Is it Safe to Travel Through Egypt?

I get asked by a lot of people, whether or not Egypt is a safe country to travel to. In short the answer is, yes. Egypt is actually very safe to travel to.

And, although it was a while back when I travelled there; 2012 to be exact, I found Egypt to be very hospitable and safe to travel through. If you have been following my blogs however, you would have read about one bad experience I had in Alexandria. In no way would I judge Egypt for this one bad travel experience, as I spent a good 19 days travelling around Egypt, from Cairo all the way down to Luxor and every place I travelled to, I never felt unsafe or threatened, not once.

Since travelling in Egypt in 2012, my father has returned solo; which was in 2014, and he had an even better time the second time around. So, there is definitely truth in the tale, when I speak of how safe it really is to travel to Egypt.

Of course, it goes without saying, that a smart traveller wouldn’t just simply book a ticket after reading this, and be on their merry way to Egypt – nothing is without precaution.

If you do make the decision to travel to Egypt, do speak to a travel agent. This is probably the most important piece of advice there is. Not only do you require specific visas (which are far easier to obtain through a travel agent), a travel agent can better advise on the safest places to travel in a middle eastern country. This includes, recommendations on the best tour group to travel with. You most certainly need a local guide in Egypt, and not just because of the language barrier. In a Middle Eastern country, being accompanied by a local guide, means you will always know what areas to stay in, or what ones to stay away from. Our guide was with Geeko Tours, and he was amazing. He knew when protests where happening, and where areas of conflict where, so he was able to tell us what parts of the city (particularly in Cairo), we should most certainly stay way from. I highly recommend you don’t travel through Egypt alone, or without a tour group.

There have been many a horror story of travellers entering Egypt alone, without a guide to meet them at the airport, and the misadventures of terrible stories start from there. From start to finish in Egypt, we had someone at the gate waiting for us, who was even on hand to obtain bags from the carousel, to assisting us through immigration and customs. All with ease and without stress.

I spent many an hour, both by myself and with my dad, wandering through different parts of the city; without a guide, in places I was told by my guide where it was good and safe to go. And these places were far from commercial, so don’t think just because you are with a tour group, that you will miss out on the grassroots experience of a country. If you specify what you want on the holiday with the travel agent – they will most definitely help you chose the right tour package for you, so you can have the most amazing, and safe experience in Egypt ever.