Going to Egypt next week

Scotty123

Scotty123

Scotty123

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I booked a holiday to Egypt today, going on the 11th. Not my first choice but I was nagged into it :p. Going to Sharm.

I've been doing some reading online, Foreign Office etc and there was a thread not too long ago on here I've read.

I think my biggest worry is getting a nasty tummy :eek:. Think I'll be buying lots of soap and not putting my fingers in my mouth! Defintely won't eat out, only in the hotel (all inclusive) as hygiene probably isn't their strong point.

What to wear seems an issue as well. Sure in the hotel and grounds anything will be fine, but perhaps not shorts outside the grounds. The weather is in the mid 30s and shorts are a must! :(

Has anyone else been? Any advice?
 
Be careful about ordering drinks with ice. Although the water should be bottled they will sometimes just freeze tap water. A few people I know have been caught out by this.
 
I had sharm booked for August but cancelled due to being told we would have to stay in the resort.

Did you have any plans to venture out? We were told it was an 8hour coach drive or a 1 hour flight to see pyramids but at the cost of £180 for the flight.

Don't have ice in your drinks either.
 
sniffy said:
Be careful about ordering drinks with ice. Although the water should be bottled they will sometimes just freeze tap water. A few people I know have been caught out by this.
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Hm yes that's a good point. Bottled water to brush my teeth with as well! We opted for the Hilton as it seemed decent on Traveladvisor and a good price. Also hoping we can 'trust' the brand :D.
 
I went to Cairo for nearly 4 weeks and my tummy was fine, probably lucky though :) My girlfriend lives there and said that it wasn't a problem wearing shorts and tshirt.
 
Clov!s said:
I had sharm booked for August but cancelled due to being told we would have to stay in the resort.

Did you have any plans to venture out? We were told it was an 8hour coach drive or a 1 hour flight to see pyramids but at the cost of £180 for the flight.

Don't have ice in your drinks either.
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Hm not sure about venturing out. I think I'd rather stay and be safe in the resort haha. Certainly not out of Sharm, however.
 
I went to Egypt weather was at 50c. Just make sure you don't make the same mistake i did when I was a kid and walk barefoot to the pool lol. I reccomend tank tops, t-shirts, shorts and slippers and 5 bottles of water before you leave the hotel lol :D
 
Depending on what star rating your Hotel is take some one set of jeans or three quarter length shorts. I went to Hurghada down the coast and half way though the week the main restaurant started turning people away in shorts, this was stated by the entrance but they never in-forced it till half way though the week. Our hotel was new and all water was purified, but never drank out of the tap always bottled.

I don't no whether Sharm is the same as Hurghada but we went in August and it was full of Eastern Block families who would just push in at any opportunity in the restaurants, you make a line they make a new one in the opposite direction.
 
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I'm going to the Sharm Hilton (sharks bay) in August as well. Went last August and over the Christmas and new year period.

When are you going?

Ask away about Egypt and the hotel!

We had those anti bacteria hand wash things and didn't have any issues. They put a 2litre bottle in your room every day for brushing teeth etc....

We ot friendly with one of the guys who works there and he showed us the ice machine doesn't use tap water and cleans it as its produced. I'd take some Imodium just encase though.

Quad biking is a must, there is a rep thy visits the hotel and it's only about £20 each, starts at 4pm as well and lasts till about 8pm so you won't miss a days sun or a meal.

The hotel is split into two parts - the original hotel and the new build. The new build is much nicer in our opinion. We actually pay more to get a deluxe room which is bigger and means you'll be over in the new part.

Check out the all inclusive Italian as well, you have to phone up and book but it's all included.
 
What about prices? As I said it's all inclusive but I am wondering how much cash to take. Doubt I'd buy anything outside of the hotel food and drinks-wise.

Maybe presents, who knows. Generally, things are cheap?
 
Peerzy said:
I'm going to the Sharm Hilton (sharks bay) in August as well. Went last August and over the Christmas and new year period.

When are you going?

Ask away about Egypt and the hotel!

We had those anti bacteria hand wash things and didn't have any issues. They put a 2litre bottle in your room every day for brushing teeth etc....

We ot friendly with one of the guys who works there and he showed us the ice machine doesn't use tap water and cleans it as its produced. I'd take some Imodium just encase though.

Quad biking is a must, there is a rep thy visits the hotel and it's only about £20 each, starts at 4pm as well and lasts till about 8pm so you won't miss a days sun or a meal.

The hotel is split into two parts - the original hotel and the new build. The new build is much nicer in our opinion. We actually pay more to get a deluxe room which is bigger and means you'll be over in the new part.

Check out the all inclusive Italian as well, you have to phone up and book but it's all included.
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I am going on the 11th of June :).

Staying here http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_..._El_Sheikh_South_Sinai_Red_Sea_and_Sinai.html
 
Scotty123 said:
What about prices? As I said it's all inclusive but I am wondering how much cash to take. Doubt I'd buy anything outside of the hotel food and drinks-wise.

Maybe presents, who knows. Generally, things are cheap?
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It generally works out that £1 equals 10 Egyptian pounds. There is a shop on site for snacks and things like Pringles, sweets, lilos and so on. All about the same as English prices.

There are a row of shops right by the resort that are safe and a few bars, drinking and eating out is pretty cheap. Gifts etc... Are quite cheap, my GF bought her sister some jewelery and although I don't know if it was real silver like they said it was (did have all the correct markings) it was well priced and sold on weight. I think she got 2 rings for about £25.

We went to Nama Bay a few times to eat at the hard rock cafe but you could easily go for a week and spend less than £50. We took about £100 each per week and that included money for stuff at the airports, flights, eating out, gifts etc...
 
Scotty123 said:
I am going on the 11th of June :).

Staying here http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_..._El_Sheikh_South_Sinai_Red_Sea_and_Sinai.html
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Different Hilton then, there are three and the staff mix and match at each one, we spoke to them about the other hotels and they said they are very similar.

Do quad biking, Nama Bay is the town in Sharm, it's safe but annoying to visit as people can tell your English and pester you to go in their shops and stuff. It became a bit of a pain but worth tone trip out for some different food and to get gifts.

No issue with shorts and t shirt outside of resort, any bits of Sharm we went to were safe and never felt worried. The entire area is reliant on tourism so it's totally different to the issues that have been going on in other parts of the country.

I avoided seeing the pyramids as I hate flying and the coach journey was too long, didn't feel like I missed out on anything and just stayed mostly in the resort and relaxed.
 
Scotty123 said:
Might just say 'russki' :D. I think that means Russian ...

I've been to Turkey before and it's annoying 'come into my shop!'.
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I tried then whole speak a bit of German, avoid eye contact and pretend your don't understand but they can tell your English, you could tell who was Russian and German and they went up to them speaking the correct language. It's not a major issue but it became a bit tiresome and wore us out after a few hours. It's worth going there to get your gifts and a nice meal and it's not in any way unsafe. Plenty of outside cases, shisha bars and nightclubs if that's your thing.
 
Not as bad as you think, i've been 3 times now, each time I stayed in Nabq Bay.
Nabq Bay for me, is the best bay to stay in. Naama is great if you want to go out every night and party, since it got hard rock cafe which turns into a club, tgi fridays which turns into a club, and pacha night club plus others as well.

However, Nabq is now the up and coming bay, with tgi fridays most recently opened up, and a hard rock cafe in the process of being built. It does have some night life, with a beach party that goes on pretty regularly, called pataya. You can chill out there during the day if your hotel does not have it's own beach, and it turns into a party pretty much at night time.

Food outside your hotel is good. As said above, just don't ask for ice in your drinks.
I didn't do any trips outside of sharm el sheikh, though I have done quad biking before, and I enjoyed it.
You can go out and about with shorts on, and have your top off no problem.

I'd recommend going to soho square, it's in sharks bay, and is part of the savoy hotel. It's the only place you will go to, where the shop owners will not pester you, as they have been paid by the owners of savoy not to do so. It's got some cool stuff inside, such as the ice bar, where basically everything inside is made of ice, from the seats to the bar area. It's an experience to go in and have a drink. There are other stuff to see as well, but ice bar was highlight for me.

Well, you should enjoy it, it's great weather, locals are very friendly, although can get a bit annoying after a while. And best part, is it's only like 10-15 mins drive away from airport!
 
Have been to Sharm a lot. On the dodgy tummy thing, most people with issues get it through dehydration rather than dodgy food. Make sure you drink a LOT of water - you don't appreciate how much water you lose in dry desert heat.

Symptoms of food poisoning are very similar to that of dehydration.

As above, use bottled water even to brush your teeth, and watch out for ice in drinks.
 
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