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

Naama Bay

Naama Bay is the heart of Sharm el-Sheikh. The main city centre and the first area to be developed into resorts and hotels. It has a beautiful beach, with promanade, with cafes for the hotels all along it. A nice place to enjoy the sea or people watch. Walking from there is the main Naama Bay Bazaar area which is also full of cafes, bars and night clubs.

Old Market

The Old Market area isnt so old really! But it is the main bazaar area of Sharm El Sheikh, with many shops selling Egyptian made products and crafts. You can also find other things for sale there, like home items, fruit and vegetables. Literally everything and anything. Be prepared to haggle! A lot!

Nabq

Nabq only came about in the last 5 years, it is now the newest section of Sharm el-Sheikh. It runs from near the airport North towards the Nabq protected area. Lovely beaches and lagoon in this part of Sharm el-heikh. Some good shopping and new bars and nightclubs also.

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.

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, Copenhagen, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Amman, Brussels, Budapest, Prague, Paris and Vladivostok.

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.

Sleep

Budget

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet access is easy to find and cheap. Most cities, such as Greater Cairo and Luxor, and even smaller tourist sites, such as Edfu, boast a plethora of small internet cafés. The price per hour is usually EGP 2-10 depending on the location/speed. In addition, an increasing number of coffee shops, restaurants, hotel lobbies and other locations now provide free wireless internet access. Free wi-fi (Mobilnil) is also available at modern coffee shops such as Cilantro and Costa Coffee, where you obtain access by getting a 2-hour "promotional" card from the waiter, and if you go into almost any McDonald's, you will have access to a free WiFi connection.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The international telephone code for Egypt is 20.

Egypt has a reasonably modern telephone service including three GSM mobile service providers. The three mobile phone providers are Mobinil, Vodafone and Etisalat. Principal centers are located at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia, Suez, and Tanta. Roaming services are provided, although you should check with your service provider. Be aware that using your home SIM card can be very expensive, especially when using internet services but also calling is much more expensive. Try to get a local SIM card for your cell phone instead. Also, it is possible to purchase tourist mobile phone lines for the duration of your stay, which usually costs around EGP 30.

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, FedEx or UPS.

External Links