Is it safe to return to Egypt?

Is it safe to return to Egypt?

With tensions easing, is it time tourists considered returning to Egypt? Richard Spencer reports

"Part of the glory of the temples of the Nile Valley is their romantic atmosphere, as you watch the shadows lengthen on these extraordinary historical survivals in their glorious settings. They are much easier to appreciate when not overrun by tour parties" Photo: AP

The magic of Egypt is still there. The palm trees swaying in a warm breeze as the Nile snakes through its green, desert-surrounded valley, the sun setting on the Temple of Karnak, the Red Sea and its bright shoals of fish: all have the same appeal as ever. But how easy is it to experience the magic, after the revolutionary chaos and death of the past few years?

This summer, I spent an idyllic four days recuperating from a busy year in the historic, and now beautifully restored, Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. It was July, the lowest of Egypt’s low season, with daytime temperatures hovering around 105F (40C), but that is how, perhaps unusually, I like it. It is a dry heat, unlike the sticky humidity of the Mediterranean coast, and it makes the cool of the swimming pool, perched on the hilltop overlooking the river, and the balmier evenings all the more pleasant. But most people have different tastes and, more importantly, few are daring to come to Egypt at all at the moment. One or two other families or couples came and went for a day or two, but it felt at times as if we had the place to ourselves. Sometimes my family and I were alone in the place apart from the staff.

The glorious Old Cataract hotel at Aswan. Photo: Sofitel

It’s a shame, but understandable. Egypt has been in turmoil for the past three and a half years, the Tahrir Square revolution of February 2011 giving way to street demonstrations, a coup in summer last year, and an explosive act of violence when the army and police cleared two protest sites in Cairo, killing a thousand people. Since then, there have been sporadic terrorist attacks, mainly in northern Sinai but also aimed at police checkpoints and buildings elsewhere. This is not a normal backdrop for a relaxing holiday.

Does that mean you should not visit, though? It is up to everyone to make up their own minds, of course, but there are pros as well as cons. The first two “pros” are obvious: prices are cheap and visitor numbers are lower.

We paid less than £100 a night for a beautiful double room at the Old Cataract, perhaps Egypt’s most famous hotel, once host to Agatha Christie (Death on the Nile), Lord Mountbatten and other notables from Egypt’s semicolonial heyday. Omar Sharif calls it his favourite hotel, in his favourite city. If you want ultra-style and luxury, now is the time to go. More ordinary five-star hotels can be had for less than £50 a night in places such as Luxor, though rates are beginning to pick up in Cairo as businessmen start, cautiously, to return. In the Red Sea resorts, “all-in-one” packages, popular with divers and winter sun seekers, are always good value, but in the resort hotels there are also good bargains to be had.

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The crowds are far fewer. Part of the glory of the temples of the Nile Valley is their romantic atmosphere, as you watch the shadows lengthen on these extraordinary historical survivals in their glorious settings. They are much easier to appreciate when not overrun by tour parties.

It is also true, as the travel companies and government promotional bumpf will tell you, that most of the heavily visited tourist areas are a long way from “trouble”. The Red Sea resort area around Sharm el-Sheikh – but not Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba, farther up the Sinai coast – is now deemed safe by the British Foreign Office and its main European counterparts.

Luxor and Aswan, the two main bases for Nile Valley tourism, are peaceful and reasonably well protected. There have been no recent repeats of the massacre of tourists by jihadists at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor in 1997. Gamaa Islamiya, the group responsible, subsequently laid down its weapons, and the main terror groups now operating in the country say they are targeting symbols of the military-backed regime, not civilians or tourists. There was one recent bomb attack, in February, on a bus in Taba in South Sinai, which killed three South Korean visitors and the local driver. But that seems to have been a one-off, targeted because it came over the border from Israel.

Diving in the Red Sea (Photo: AP)

It would be wrong to say, though, that visitors coming now would notice no difference from five years ago. There is, generally, a higher security presence, for example on the road to Cairo airport. Most of the places where there is still tension are ones tourists are unlikely to visit – but it is still palpable, particularly on significant anniversaries, around Tahrir Square, which is home to one of Egypt’s “must-see” sites, the National Museum. The museum itself, which was partly looted during the revolution and whose grounds were used as a makeshift prison for a while, is protected by armoured vehicles and barbed wire, which makes visiting an unnerving experience. The men at the entrance are not exactly versed in customer relations, either.

Read more: Giza museum being built at pyramids in Egypt

The lack of business, particularly in a country where tourism is such an important revenue-earner, has also had a knock-on effect. The level of hassle from tour “guides” and other touts in Aswan was not as bad as I expected, considering how desperate many people are for business. I was told there had been attempts to keep this problem under control. But it is undeniably an issue at the pyramids at Giza, where “guides” can leap into your taxi on the approach roads and demand to be employed. For the pyramids, if nowhere else, first-time visitors without a local escort would be well-advised to join an organised tour, booked through a hotel, local travel agency or tour operator.

The Nile (Photo: AP)

Crime rates generally have ticked up, though from a relatively low level, but no article about Egypt should pass without a mention of the risks of sexual harassment for women, particularly, but not only, when walking in urban areas without a male companion. Areas around Tahrir Square have an especially bad reputation, and should be avoided when there are crowds, during festivals and holidays, and, of course, during demonstrations.

It goes without saying that venturing into local politics is not advised. But it is Egypt’s history and geography, rather than its difficult politics, that attract most visitors, and these remain as spectacular as ever. The allure of the sands – whether seaside or desert – continues to draw us in.

Is Egypt safe? 

Dominic Scott and family enjoyed a trip to the Red Sea in Egypt

Two recent visitors talk to Lizzie Porter about their trips

Dominic Scott

Dominic Scott went to a resort in Sharm el-Sheikh for two weeks with his wife and children at Easter. Although the family normally opts for self-catering holidays in Europe with lots of cultural day trips and sightseeing, Dominic found the expansive resort turned out to offer “the most genuinely rejuvenating holiday we can remember”. The family found the hotel to be “immaculately clean”, the staff, “very friendly and attentive” and the guaranteed sunshine “lovely”. Dominic Scott and family enjoyed a trip to the Red Sea in Egypt

Although Foreign Office warnings about travel in Egypt at the time made them think hard about cancelling their holiday, the Scotts felt that they made the right decision going to Sharm el-Sheikh: “Some research convinced us that Sharm would probably be fine, and indeed that was the case when we arrived. It [tourism] is such a huge source of revenue for the country you do feel like they take security measures very seriously, but it does leave you with a feeling that everything is a bit policed and locked-down.”

While he and his family enjoyed the resort, they were initially disappointed that they could not take advantage of excursions such as stargazing, because all trips outside of the peninsula had been cancelled.

Dominic also said that there were instances that highlighted the constraints ordinary Egyptians encounter. He explained that when the underwater dive photographer from a scuba trip needed to go back to the hotel to drop off a photo disk, he had to be met at the gate, as no Egyptian nationals are allowed through unless they are employees with ID. “Little things like that are a constant reminder of what the country is actually going through, and you do feel like a bit of an 'I’m alright jack’ drinking a beer in your all-inclusive. However without the revenue from tourism I know Egypt really would be in a much worse state.”

Nadia Rafi

Nadia Rafi stayed in the Naqb Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh with 10 other members of her family in August this year. The family went for a fortnight, with Nadia joining for the second week.

The group was able to go on excursions, and Nadia told Telegraph Travel that her family felt safe when doing so. “We all went quad biking in the desert and again felt completely safe. You’re in one big group with all different nationalities and the guides were very good at their job.” Although she did see a very high security presence outside the resort, particularly on a trip to Mount Sinai (an area to which the Foreign Office now advises against all but essential travel), where the group passed through “numerous heavily armoured security check points”, she added that she would “rather there be that much security than none at all”.

Nadia, a creative director of a beauty brand, said she found Naama Bay “incredibly fun with the lively shisha bars”. Although she was approached by market vendors when out in Sharm el-Sheikh, she always felt safe and “a polite, firm no made them move on”

@http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africaandindianocean/egypt/11074325/Egypt-travel-advice-is-it-safe-to-return.html