Sharm el-Sheikh

Introduction

Sharm el-Sheikh is a popular beach holiday destination in the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Together with its more southern cousing Hurghada, it takes most of the beach holiday makers and has especially a lot to offer regarding nearby deserts and of course its aquatic activities like diving and snorkelling.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• The Red Sea - The biggest attraction in Sharm el-Sheikh is the Red Sea and the amazing life beneath the water surface. You can rent snorkel or diving equipment.
• Mount Sinai - Climb Mount Sinai, which is 2,285 metres high. It was here, according to the Bible, Moses received the Ten Commandments. Taking off in the evening you can enjoy the beautiful sunrise over the mountains after two to three hours of hiking. Mount Sinai is also known for the ancient Monastery of St. Catherine
• National Park Ras Mohammed - Visit the fascinating National Park Ras Mohammed, there is incredibly beautiful. Here are both experiences on land and under water.
• Glass bottom boat - It's a good experience to go with a glass bottom boat. Through the large glass panes in the bottom of the boat you get an excellent impression of life in the sea and experience the clearest water.
• Cairo and Pyramids - When you are in Egypt, one can hardly escape a visit to Cairo. To visit the pyramids is a magnificent experience, and a walk around Cairo city can certainly be recommended.
• Dahab - Dahab is a small and relaxing resort town 90 kilometres north from Sharm El Sheikh, just over one hour away offers a wide range of wind water sports as well as the famous Blue Hole.

Events and Festivals

Weather

The weather in Sharm el-Sheikh generally is warm to hot and usually sunny. Few days go by with rain and the best times for warm and stable (but not too hot) weather are from March to May and late September to November. Temperatures can hit 40 °C sometimes in summer (June-August) though it is rarely as hot as more to the south and inland desert areas of Egypt. Winters are nice and warm/mild, but with sometimes chilly evenings possible during mid-December to early February.

Getting There

By Plane

Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport (IATA: SSH, ICAO: HESH), formerly known as Ophira International Airport, is an international airport that, after Cairo International Airport, is the busiest airport in the country.
There are dozens of regular and charter flights with destinations including Ljubljana, Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Berlin, Riga, Copenhagen, Milan, Warsaw, Dublin, Venice, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Zürich, Geneva, Belgrade, Cairo, London, Kuwait, Oslo, Copenahgen, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Amman, Brussels, Budapest, Prague, Paris and Vladivostok.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

There are regular buses to Cairo (6 to 8 hours), Alexandria, Luxor and Hurghada, as well as west towards Dahab and the border with Israel at Eilat.

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Egypt Post is the national postal service in Egypt. Services are generally reliable, affordable though pretty slow, even if you send post domestically. International letters and postcards take days, if not weeks if send to the US or Australia. They do have express mail services though, but these are relatively expensive. Opening hours of post officies are mostly from 8:30am to 2:00pm or 3:00pm daily except Friday, when all of them are closed. The central ones might keep longer hours, generally until 8:00pm. You can buy stamps here, or at certain newspaper kiosks. In touristic areas, these are available at many shops as well. For parcels, it's much better to use international courier services such as DHL, TNT or UPS.

External Links