All about Money and Currency in Egypt 

My pleasure!

THanks. I'm glad you found it useful. If you mean the best way of getting to Luxor from Cairo, it's by air. The flight is cheap and short. If you mean from the Red Sea, by private car and driver. It's about 4 hours from Hurghada. If coming from Sharm, by air and you'll have to connect in Cairo.

Baraka is perhaps the most classic and well known brand of Egyptian bottled water. The word baraka means blessing in Arabic. And having ice cold water available during or after a long hot day of touring in Egypt certainly is a blessing!!

I hope you made it here! and are having an amazing trip!!

Hey, Gonzolo. Your question about the tourist visa process for those arriving by cruise ship is a VERY GOOD ONE!! You have a few options... you can always get an e-visa online in advance (but make sure you get it directly from the Egyptian government's website and NOT from a 3rd party visa "helper"). But honestly the website can be a little buggy sometimes, and I advise nearly everyone to just wait until you get to Egypt to get a visa on arrival. But in the case of cruise passengers, you're eligible for a 48-hour transit visa (an immigration official will come to the boat to stamp passports and issue transit visas) that allows you to get off of the boat and explore Alexandria and/or Cairo for the day or even stay overnight in Cairo and go back up to the port in Alex the next day to give you more time here. Definitely Giza (i.e., the Pyramids of Giza) is the #1 site to visit, but I'd say the next one would be the Egyptian Museum (the GEM if it's open when they visit or the old museum in Tahrir Square downtown if it's not). That's where the most famous archaeological treasures are on display, and no one should miss that. Then after those Top Two sites, you can still squeeze in Coptic Cairo in the same day, if you get an early start and go the full day. Remember that all of those sites close at 5pm or 6pm, depending on season, so it's best to get an early start to maximize the day. Also, if you're coming down from Alexandria and going back in the same day, remember that it's 3 hours down and 3 hours back, so factor that in as well. Having lunch or dinner at a spot along the Nile would be a good way to incorporate in some quality time with the river too. But please don't do one of the cheesy river dinner boats. Do a nice dinner at a place in Zamalek overlooking the Nile and downtown to the east. Feel free to email me at John@EgyptTravelBlog.com if you'd like more advice.

Oh wow!! I had not clue it originated in Scotland. This is great trivia knowledge to know. Thanks for sharing. This also makes it all the more puzzling why people in England gripe sometimes about taking British Pounds from the Bank of Scotland. hahaha Next time I'm in London and they give me grief for having Scottish notes, I'll remind them that these are the OG pounds!! :-)

You're most welcome

Yep. Any video on currency valuation is always subject to information at the time of recording only. And sure enough, a few months later they floated the Egyptian Pound and it changed again. Now it changes daily by a small amount instead of being fixed.

Thanks so much, Enrique. Love ya right back! I hope you made it here and are having an amazing time.

♥ Never made it - soon Insha'allah! ☺@@TheEgyptTravelChannel

My pleasure, Nabil. :)

Yes, you can definitely bring cash with you to exchange at a bank once you arrive. Using your debit card to withdraw money from an ATM is the easiest way to obtain local currency, but if you're uncomfortable doing that, then just follow the rules for bringing and exchanging cash and you'll be perfectly fine. Don't bring in more than $10,000 worth of cash or cash equivalents without declaring it to customs on arrival (under $10k does not need to be declared, but I'd never recommend bringing in that much as a tourist anyway) and make sure to exchange it at a bank and get a receipt. Don't exchange with an individual.

Any tips are greatly appreciated.

From what I understand it does not matter, they operate in government fixed rate, wherever you go it is the same rate.

I have a WHOLE looooong blog post coming about that which is SUPER detailed. It's not quite finished yet though, but email me at John@EgyptTravelBlog.com if you want a copy of the draft for quick reference now.

Yikes! I'm not sure if you can, to be honest. If you exchanged it at a bank, you can try asking that same bank if they'll change it back for you if you still have the original exchange receipt. How much leftover cash are you talking about? I'll be in Norway at some point and would be happy to change it for you if you're still here.

@@TheEgyptTravelChannel Thanks for The reply. I got it sorted out. I would love to host you for a cup of coffee when you’re here.

⁠@@abusufyan5479how did you get it sorted out??? Did you go back to same Egyptian bank to convert back your money that was left over back to Norwegian krone ?

The best is a private car and driver. But it also depends where you want to go and how much patience you have. If you're going to a place like the Pyramids, you want to avoid both taxis and ubers because of the taxi jumpers (who can spot ubers too). If you're just going around downtown Cairo AND you don't mind waiting a while to get one AND you don't mind being given an automatic one-star rating if you're a foreigner paying with a credit card linked to your uber account, then you can take uber. The metro has gotten a LOT better too and is quite navigable, but not to the sites, just to various neighborhoods. It all depends on where in Cairo you're going.

Yes, some ATMs will accept foreign currency deposits and give you back local currency.

Most shops and restaurants accept Egyptian cash only, so depends on how much you are going to spend. All sightseeing places would only accept credit cards, so for that you don't need cash. You do need small notes for tipping, nothing is free in Egypt, at least not for tourists, even asking for directions, more often than not they expect a tip.

@@joseph_wei THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR RESPONDING!!:-) everything sounds clear and makes sense! Thanks:-) 😊 God bless:-)

Yes, 500 Euros for a week in Cairo and Giza only will be more than enough. If you don't want to use your credit or debit card for purchases and local currency ATM withdrawals as needed (which is highly recommended), then you can exchange Euros at any bank. Just make sure to get a receipt and only exchange in a bank, not with an individual.

Ah I never knew there was an Indian equivilent. But I do love me some Indian food too, so now I've got to seek this out and try it.

Yeah, I don't like the new bills. They're so much harder to fold, so they are much bulkier when you're stuffing them in your pocket.