Where to Stay, Eat, and How to Move Around in Egypt: Luxury on a Budget

As you might know from my previous stories about Egypt (Cairo, Pyramids of Giza, Aswan, sailing day Aswan-Luxor, and Luxor) I’ve been to some places there. In short, after the cruise was over, we spent a couple of relaxing days in Luxor. After that, we took a bus to Hurghada and enjoyed a week at the Red Sea resort hotels. This is my last entry about Egypt in January 2022 and I will wrap up by telling a bit about accommodation, food, and transport.

Hotels

Due to access to the US banking system, and so credit cards, we came to Egypt with a budget of miles and points in our account. To be honest, my partner is an expert in those and you might want to read his article “These Travel Credit Cards Can Get You at Least $1,000 in Travel” to find out more details.

Here is a list of hotels we stayed in and their perks:

Ramses Hilton in Cairo is one of those tall hotels on the river Nile. It might get pretty loud up there, though on a clear day it has a nice view all the way to the pyramids. Also, if you have access to the Executive Lounge, you have access to all the food you need: breakfast, small lunch, and dinner. It was a buffet and the food was really great! They had a wide choice of Egyptian dishes, fresh fruit, and sweets. Staying there, we had an easy access to the Egyptian Museum and the Downtown are was a walk away. Overall, it was a great place to acclimatise and to figure out how things work in Egypt.

Hilton Pyramids Golf. Perks include the Executive Lounge buffet and a golf course just outside the hotel. I am not a golf player but had a nice two nights stay there. It was refreshing after dusty Cairo to have some fresh air and greenery around. I highly recommend getting a massage at “Dream Land Spa & Wellness Center” just next door to the hotel.

Tolip Hotel Aswan. We stayed there only one night and had the most beautiful sunset to watch over the Nile. We chose it because it was close to our cruise ship and was at a walkable distance to the city center.

Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa. This was my favorite hotel in Egypt. Straight on the shores of the Nile, offers an access to a secluded infinity pool and spa center with several saunas (I usually had it all for myself) for Diamond members. Oh, and at already great breakfast buffet they had a sugar cane juice machine! It is further away from all the tourist attractions and when we entered it we left it only after two days. The Nile was so relaxing and it was just a great break after the intensive three days of tours.

Sheraton Miramar Resort El Gouna. All inclusive hotel with an upgrade to a suite that had a dome and was decorated with Matisse paintings reproductions, bar with juice and the most important thing – two beach chairs in the balcony as it was a bit cold on the beach. Hotel’s territory was big enough to have long walks, the gardens had a lot of exotic flowers, and the beaches were nice and clean. It was another short stay-in before our next stop in Hurghada.

Hilton Hurghada Plaza. The upgrade was a whole apartment on the upper floor with a view to the Red Sea. This hotel was a bit too crowed, especially during breakfast. They have a variety of pools and a beautiful beach. It was a bit too cold and windy weather during our stay and it was a pity not to be able to swim every day. The hotel was just side by side with a shopping mall which had a supermarket. That was our secret place to get some souvenirs which were good quality for value. Also, we could easily explore the city within walkable distance.

Steigenberger Legacy was our cruise boat hotel. It was the first time on the Nile and so we included guided tours into our itinerary. You can read more about it on Aswan, sailing day Aswan-Luxor, and Luxor. But to sum up, the Nile and its shores were amazing. The tours were tiring. If you never tried it, well, it’s definitely an experience.

Restaurants

As I mentioned before, we had a great catering experience in the executive lounges. But we also tried some local places for food. Some of them were available on Uber Eats and it was easy to order to the hotels. I will list only the ones I liked, though.

GAD is a restaurant chain all over Egypt and it serves nice food, like shawarma, hummus, and kebab, to name a few. Also, fresh juice and smoothies were delicious. We tried a couple of locations and had good food in all of them. Also, they have affordable prices.

Makka restaurant in Aswan has left some nice food memories as well. They had tasty traditional Egyptian cuisine, including stuffed pigeons which I regretted ordering. I found it a very sad dish as there was not so much meat and the rice inside was too oily. The other foods were very fine, though.

Koshary El Tahrir in Cairo Downtown served a nice plate of koshari. Koshari is a famous traditional Egyptian dish that is made of noodles, rice, lentils, and chickpeas, then topped with a special tomato sauce. It sounds like a lot of going on there, but it tastes really good.

Getting by in Egypt on your own

One thing that was very useful before the trip was learning to read Arabic numbers. If you want to find your Uber in the streets of Cairo or make sure you are entering the right car, then it is a good skill to have.

There is always an option to take a taxi in Egypt. But, you need to negotiate a fair price, as they have local and foreign rates. And well, most of the taxi drivers don’t speak English. So, as it was the first time in Egypt (and it might be culturally shocking) we decided to stick to the apps. In Cairo and Hurghada, we used Uber. In Aswan and Luxor they have Kareem app for that. It worked pretty well and it was a clear price to pay. Unfortunately, the most drivers didn’t speak English either. Or didn’t speak at all. But for a change to the loud and intense streets I was more than okay with some silence.

Once or twice in Cairo, we took the metro line. The car was okay, not too crowded but I personally didn’t like it due to the starring. I would recommend going to the women’s only car to avoid that.

In between Luxor and Hurghada, we took GoBus Egypt. The bus was on time, there was air-conditioning, and it was interesting to see some of rural Egypt along the way.

Thank you

Thank you for reading as I really enjoyed writing down my Egypt stories. After three months of staying put, I am soon on to my next adventure. Will keep you posted.