara and Memphis US$66
• Entrance fee to go inside Great Pyramids: US$30

Aswan: (minimum six travellers) 

• St Simone Monastery US$36
• Sound and Light show at Philae US$52
• Abu Simbel flight excursion: from GBP £396, US$435. The flight must be requested with Exodus at the time of booking your tour. If you do not request the flight at this time we cannot guarantee seats will be available if trying to book locally. Flight timings vary but the flight duration is approximately 45 minutes.  The length of time in the temples depends on the Egyptair flight schedule and is not controlled by Exodus. It should however be longer than an hour.
• Abu Simbel road excursion: from US$175 (book locally). Depart Aswan at approximately 4.30am for the 3hr 30min transfer to Abu Simbel. The temple visit itself takes around two hours. Depart at approximately 10am and arrive back in Aswan at around 1.30pm.
• Supplement for visiting Abu Simbel on Sun festival $32

Due to local regulations, guides are not permitted to enter Abu Simbel temple with you but will provide information outside, allow you free time to explore, and arrange a meeting place for afterwards.

Luxor: (minimum six travellers) 

• A.C.E Luxor Animal Hospital – closing time at 16:00 (time permitting) Free
• Sound and light show, Karnak Temple US$52
• Queen Hatshepsut’s temple US$18
• Entrance for additional tombs on the West Bank approximately US$18
• Additional Visit to the West bank – Mednet Habu Temple, entrance to Valley of Queens & Deir El-Medina US$45
• Dendarah & Abydos US$70-US$90 – for post tour accommodation

Tipping

Baksheesh is part of Egyptian life, and small tips are expected by most of the people working in the tourism industry (drivers, hotel staff, railway porters, restaurant staff etc). To simplify this process for our clients, Exodus has agreed with our team of tour leaders to recommend a tipping kitty for all trips to Egypt. Your tour leader will explain this at the start of the holiday, and will collect the suggested sum from those who wish to participate. Your tour leader will then take care of all the tipping on behalf of the group. While your participation is highly recommended, it is not compulsory. Tipping could be in USD / Sterling or Egyptian Currency according to the daily rate of exchange. Your leader can provide details of the distribution of the money as required. For groups of 12 or more clients, the contribution is suggested as US$65 per person. For groups of fewer than 12 clients, the contribution is suggested as US$70 per person.

If you feel your leader has performed well over the course of your trip, you may want to show your appreciation of their services. The sum you choose to give is entirely personal, but as a guide, about US$4 per person per day would be reasonable. The tipping kitty explained above is entirely separate from any contribution to the tour leader.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that have a positive impact on the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Learn more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• Local guides keep you well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels, restaurants, and other enterprises, and by championing locally produced food wherever possible.
• There is an option to have a Nubian dinner in an Aswan village where clients can have an authentic meal, interact socially and directly see who their money is going to.
• While in Aswan we visit Animalia House a small museum run by Mohamed Sobhi, a Nubian guide, and his family, who have dedicated part of their house to the traditions and history of Nubia.
• Read more about our other initiatives here.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively reduce waste; this includes eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles by providing refills for re–usable bottles.
• The payment of entrance fees to natural reserves and archaeological sites generates income which is used for upkeep and development of these important sites. In this trip we enter numerous ancient sites.
• Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices regarding working animals and wildlife viewing. Our animal welfare policy can be found here.
• We support A.C.E (Animal Care in Egypt) by giving our guests the opportunity to visit their centre. A.C.E. is a charity dedicated to stopping the suffering of animals in the most deprived communities in Luxor by providing free veterinary care and education to their owners.
• We rewild 100 square metres per passenger to compensate for all trip and flight emissions.
• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels with us.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: we do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: please bring a re–usable water bottle on this trip, also consider avoiding single-use hotel toiletries, which generate a large amount of plastic waste.

 

 

Important Information

Water safety

This trip includes time by a lake, river or sea, where there may be opportunities to swim. You should always seek local advice before deciding whether to swim. Open-water or wild swim spots should be treated with extreme caution. Information on how to keep yourself safe while swimming is shown here.

Binoculars and drones

We do not recommend taking binoculars or monoculars into Egypt as on occasion these have been confiscated either on arrival or within the country. Drones are also forbidden. 

In line with our ‘book and travel with confidence’ promise which allows you to cancel free of charge up to 42 days prior to departure, or transfer to another trip free of charge up to 21 days prior to your trip starting in country,  please be aware that this excludes ‘irrecoverable costs’. Details can be found here: https://www.exodus.co.uk/about-exodus/exodus-booking-conditions

For this trip the irrecoverable costs related to in-country operations are outlined below, if booking flight inclusive your sales agent will confirm the terms related to your international flights at the time of booking.

Flights   £109 / US$135 / €118 / AUD $177 / CAD $189

If you need to cancel your trip because you or a member of your party is diagnosed with COVID-19 or has received a request from the Government to self-isolate, you will receive a full refund less these irrecoverable costs.

This trip goes near an area deemed unsafe to visit by the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whose advice we follow when operating our trips. While our itinerary doesn’t go to these areas, you should familiarise yourself with your local government’s advice if you are planning any pre- or post-trip travel. Any independent travel to areas currently against your local government advice is entirely at your own risk and unlikely to be covered by your travel insurance.