Travelling to Egypt in late November

We are traveling on a tour to Egypt, including Cairo, Luxor and Nile cruise.

We know we need either $25 or $35 US for visa when we arrive.

We will also us credit cards when we can.

We are thinking of using a Bank ATM, as we usually do when traveling, and get some Egyptian money. Particularly for any small shops and for tips.

We’ve been told that using $1 to tip is usually too much.

Does anyone have any advice or experience insights which worked for them?

Any other insights on traveling in Egypt would be welcome also, whether it be camel rides or going into pyramids that you might offer.

Thanks.

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We usually use a debit card linked to a separate and isolated account (not linked to our regular bank accounts,) that we fund just for the specific period we travel. That way if it’s lost, stolen or hacked all you lose is what is in that one account.

Every international place I’ve visited for the last twenty years has currency ATMs or currency exchange tellers at the entry airports. You can usually use a debit or CC at those spots.

It’s not a bad idea to bring some US$ with you in a safe place on your person for emergencies. Most places will gladly accept them… always check local laws on allowed amounts.

Thank you for your comments

We typical do exactly as you stated. As I am sure you also do, we only use a Bank ATM.

I spent a week in Cairo while my wife worked at the embassy. I wandered the city and was my own tour guide. One thing that really helped was I had different tourist points written down on a piece of paper, and then I had different denominations of the currency written down ie 10 LE 20 LE etc this way I could tell taxi driver to take me to one place or another and I will pay this much money all while pointing to my paper.
We took up riverboat down the Nile River stopping at all the Egyptian ruins it was quite the way to travel.
We stayed at the Cairo Marriott which is on an island in the Nile River. I would highly recommend to go there for cocktails or dinner and wander around. It’s a place to see and be seen seen.

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