Is Egypt Safe For Solo Female Travelers?

The never-ending concern of whether us women feel safe traveling alone will forever linger. One of the most concerning destinations in media is Egypt. Should women travel alone to Egypt? It’s a subjective question, but after having gone there alone, I enjoyed my time so much there that I plan to return. Here’s my personal experience solo traveling to a place I was strongly advised to steer clear from.

General Safety Tips

General precautions for women traveling alone exist the same in Egypt as they do everywhere else. My biggest qualm with traveling alone here was the excessive catcalling. Yes, it happens just about everywhere in the world, but it was next level in Egypt. I was able to avoid the discomfort of these situations by having a guide with me who spoke Arabic, the local language. Though men didn’t care that I had a local guide, and continued to catcall me anyway, I at least had some form of defense and a bit of a safety net when my guide would shoo them off. Be prepared to ask if you are married a minimum of 900 times a day, and while it’s up to you on how you want to answer that, I said, “Yes” every time.

Aside from tuning out catcalls, I chose not to walk around alone after dark (with the exception of one night in Cairo because I wanted to try a restaurant). I stayed hyper vigilant at all times, and made sure to never be on my phone in public zooming in on Google maps. Don’t wear anything that’s going to draw extra attention (do as I say and not as I do, clearly, considering I’m wearing a gold jumpsuit in the above photo). Amazon has a lot of great options for conservative dresses.

Most notably, you might find yourself in some uncomfortable situations here and there in Egypt, whether it’s a pushy hawker, someone begging for money, or an overly-curious taxi driver. My best advice is to not let your guard down, and stay calm and as friendly as possible. Of course, say no if someone is incessantly trying to sell you something, but know that “no” sadly will be ignored if they think there’s even a chance they can squeeze a few dollars out of you.

To Guide Or Not To Guide

There are two places I’ve heard are notoriously difficult for women traveling alone to: India and Egypt. Having been to India, and not having had the best time there, I told myself if and when I go to Egypt, I would learn from all of the mistakes I made in India. For starters, I would stay in “nicer” places and have my own room, instead of finding the cheapest hostel. More importantly, I would hire a local guide, so as to never fully be “alone,” and have that comfort of someone who can help me navigate what is apparently a chaotic place.

Despite my typical spontaneity when it comes to traveling, I had almost every single minute planned in Egypt. I had a ride arranged from the airport in Cairo to my hotel, I actually had my hotels booked (sometimes I wait until the last minute). Above all, I hired guides ahead of time. I highly recommend hiring a guide for the pyramids. I hired a woman for my time in Cairo, and she took me to the pyramids. Sadly, I would not recommend her specifically. She was extremely impatient, and when I expressed interest in getting close to the Sphinx by the Pyramids, she suggested I just “zoom in on my phone to see it” because she did not want to walk. Lady, I don’t freaking live here and don’t know when I’ll be back; I’m getting up close and personal to the damn Sphinx!

My guide in Luxor, however, saved the day. He’s a qualified Egyptologist, and his knowledge paired with his hilarious personality, and not to mention, his sick photography skills, made for my best day in Egypt. We keep in touch to this day, and I highly recommend him to anyone traveling to Luxor.

I also booked a hot-air balloon ride over Luxor in the morning (well worth waking up at the ungodly hour of 3:30am), and I booked a Nile River Cruise in Luxor as well. Both of these were amazing experiences that I highly recommend.

Pro-tip: Students under the age of 25 get a student discount when entering particular sites in Egypt, such as most major temples and the pyramids. All you need is a student ID card, and some proof that you’re under the age of 25 (or some sweet talking).

What To Wear

Egypt is a conservative nation, and out of respect, there are some dress codes you should keep in mind while traveling through the country. Absolutely no bare shoulders; I don’t care how hot it is! Try to avoid anything with cleavage. Though I thought I had successfully done this, a button popped on my gold jumper when I was in Luxor, accidentally making it low-cut. I ended up finding a safety pin to attempt to keep it closed. It’s advised to not wear flashy jewelry. I primarily wore long-length dresses and skirts.

I brought scarves with me everywhere, because not only do they provide a cute pop of color to an outfit, they were readily accessible if I felt the need to cover up more (which I never really did since I, for the most part, stuck with the dress code). You can view the colorful scarves I bought here.

Where To Stay

This of course depends on which city you’ll be in, but during my time in Egypt, I booked Steigenberger Hotel El Tahrir Cairo and Steigenberger Luxor Nile Palace at Convention Center. I would recommend either of these based on location, but I would say the Cairo one lacked in amenities. Keep in mind that Egypt is extremely affordable, so splurging on a nicer place isn’t going to put a dent in your wallet the way it would in a city like Paris or New York. You can book a hotel with stunning views of the pyramids, such as Comfort Pyramids Inn which starts at $29/night or the newly-opened Marriott Mena House. I plan to return to Egypt this year, and I will be staying at Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza, Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at San Stefano, and Four Seasons Resort Sharm el Sheik.

Dining Alone

Is dining alone awkward in Egypt? From my experience, not in the slightest. Egypt portions were never served family style (with the exception of the one time I requested so because I got a big lunch with my guide in Luxor, as seen above). I was also pleasantly surprised by how incredible the cuisine was. Egypt is a vegetarian’s heaven, with falafel, fava beans (ful), and dips for days. Meat eaters will also find plenty of delicious eats here, but I gladly survived off of a vegetarian diet because they really do their veggies right. The national dish is koshari, and my favorite place to get it was at Abu Tarek Koshary Restaurant in Cairo, a spot the late-Bourdain visited. Koshari is a “don’t knock it ’til you try it” type of dish, consisting of rice, pasta, chickpeas, a spicy tomato sauce, fried onions, and lentils. It is an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plate of some damn tasty food.

Alcohol Consumption

It’s not that drinking doesn’t exist in Egypt, because it does. I saw wine on many menus, and saw plenty of tourists drinking beer. I personally chose to completely abstain from alcohol altogether in Egypt. I didn’t find it was necessary, and was more concerned with reaching early wake-up calls than indulging in some wine. Drinking isn’t extremely common, but most hotels will have a bar where you can have a few libations if you so choose, and many restaurants will serve alcohol. There’s a liquor delivery service in Egypt called Drinkie’s that is quite popular in Egypt.

Traveling Throughout The Country

Egypt is huge. It is the 12th largest country in Africa, and getting from Point A to Point B is quite the feat. There are three common ways in traveling throughout Egypt.

1. Overnight Sleeper Trains

These are extremely popular, and though I wasn’t against taking one, I found that the flight was cheaper (and MUCH quicker). A common route is taking the train from Cairo to Luxor, which takes approximately 12 hours. It can be booked here.

2. Nile River Cruises

A lot of travelers opt for a Nile River cruise, starting in Cairo and working their way down to Abu Simbel. I had very little interest in spending that much time on a cruise, so I chose not to do this. Wanting to still go on the Nile, however, I booked this tour to ride a felucca in Luxor, and it was quite magical. There’s also an option to do this in Cairo.

3. Flying via EgyptAir

This is what I did. Flights are frequent, fast, and affordable. If booked far enough in advanced, you can get a flight from Cairo to Luxor for $45. EgyptAir is part of Star Alliance, so. you can get points while doing so. I ended up getting a free upgrade to Business Class on my flight from Cairo to Luxor, and though it was only about 45 minutes in the air, I wasn’t mad about the extra legroom.

For other destinations, such as Hurghada, Sharm el Sheik, or Siwa, some folks might want to consider hiring a driver or simply booking a tour to guarantee legitimate transportation. It is NOT recommended to rent a car and drive yourself, as road and traffic conditions are chaotic in Egypt. Furthermore, there are a lot of security checkpoints. I was supposed to go to Hurghada, but due to last-minute time constraints, I had to cut my trip short where Hurghada got the boot (it’s why I will definitely be traveling back to Egypt!). I had originally hired a driver from Luxor to Hurghada, about a four-hour drive, and was told we had to leave early in the morning because there was a nationwide curfew after 6PM. Whether this was Covid-19 related or security-related, I am unsure, but it’s safe to say, hiring a driver instead of chancing it yourself is your best bet if you need to get somewhere by car.

So, Kaitlyn… Did You Have Any Unpleasant Experiences in Egypt?

Why, thank you for the thoughtful question. In fact, yes, I did. Before getting into my stories/rants, I would like to note that security in Egypt was quite high. While entering every hotel, cars got scanned for bombs and weapons, and when you physically walked through a hotel, you went through the equivalent of airport security. This was not unpleasant, just a different experience that I’ve personally had from anywhere else in the world.

Okay, now, for the good stuff. Though overall my time in Egypt was stellar, I had three experiences where I felt extremely uncomfortable.

Unpleasant Experience #1

I was at Khan El-Khalili Market. Listen, this place is extremely busy, allegedly one of the busiest bazaars in Africa, and it’s sheer and utter chaos. I was a little nervous about going, but I am super glad I did because it was an incredible experience. However, trying to leave this market was a nightmare. I couldn’t get a taxi for the life of me, and I was trying to connect to my phone to get Uber. Trying to connect to my phone in a market as busy as Khan El-Khalili, while also clearly being a tourist, naturally drew a lot of unwanted attention. A man came up to me pestering me to buy bread from him. I said no several times, and he got in my face and started screaming at me to buy bread. To be honest, I would’ve bought the damn bread, but I was too hesitant to even pull my wallet out at that point, so I finally just completely ignored him. I wasn’t really able to walk away due to where I was standing, and he continued and continued and continued, but due to my literal pretending he was not there, despite him being in my face, he finally walked away.

Unpleasant Experience #2

The second incident was actually leaving Khan El-Khalili after the above-mentioned incident. I finally hailed a taxi and got in as quickly as I could. Well, my driver was… interesting, to say the least. He, like just about everyone else I met there, asked me if I was married before anything else. “Yes,” is always the answer, by the way. You don’t need to prove what a strong independent woman you are for solo traveling to Egypt by telling everyone you’re there alone. I told him I was there for work and my husband was meeting me in Cairo the next day. He went on a tangent that my husband was “having fun without me at home” implying that my nonexistent fake husband was f*cking other women at home. I just smiled and didn’t say anything. He then goes on to tell me that he is unfortunate because he could never find a woman to marry him, which somehow led into a tangent about how crazy Cairo traffic is and how difficult it is to drive here. He then pulled over and said, “Come on, I want to see YOU drive in Cairo, come on.” I literally could not tell if he was kidding or not, but it definitely seemed like he was not. “I’m okay, I don’t want to drive,” I kept saying while nervously laughing. But he insisted and insisted and insisted, so, like the man forcing bread on me, I just stopped responding entirely until he let it go, which he finally did.

Unpleasant Experience #3

My third and final story was by far my most uncomfortable one. I had just ridden in a sunrise hot-air balloon over Luxor (a requirement), and as our balloon landed, I saw a donkey in the middle of a field. I snapped a quick photo. A young boy immediately appeared out of the woodworks asking me for money since I took a photo of the donkey. I had no cash on me, and being in the middle of a field in Luxor, there weren’t exactly any ATMs nearby. I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any cash.” This led the other tourists on the hot-air balloon to totally judge me (it’s fine, it happens) and eye-roll me. I did not know that taking a quick photo of a donkey would require a tip, but it was a lesson to be learned. Expect that NOTHING is free in Egypt; you will be expected to tip on anything you can possibly think of. The boy continued to follow me after I got out of the hot-air balloon, and as I walked back to the van to go to my next destination, he was literally pawing at the windows begging me for money. It was an uncomfortable, and frankly, sad situation, where there was unfortunately nothing I could really do.

Overall

In conclusion, is Egypt safe for solo female travelers? Well, that all depends. “Safe” means something different to everyone, and all of the things that make us unique (i.e. age, race, sexual orientation, gender, class, and more) can alter the definition of “safe.” For me, it was safe enough, as in I left unscathed, with great memories, and a strong desire to return. However, I believe a lot of this was because I quite literally played it on the safe side. I am a skilled and well-experienced solo traveler (Egypt was my 57th country), I didn’t drink, I stayed in once the sun was down, and I hired guides. Plus, as mentioned above, staying at a high-end hotel like The Four Seasons pretty much guarantees a higher level of safety since security is high.

Overall, I would recommend curious solo travelers to give it a go. Just go in with an open-mind, stay vigilant and hyper-aware of your surroundings, and try not to let awkward situations like the few I found myself in get to you too much.

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