Egypt holiday season 2021: when is the best time to go?

The Red Sea is again knocking on our "where to go" lists. Therefore, we analyze the season in Egypt: when is it better to rest so as not to freeze (and this happens).

A trip to Egypt is waiting for the hot sun, the warm Red Sea and all the delights of the climate that is so lacking in Russia. But is there always a beach season here? And if not, when is it better to go on vacation to Egypt?

I will answer all these questions in the article. Let's find out what to expect from Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh in different months, and if there is a "low" season at all.

Start and end of the season in Egypt

Conventionally, the season in Egypt is divided by months into:

• Cool - from November to March
• and "hot" - from April to October

Even in cold months the water temperature in the Red Sea does not drop below + 20 ° С - and this year the winter in Egypt is surprisingly warm at all with + 22 ... + 23 in the water! - so in theory you can swim all year round.

Remember your ideal three months: May, October, and November. This is the best time to travel to Egypt.

Although in general it is always relatively warm here, these months are the high season for holidays in Egypt. April is not yet hot enough, summer and September are too hot. From December to the end of March, there is a low tourist season, and there is a good reason for that: the khamsin wind blows from the desert, which turns + 25 ° С on the thermometer into + 15 ° С by sensations. However, tourists from Russia are not afraid of this, many of our holidaymakers come here to relax in the off-season.

I traveled around Egypt in November and December: during the day I was happy about the absence of stuffiness, which I do not like so much, and in the evenings - a pleasant fresh breeze. The locals wore hats at this time.

Can you fly to Egypt now?

Can. This is one of those rare countries that are now open to Russians. However, you will have to show organizational skills: it is easier to fly to Egypt on your own.

You can read my text about an independent trip with all the details about traveling around the country in the new conditions, or you can immediately look at the tickets on the search engines:

• Aviasales
• Skyscanner

Direct flight to Cairo from Moscow and then to the Red Sea by bus? Or a connecting flight in Istanbul, but to Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh? It's up to you to decide - I chose the second option, BUT IT IS UNLIKELY FOR YET, flights from Russia to Turkey were closed until summer (but you can try to fly with a transfer in Minsk or still search through Istanbul, suddenly there will be enough seats!). We book a hotel on RoomGuru - and now your individual tour is ready.

To enter Egypt in 2021, you need a PCR test with an expiration date of 72 hours. Visa upon arrival in Sharm is free, but in Cairo and Hurghada it does not work - they will take, as usual, $ 25 per person.

Update.
There are tours to the Red Sea. Not the most convenient, with a flight only to Cairo and a further 5-7 hour bus transfer to the resorts, but there is! Look and select for your dates on aggregators:

• Travelata
• Level.Travel
• Onlinetours

Weather in Egypt by months

If you paint the weather in Egypt in degrees each month, you get something like this table.

When to fly to Egypt?

* average temperatures are indicated

Red columns - too hot

Blue columns - cool and sandy winds

It turns out that in Egypt there are 5 comfortable months of the year when it is good to relax there, go on excursions and swim in the sea. Let's now figure out: how will rest, say, in January differ from rest in May - after all, according to the temperatures from the table and Russian standards, the country is always warm!

Egypt in December, January and February

Despite the + 23 ° С according to the forecast, take sweatshirts and jeans with you for the evening in Egypt in winter.

What you need to know about winter Egypt?

• Wind is the main enemy of a beach holiday. If it blows out, then so that there is sand in the teeth, and blows the umbrellas on the beach.
• It's cool outside in the morning and in the evening after sunset - but at lunchtime it's so hot that you can manage to burn out in the sun. Provided there is no wind.
• In Sharm El Sheikh, due to its location, it is a couple of degrees warmer.
• In Sharm and Hurghada there are so-called "winter" hotels - those that are protected from the wind, sheltered in bays (I will give a list below).

December it is still warm in Egypt. It is no longer hot - in the air up to + 25 ° С, the sea also has not yet had time to really cool down. Very rarely, there can be a short rain, the wind begins to blow. It is off-season, but prices for vacations go up towards the end of the month - there are many who want to celebrate the New Year in Egypt. So if you go on vacation in December, it is better to do it in the first half of the month (and the weather will be better).

In January Egypt is getting worse, the wind is more frequent. January is one of the unlucky months of the year, when the daytime can be as low as + 17 ° С. If tourists swim, then either in wetsuits, or walk in and out, or in the pool. It gets dark at 5 pm. And why is this necessary? - you ask. Look: the beaches are spacious, hotels and flights are cheaper, the sun and all-inclusive are in place all 31 days. But I do not recommend going to Egypt with children at this time.

In February summer is still on the thermometer - it jumps from + 16 ° С to + 25 ° С, but you can't fool the Egyptians: they proclaim this month the coldest. This is because the wind is raging: the sea is stormy, it is cool at night, the temperature can drop up to + 10 ° С. Egyptian cities are literally covered with sand, and rest during this period is only for those who are not afraid of the wind and are ready to spend a little more time and effort looking for a hotel.

So that you understand the seriousness of the winds: fences are placed on the beaches, and the hotel at this time is not chosen anyhow, but hidden in the bay - then you will do without down jackets on sun loungers. If you don't want to shake the sand out of your ears, check out these wind-sheltered hotels:

Egypt in March, April and May

Egypt in spring is half winter, half summer. Both the wind and the warmth.

In March, especially in the first half of it, the winds are still blowing, and the weather is very changeable: the temperature jumps from + 18 ° С to + 26 ° С, sometimes it can rain. In a word, March in Egypt is like in Russia, the continuation of winter. The Red Sea does not have time to warm up yet, and freezes at around + 22 ° С. Swimming is not very comfortable, especially since such rare waves for Egypt appear on the coast - even surfing competitions are held. The list of "winter" hotels from the section above for March is still up to date!

In April summer is slowly coming into its own: you can open the swimming season (in the water + 23 ° С) and not be afraid of the wind. Be sure to put SPF in a suitcase, during the day it reaches + 30 ° С. The closer to May - the ideal month for vacation - the better the weather.

In May in the first days the best season for holidays in Egypt begins and - for those who cannot bear the heat - ends in the last days. The conditions are excellent: + 25 ° C ... + 30 ° C of air on the coast, the sea water is warmer every day (+ 26 ° C at its peak, Turkey in May does not boast of that!). Come on a family vacation with children, with grandparents - no one will grumble. True, prices in May can bite: there are long holidays in Russia, and hotels know that they will not stay empty anyway, and raise the cost (so book in advance).

Egypt in June, July, August

June is still tolerable, but in general summer is a time when you should not go to Egypt.

In June air conditioning in the room is a mandatory checkmark in the hotel search engine. The air in Hurghada and Sharm warms up to + 32 ° С, the weather is dry and hot, the beach season is in full swing. Tourists spend their days at sea, there is + 26 ° C and above, and a couple of times they go on excursions - you can still live in buses, not survive.

In July hell comes when even the sea does not save. One of the two hottest months of the year begins. Near the water, the thermometer jumps to + 40 ° C, few people will find this comfortable. July is definitely not the best time to look at the pyramids and go on excursions: in Cairo and in the desert regions + 60 ° C.The only advice if you come to Egypt in the summer: take a hotel with a swimming pool and good air conditioning.

In August the weather is not much different from July. Even the locals are exhausted from the heat. In such extreme conditions, at least choose the Dahab resort - a fresh wind blows here all year round, making it easier to endure the heat.

Egypt in September, October and November

The best time to relax: warm, sunny and no wind!

But beware: Egypt in the fall, especially in the beginning of September, this is the HEAT, lasting from summer - up to + 36 ° C outside. But from the second half of the month it is good to sunbathe, swim in the sea, and go on excursions.

In October the beach season in Egypt continues: during the day it bakes up to + 30 ° С, in the evening it drops to + 25 ° С - this month is loved by Europeans and we, Russians. There is a wind on the coast, but it is warm, it does not interfere with rest. In general, there is a velvet season, which tourists are waiting for.

In November - the official beginning of the cold days. The locals wrap themselves in jackets and laugh at the holiday-makers in T-shirts and shorts. But who else should laugh at whom: on the street it is from + 23 ° С to + 26 ° С. The sea also keeps at +26 degrees. The weather is consistently sunny, but everything can be spoiled by the wind - although November-November is different, and, for example, in 2020 it was record-breaking hot and calm.

• And which resort to choose in Egypt for a holiday by the sea?

When is the best time to relax in Egypt?

If we talk about the weather in Egypt by months, it is October and November that are the most comfortable months. The water temperature is 27 degrees, the air temperature is from 29 ° C to 31 ° C. Ideally! The best time for excursions.

In fact, the holiday season in Egypt is almost all year round - however, there are most tourists in May, late December and September. When the season starts, crowds of tourists appear at the pyramids, prices skyrocket, and this is a big minus. But when the best month in Egypt comes - November with October or April - there are not so many vacationers. You can safely relax in Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh, take cheap excursions, take beautiful photos without unnecessary people.

If we talk about which month it is better to go with children, then in the same months as without them. I don’t think that the child and you will like the sandstorm in February-March, just as the whole family will not have much rest in the summer heat. So it's better not to choose this time for families with children.

What to see in Egypt?

Egypt is a great place to combine cultural and beach holidays. In whatever month you come to Egypt, there is something to see on a guided tour or on your own:

• Pyramids of Giza (in Cairo)
• Egyptian Museum of Antiquities (in Cairo)
• Temple complexes of Luxor and Abu Simbel (see the ancient legacy of the pharaohs)
• Bedouin villages (they bring here from Sharm and Dahab, for those who wish - with an overnight stay and ATVs)
• Blue Hole (active diving site near Dahab)
• Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai
• Colored Canyon (worth a ride in the "cold" months)

Our review and advice about Egypt

Between Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, I choose the second one: it seems to me more modern and developed. Plus, it's warmer in the off-season. Honestly, there are a lot of things in Egypt that can be annoying - the obsession of the locals, their constant desire to cash in on tourists, the untidiness of hotels with an average price, etc.

• Be sure to bargain in the bazaars to bring down the price by 2 or 3 times.
• Trust the internet more than the advice of the locals.
• And don't leave without tasting the delicious Egyptian mango!

I have been to Egypt twice and for a total of one and a half months. I have no desire to do it for the third time. But, perhaps, if I loved a calm, measured rest within the framework of one hotel, then I would have gone again.

When is it cheaper to stay in Egypt?

When the excitement for the May and New Year holidays ends, then you have the opportunity to go to Egypt inexpensively. Summer and winter are equally cheap, but it is better to travel in the colder months than in the hot ones, when there is no leaning out of the hotel.

If you are thoroughly tired of the gray Russian weather, you want calmness and a warm sea with beautiful fish - Egypt will not disappoint you.