Egypt Travel Safety Guide
- Country Egypt
- Guide Safety
- Reviewed 16 August 2026
- Length 2 min read
Credit Jorge Lascar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Last reviewed 16 August 2026
Egypt is a country where the travel advice is regional rather than general, and reading only the headline of it gives you the wrong picture in both directions. Large areas are ruled out. The places almost every visitor goes are explicitly not.
Where travel is advised against
The British government advises against ALL travel to North Sinai Governorate, and to within twenty kilometers of the Libyan border with the exception of the town of El Salloum.
It advises against all but essential travel to northern South Sinai beyond the St Catherine to Nuweibaa road, except the coastal strips on either side of the peninsula; to the part of Ismailia governorate east of the Suez Canal; to areas near the Sudanese and Libyan borders; and to the Hala’ib Triangle and Bir Tawil.
And where it is explicitly not
This is the half that gets lost. The same advisory covers the Western Desert, and then exempts, by name, Luxor, Qina, the Valley of the Kings, Aswan and Abu Simbel, along with several oases and the roads to them.
Those exceptions are most of the reason people come to Egypt. Read the restriction without the exception and you would conclude that the Valley of the Kings is off limits, which is the opposite of what the advisory says. The Red Sea resorts in southern Sinai and at Hurghada are separately described as generally low risk.
Terrorism, and ordinary crime
The advisory states that terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Egypt, and names security forces, religious sites, large gatherings and places frequented by foreigners among the targets. Security at major tourist sites is heavy and visible, and the checkpoints are a normal part of moving around.
Ordinary crime is a smaller problem than in many places: pickpocketing is described as rare. Scammers and touts in tourist areas are the common annoyance. Sexual assault has been reported, particularly at Red Sea resorts and sometimes involving hotel staff, and the advice includes not letting staff into a room unaccompanied.
Practical habits
The photography rules are stricter than most visitors assume and are enforced. They are the single most common way an otherwise careful traveler gets into difficulty here.
- Carry your passport or a copy, because checkpoints ask for it
- Women traveling alone are advised to take particular care at night and in taxis
- Use ride hailing apps rather than street taxis where you can
- Do not photograph military sites, checkpoints or the Suez Canal
- A permit is required for professional camera equipment, and drones can bring a prison sentence
- It is illegal to take or share images considered damaging to the reputation of the country
- Ambulance: 123
Keeping it in proportion
Millions of people visit Egypt every year, overwhelmingly without incident, and the itinerary almost all of them follow runs through the areas the advisories specifically exempt. The regional restrictions are real and worth respecting; they are not a verdict on the country.