If you love Turkey- would you go to Egypt?

[Batinhernightdress]

Years ago I asked on here about Turkey, (when things were a but more turbulent) lots said they wouldn't go but loads of advice and good comments so we went and had an amazing time- and have been back many times since.

Fancy a change and looking at Egypt, especially Sharm, possibly with a day trip to Cairo. Would you go, have you been?

Family with mid teens. Thanks.

I've not been to Turkey, but I've been to Egypt. Hotel in Sharm was okay. We flew to Luxor on our own and went to the Valley of the Kings. It was so hot I thought I might die. I also thought we might be murdered when our taxi driver took us down a back street and got out of the cab. I was petrified. Turned out he was getting his brother who spoke better English, so that was nice. At the Valley, many men offered to buy me from my boyfriend. I believe I was valued at 3 goats! And yes, I was dressed modestly. Arms and legs covered from top to bottom in non-figure hugging clothing. After a couple of hours of constant harassment at the Valley of the Kings we decided to head back to the airport early. Except they wouldn't let us in to the airport until x number of hours before our flight. So we were forced to sit outside on the floor and be further hassled for several hours. Then we were told we could pay for check in to be opened early. You can guess where the money went (ie not to the airline....) The Egypt Air plane looked like it was held together with duct tape. We didn't go on our planned trip to Cairo as I just couldn't face it. Going out of an evening was awful. Hassle all down the strip in Sharm. Bribery and corruption was rife. To top it off, I was very ill just after we got home and it lasted weeks. As we were boarding the plane there was a very ill lady lying across three seats at the back.

You couldn't pay me to go back to Egypt.

For some unknown reason I decided to visit Tunisa a couple of years later. That was also a mistake!

Been to both and both on my never go back list!
I did Egypt properly as have a family connection ( very high up connection) so should have been safe. Cairo= Men were absolutely awful ( I'm a typical fair blue eyed blond English female). If I wasn't with family or not close to them I was harassed. It's absolutely filthy, chaotic and everything involved bribes. I was lucky enough to be taken into the pyramids when closed to public through family bribing people for example. It is very corrupt!
Sharm red sea was nice but slimy hotel staff sucking up to guests and rather tacky in many ways. But we were in a nice clean hotel so the best part of my trip really. But it's essentially just a beach holiday with no culture.
Turkey I did as a girls holiday and was awful again men issues.
If you are happy to cover up , get dusty , have an upset tummy and deal with creepy men and crowds you may enjoy Egypt?
I am currently refusing to ever go back and I actually have family there!

Turkey is better than Egypt.
Egypt is too much hassle.

Just reading this as a person who loves to travel and loves countries and culture and exploring, I mean Egypt sounds bloody horrendous.

I watch Maryjane byarm. She travels around and YouTubes it and is determined to go round all the countries in the world. She has been to Egypt numerous times and I have never seen anything remotely terrible in her videos.
I have heard of her bad experiences however in Morocco and India and being constantly harassed. She said everyone in Morocco is constantly begging and charging foreigner's more. I've read stories and watched videos of Women saying they had to lock themselves in the hotel rooms and Indian men just come banging on the door demanding to be let in. And i know rape is rife in India. So shocking. I've even heard of hotel staff being paid by men to let them know which room has foreign women in. So bloody awful.

But on here, and not just this thread, Egypt sounds dire and I would never go.

I have read some truly rotten and scary experiences about Egypt on other threads. Some things I just cannot believe.

Got a couple questions....

Is there water system that bad, that even just a small droplet from the shower or handwashing can leave you extremely sick and unwell???? I suppose we are very lucky, thank God to have a good filtration system here in the UK...

Do people just freely abuse and hurt stray animals? LIKE, IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE DAY START BEATING UP A DOG?

Can you not go for a nice wander round markets and not be bombarded by people trying to force you to buy stuff for clearly high prices?

At any point did you feel particularly scared? Like of the men and their behaviour?

How did you manage a stomach bug, what water did you drink to get By? How did you all cope on a plane with several people having diarrhoea.

Bloody Portsmouth in a thunderstorm with everything shut sounds brilliant compared to these wretched experiences in Egypt.

I went to Egypt once - never want to go back although I'd love to see the pyramids and valley of kings. Our resort was lovely (didn't get sick) but the hassle outside the resort from men was something else. I am pretty well travelled and have lived in other countries by myself including China so am generally comfortable with other cultures. We went to buy some beach kit one day and i felt scared infront of my 2 kids in a shop when 2 guys tried to push me into the back room of their shop! We (including DH) went out one to a nearby town I was very modestly dressed was constantly stared at, particularly bust area.

I've just booked egypt. Hotel looks amazing and we have no plans to leave there for the week.

I've been to Turkey with a female friend and i felt uncomfortable. Men tried to kiss me and drag me into shops. There was 0 health and safety and 100s of stay dogs begging for food and fighting. Would go back with my partner and give it another go but wouldn't go again without a man.

I dressed appropriately I still got hassled constantly. It's nothing to do with how you dress. Its the only place I've ever been where I felt I needed a man on my arm.

I went on an organised boat trip and the photographer wouldn't leave this poor 15 year old girl alone. Her parents said something a couple of times and there was nearly a bust up.
He just had no comprehension that trying to get 15 year old to do sexy poses and flirting with her was out of order.
The man in charge of the trip had to warn him to stay away in the end.

Absolutely vile place.

Never been to Turkish resorts (though I liked Istanbul) but Sharm really is a dump. That said some of the hotels are nice and if you choose wisely and are happy to stay put it could be allright- the snorkelling and diving are excellent if you’re into that.

but doubt I would ever go back. I recall venturing out without my xdp - I lasted about half an hour.

Oh and I don’t know a single person who has been to sharm and not got ill. In my case it was at the airport on the way back. Worst travel experience of my life.

Oh my goodness how awful. I really want to visit Egypt but seeing any kind of animal abuse would literally ruin the trip for me and would make me want to get the next flight home. I guess i'll never get to go there which is such a shame 😢

I’m on a holiday forum and almost every post about Egypt is about how sick people have been / how awful the men are / how unsafe they felt. It’s completely put me off. One thing that seems really apparent is the difference in hygiene standards, even where a hotel is supposedly 5* - people have reported coming down in the morning very early and seeing the staff peeing into the pools when they think no one is watching and / or brushing last nights vomit into the drains at the pool. Really grim.

Do you have mid teen girls or boys? If girls I personally would not take them to Sharm.

In the last 10 years I’ve been to Egypt three times and Turkey 6 times. I always feel comfortable exploring around Turkey but much less so in Egypt. I found the harassment of tourists in Egypt overwhelming but the resort was very nice which is why we went 3x. I’m happy travelling around, even on my own, in Turkey.

I've been to Marmaris in Turkey and would return, the same goes for Sharm in Egypt. However, I wouldn't ever return to Hurghada, it was the worst holiday I've ever been on. I'm black and some locals and certain tourists treated me as though I was a spectacle at a zoo. Rude beyond disbelief.

Sharm used to be a lovely laid back dive resort but it is hideous now. Brits on tour vibe. I wouldn’t recommend it unless that’s what you like.

I have only been to Turkey twice and loved it. It wasn’t like Egypt at all - yes there is obvious tourism but it wasn’t like Benidorm! Sharm is!

If you want this kind of vibe my personal choices having been were Istanbul (love Istanbul) and Marrakech ( loved this too) - yes there is a bit of the 'hassle and sell' factor in both but it felt in good humour- didn't feel threatening and both were clean. Wasn't ill in either in fact had some of the best food I've had anywhere in the world in both- Marrakech in particular had outstanding meals .

I didn't get ill in Bodrum either or Olu Deniz- both lovely in different ways if you want a beach resort. Egypt is a different kettle of fish- even staying at a 5 star (it def wasn't) at least 50% of guests were ill and the complex had run out of the tablets they give for this and no chemists for miles and miles. When we came back we all apparently had amoebic dysentry .

I've been to Egypt many times and I love Luxor, but the main tourist resorts like sharm el sheikh are horrible and the complexes could be anywhere in the world. I've been to Cairo, and it's a fascinating place. My daughter also lived there for a year and lived it. She now lives in Turkey with her Jordanian husband and while she is very happy there in some respects, the level of racism towards both of them, but her husband in particular, is really very difficult.

Although tourists do get harassed anywhere in Egypt, and it can be irritating at times, people have always left us alone if we've told them firmly we're not interested with a polite smile. I have to say that I've always felt incredibly safe walking round Luxor at any time of the day or night, and it wouldn't worry me walking around late at night on my own, whereas I wouldn't walk to my local shops alone after dark in my part of London.

A lot of people get upset stomachs in Egypt but it's not inevitable and in six or seven visits none of us was ever really I'll. apart from avoiding salads etc, I think the most important thing is to use hand sanitiser religiously every time you touch money - the notes are really filthy and covered in bacteria.

There are some lovely hotels in Luxor and I can't think of anywhere else I've ever been where there is so much to see. Cairo is an easy day trip by plane, and Aswan and Abu Simbel makes a fascinating two or three day trip.