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went to sharm a couple of years ago and bluddy hated it. non-stop hassle, didnt feel safe, kids were nearly dragged into a shop, horrible, horrible place. vowed never to do egypt again as theres so many lovely greek islands, and also turkey for us to try too.
however......... wife is now looking at some of the quieter parts after reading you dont get as much hassle. im not keen, as 'not as much hassle' to me doesnt sound my idea of a good hols :-/
as far as i can see, the only reason for us to go would be guaranteed sun in the winter.
any experiences of the other areas there? hurghada, dahab etc etc?
nice hot beaches, decent food to eat out, and friendly atmosphere are pretty much essential to us. are we right to consider it again or just bin the idea totally cos 'itll never be as nice as greece/cyprus'?
thanks
Greece and Cyprus are nice? Blimey. Why on earth would you want to go to sweltering, dirty, noisy, corrupt country for a holiday?
Scotland for me.
Hurghada is just as bad to be honest,never been to Dahab but consider El Gouna as a resort to visit, much nicer cleaner and not a building site.
Greece and Cyprus are nice? Blimey. Why on earth would you want to go to sweltering, dirty, noisy, corrupt country for a holiday?
cos we go for the heat, the lovely scenery, and dont mix with politicians 😀
Try El Gouna just down the coast from Hurghada, huge gated resort. No hassles. I found it a bit soulless but there's a fair bit inside the gated town. FWIW I wouldn't go back to Egypt in a hurry, there are nicer places with sun.
Hurghada is probably getting like Sharmski
dahab is supposed to be a bit more chilled, have a look at taba or taba heights
I went to Turkey last occasion I had for a summer sun holiday - we went to Kalkan and it was great, nice beach, nice town and no hassle but we didn't have kids at the time so was outside of school holidays and a bit quieter
if you like greece, go there again
Egypt, and all the African med the hassle is how they do business (its a bit of a game to them), its their way of life and you are in their country you either have to learn to deal with it or go somewhere else
Dahab is more chilled. We went there and the diving is great too. But it isn't much of a resort and the beaches are limited and it is still in Egypt and that would be the biggest off-putter for me. Don't you want a family holiday to be relaxing?
"non-stop hassle, didnt feel safe, kids were nearly dragged into a shop"
I'd avoid the whole of Nth Africa then, been to Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco and every where was the same, I fekin hated it and will never go back. Having my bald head constantly taken the piss of was tiresome plus 'jolley' market traders constantly saying 'lovely jubbly', 'Asda price'!!
Must admit went to Playa de las Americas in Tenerife last Nov as a last minute job,staying in one of the Parque Santiago villas and it's really been done up, was well impressed. Plus lots of bike hire places for a trip up the mountain 😉
I went to Dahab six years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, the locals were incredibly trusting (e.g. I wanted to buy a diving guide, but the shop owner didn't have the correct change (I only had large notes) - no worries he says, you take the guide and come back to pay me tomorrow). Beach quality will depend on where exactly you are, but our area was fantastic.
However, getting there does involve a drive across the Sinai desert and I wouldn't risk it at the moment.
What about France or Spain????
Never much cared for sharm either. Dahab tends to run around 20 years behind sharm so it is still fairly chilled out. El Gouna is so soul-less but it is hassle free. There are a few nice out the way resorts but you need to be a little more adventurous. I liked hurghada but relaxing it isn't.
Went to Dahab a few years back for a windsurfing holiday (2010 I think?) - right before the shark attacks and arab spring. Not sure I would go again. The hotel was nice and the windsurfing / sea / weather was brilliant but there was a general atmosphere about the place that put me off.....that and the requirement for armed guards at the gate of the Hilton we stayed in. I don't see things having got better since then either.....
Been twice to Nabq Bay which is a lot more relaxed and still fly to Sharm airport. It even has a promenade alongside the beaches and the lagoons. Great snorkelling and all that is good with Egypt. Only ever went into Sharm a couple of times and like you wouldn't go back. I would recommend the Coral Sea resort, both holiday village and the standard resort. Sharm is 20 mins by taxi.
The troubles have really hit Egyptian tourism. Even places like Sharm & Hurghada are quiet.
I go there probably a couple of times a year but never land based.
The quieter laid back places like Dahab & Marsa Alam are like ghost towns. It was actually eerie when our liveaboard pulled into Port Ghallib. There wasn't a soul about & all but a couple of the bars were open. All the shops were closed. The hotel we stayed in on the last day was empty apart from the twenty of us.
I honestly would look elsewhere for a land based trip.
vowed never to do egypt again
Stick with your first instinct! This is also my instinct about returning to Egypt, and don't plan on ever going back.
I did a big back packing trip Cairo/Alexandria/Oasis I forget the name of/Sahara/Hurghada/sharm/Dahab/Cairo and I don't want to see any of it again.
As others have said, Dahab is more chilled out, and I personally felt more comfortable there.
However, if it was there or no sunny holiday ever again, I'd just enjoy the cloud and rain somewhere else.
Try Croatia, Turkey, Greek islands as you say, plenty of other places.
Have been looking at Turkey this summer but I'm trying to talk the Mrs into going back to Crete. Went to Marrakech a month or so back which was awesome, but not exactly relaxing.