Egypt
Egypt: travel and transport

How do you get to Egypt?
From Europe, the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to travel to Egypt is
usually by plane. But there are also ship connections and - but not from Europe
- bus connections. Direct
Plane
flights go from various European cities to Cairo, Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai,
Hurghada on the Red Sea, Luxor and Marsa Alam. These airports also have
connections to Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan.
Ship
There are ship connections for passengers from Genoa and Naples to Alexandria
and Port Said and from Venice to Alexandria. There is also a ferry connection
between Aqaba in Jordan and Nuweiba.
Bus Bus
connections go from Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and other places in Israel as
well as from Amman in Jordan to Eilat on the Egyptian border. There is also a
daily bus between Jerusalem and Cairo.
Travel in the country
Air connections
Domestic flights operate daily from Cairo to Alexandria, Sharm el Sheikh,
Hurghada, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel as well as weekly to Marsa Matruh, St.
Catherine's Monastery and Taba.
Bus
A very good national bus network connects all cities in Egypt as well as the
remote regions. Shared taxis and minibuses even run between the individual
villages.
Railway
The country has a total of around 5,100 km of railway line. There are train
connections from Cairo to Alexandria, Luxor, Aswan and towards Sinai.
Roads, rental cars
Egypt's road network covers around 68,000 km. The country's most important roads
are very well developed, the secondary routes are less recommendable because of
potholes and shifting dunes. An international driver's license is required for
rental cars.
Egypt is one of the countries with the highest number of traffic accidents in
the world. On the long-distance routes in particular, there are often excessive
speed violations and night driving without lights or only with parking
lights. Due to the risk of fundamentalist terrorist attacks, traveling the
distance from Cairo to Luxor by car or bus is only recommended when accompanied
by a police convoy. Tours outside of official routes (so-called off-road
tourism) as well as individual trips in certain regions require approval. All
routes are provided with fixed checkpoints at regular intervals. Due to
insufficiently marked minefields, special caution is required on the Sinai, in
some coastal areas of the Red Sea.
Ferry connections
Egypt has around 3,500 km of navigable waterways, including the Nile, Lake
Nasser, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. There is regular ferry service between
Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada. Nile cruises are also offered to visit the temples
between Luxor and Aswan. Driving on the route between Cairo and Luxor is not
recommended because of the risk of terrorist attacks.
On the night of February 2nd to 3rd, 2006, the more than 30-year-old
roll-on-roll-off ferry "Al Salam Boccaccio 98" sank on the way from Duba in
Saudi Arabia to Safaga in Egypt. Of the approx. 1,400 passengers on the ferry,
over 1,000 were believed to have died in the accident. According to expert
statements from the London shipping register Lloyd's, roll-on-roll-off ferries
are generally not considered to be very stable. If little water gets into these
ships, the risk of capsizing and sinking is very high. The percentage of this
type of ferry in accidents of this kind is huge. Of course, this risk applies
worldwide.
International license plate
According to
Abbreviationfinder,
the international license plate of Egypt is:
Tourist offices
Egyptian Tourist Office in Germany
Kaiserstraße 66
60329 Frankfurt/Main
Tel: 0049 - (0) 69 - 252 153
Fax: 0049 - (0) 69 - 239 876
Email: [email protected]
Egyptian Tourist Office in Austria
Opernring 3/3/301
1010 Vienna
Tel: 0043 - (0) 1 - 587 66 33
Fax: 0043 - (0) 1 - 587 66 34
Email: [email protected]
Egyptian Tourist Office in Switzerland
Marktgasse 59
3011 Berne
Tel: 0041 - (0) 31 - 311 22 10
Fax: 0041 - (0) 31 - 311 22 85
Official website: www.egypt.travel
Entry and exit regulations
Mit einem normalen sowie einem vorläufigen Pass ist die Einreise nach Ägypten
möglich, sofern die Dokumente bei der Einreise noch sechs Monate gültig sind.
Bei der Einreise mit dem Personalausweis. Bei der Ankunft erhalten Touristen
eine Einreisekarte, für die zwei biometrische Passfotos mitzubringen sind.
Bislang war nur ein Foto nötig.
Außerdem benötigen deutsche Staatsangehörige ein Visum, das gegen eine Gebühr
von der ägyptischen Botschaft in Berlin und den Generalkonsulaten in Frankfurt
und Hamburg sowie seit Dezember 2017 auch als 'E-Visa' ausgestellt."
Es besteht auch die Möglichkeit, das Dokument direkt bei der Einreise vor Ort
kostenpflichtig an offiziellen Bankschalten vor Erreichen der Passschalter" zu
erwerben.
Visa department of the Embassy of Egypt
Stauffenbergstr. 6-7
10785 Berlin
Tel: 0049 - (0) 30 - 47 90 18 80, 47 75 47 40/50
Fax: 0049 - (0) 30 - 477 40 00
Email: [email protected]
Importing and exporting goods As a
rule, everything for personal use can be imported without any formalities, but
you have to register in advance if you want to bring a video camera. The
following articles can be imported into Egypt duty-free:
- 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 200 g tobacco
- 1 l alcoholic beverages
- 1 l eau de cologne and perfume for personal use
There is a strict import ban on drugs, narcotics, medication (except for
personal use) and cotton. There is a strict export ban on antique objects (over
100 years old) and all plants and animals (e.g. corals) that are protected by
nature and species. Drugs and food are not allowed. Gold and silver purchased in
the country may only be exported in small quantities for personal use. Drug
offenses are punishable by harsh penalties (imprisonment up to the death penalty
in particularly severe cases) even if they are minor.
Import and export of foreign currency
Egypt: travel medicine, vaccinations, warnings
Infectious Diseases
In Egypt, the following infectious diseases, which are not or less common in
Germany or Central and Northern Europe, are to be expected:
- Malaria: The risk of infection is rather low,
especially between June and October. Both the more dangerous malaria tropica
and malaria tertiana occur.
- Amoebic dysentery
- Bacterial agitation
- Schistosomiasis
- cholera
- Intestinal infections from contaminated food or water,
including amoebas, lamblia, salmonella, shigella, worm infestation and all
kinds of viruses and bacteria
- Filariasis
- Typhus
- Hepatitis A and B
- Kala Azar disease
- Leishmaniasis Disease
- Polio, polio
- Meningococcal meningitis
- tetanus
- rabies
- typhus
Vaccination recommendations
- Diphtheria - a vaccination against diphtheria should
always exist, also in the home country.
- Hepatitis A and B
- Polio, polio - vaccination against polio should always
exist, also in the home country.
- Meningococcal meningitis
- Tetanus - a vaccination against tetanus should always
exist, also in the home country.
- Rabies - but only for high-risk travelers who can come
into contact with the vector animals.
- Typhoid - but only for travelers who can come into
contact with polluted water or contaminated food.
Compulsory vaccination
For all persons older than one year and coming from a yellow fever
infection area designated by the WHO, there is a compulsory vaccination against
an illness with yellow fever.
Yellow fever vaccination of children
In most countries where a yellow fever vaccination is mandatory, this also
applies to children over a year old, and in some countries even from six
months. It should be noted that vaccination against yellow fever had a number of
side effects, such as encephalitis. Around two-thirds of those affected were
children under six months. Therefore, under no circumstances should children
under this age be vaccinated. But children under one year of age should also not
be vaccinated if possible. If in doubt, yellow fever infection areas must then
be avoided. Any vaccination against yellow fever may only be carried out in
specially authorized yellow fever vaccination centers!
Malaria prophylaxis
When traveling in the country it is advisable to undergo malaria
prophylaxis. However, if the side effects seem questionable to you, you should
at least have a "stand-by preparation" with you.
Who pays for vaccinations in Germany?
Most children in Germany are vaccinated against a number of infectious
diseases at an early age. However, the vaccination protection only lasts up to
10 years, in some cases even shorter. Therefore, before traveling abroad, you
should carefully consider against which infectious diseases a vaccination is
necessary or useful in the country concerned and whether the vaccination
protection, if applicable, was not too long ago.
Most statutory health insurances have been reimbursing the costs for the
following vaccinations since June 2007. There is even no 10 € practice fee - but
the insured usually have to pay the statutory additional payment, which is 10%
of the vaccine price - that is at least 5 € and a maximum of 10 €. Under these
conditions, the following vaccinations are free of charge. Some health insurance
companies also reimburse the cost of malaria prophylaxis.
As a rule, private health insurance companies (inquire beforehand) also cover
the costs mentioned.
- cholera
- diphtheria
- Early summer meningoencephalitis (TBE)
- Yellow fever
- Hepatitis A and B
- Meningococcal meningitis
- Pneumococci
- Polyo (polio)
- Tetanus (tetanus)
- rabies
- typhus
Current warnings
Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany
Citizens Service
Tel: 0049 - (0) 30 - 5000 - 2000
Fax: 0049 - (0) 30 - 5000 - 51000
Egypt: currency, shopping and exchange rate
The national currency of Egypt is the Egyptian pound.
1 EG £ = 100 piastres.
The following banknotes are valid and in circulation in the country:
Exchange rate
You can find a currency converter
at: http://www.gcitrading.com/german/converter.htm
Bank opening hours
Banks in Egypt are open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday through
Thursday.
Shop
Shop opening times
The shops in Egypt are in winter from Saturday to Thursday from 9:00
a.m. to 7:00 p.m. or Monday and Thursday until 8:00 p.m. and in summer from 9:00
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Open at midnight. In the
fasting month of Ramadan, the opening times change differently.
Cheap or country-specific goods, souvenirs
In Egypt , tourists like to buy jewelry (especially
gold jewelry decorated with hieroglyphics), replicas of ancient Egyptian reliefs
and statues, cotton clothing, Coptic fabrics, leather goods, carpets, papyri,
wooden items such as game boards and musical instruments, metal goods made of
copper and brass with engravings (plates, Tabletops), perfume essences and
spices.
Egypt: embassies, consulates
Visit Countryaah for a full list of Egypt embassies and consulates in each
country around the world.

Representations of Egypt in Germany
The embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt is located in the immediate
vicinity of the "German Resistance" memorial in Stauffenbergstrasse. The
building with its red-brown marble tiles - into which ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphs and symbols were incorporated - symbolizes the two ancient Egyptian
capitals of Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is symbolized by the papyrus
cultivation and lower Egypt by the lotus. Diplomatic work in the building began
in mid-October 2001.
Embassy in Berlin
Stauffenbergstrasse 6-7
10785 Berlin
Tel: 0049 - (0) 30 - 477 5470
Fax: 0049 - (0) 30 - 477 1049
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.egyptian-embassy.de
Responsible for Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,
Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia
Region |
Contact |
Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia,
Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarla |
Consulate General of the Arab Republic of
Egypt in Frankfurt am Main
Eysseneckstrasse 34
Tel: 0049 - (0) 69 - 955 1340
Fax: 0049 - (0) 69 - 597 2131
Email: www.egyptian-consulate-ffm.com |
Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein |
Consulate General of the Arab Republic of
Egypt in Hamburg
Mittelweg 183
20148 Hamburg
Tel: 0049 - (0) 40 - 133 260
Fax: 0049 - (0) 40 - 106 115
Email: [email protected] |
German representations in Egypt
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Cairo
Cairo 2
Sharia Berlin (corner of Sharia Hassan Sabri) Cairo Zamalek
mailing address
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2,
Sharia Berlin (off Sharia Hassan Sabri), Zamalek
Cairo 11211, Egypt
Tel: 0020 - (0) 2 - 27 28 20 00
Fax: 0020 - (0) 2 - 27 28 21 59
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.kairo.diplo.de
Consulates
Region |
Contact |
Governorates of Alexandria, Beheira, Dakahliya, Damiette, Gharbiya,
Kafr El Sheikh |
Honorary Consulate of the Federal Republic
of Germany in Alexandria
9, El Fawatem Street
Mazarita, Alexandria
:
Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany
Leader Group Shipping Services
9 El FawatemStreet
Mazarita, Alexandria, EgyptTel: 0020 - 3 - 486 7503
Fax: 0020 - 3 - 484 0977
Email: [email protected] |
Red Sea Governorate |
Honorary Consulate of the Federal Republic
of Germany in Hurghada
465, El Gabal El Shamali
Hurghada:
Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany
465, El Gabal El Shamali
Hurghada, Red Sea, EgyptTel: 0020 - 65 - 344 3605
Fax: 0020 - 65 - 344 3605 |
Austrian representations in Egypt
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Austria in Cairo
El Nile Street/Corner 5, Wissa Wassef Street,
5th Floor, Riyadth-Tower, Giza
11111 Cairo
Tel: 0020 - (0) 2 - 570 2975
Fax: 0020 - (0) 2 - 570 2979
Email: [email protected]
www.bmeia.gv.at/botschaften-konsulate/suche-nach-oesterreichischen-vertretungen/
The Austrian embassy in Egypt is still responsible for Eritrea and Sudan.
Honorary Consulate General Alexandria (without passport
authorization)
8 Rue Eglise Debbané
Alexandrien
Tel: 0020 - (0) 3 - 480 8888
Fax: 0020 - (0) 3 - 487 9190
Representations of Egypt in Austria
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Vienna
Hohe Warte 50 - 54
1190 Vienna
Tel: 0043 - (0) 1 - 370 8104
Fax: 0043 - (0) 1 - 370 8104 - 27
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.egyptembassyvienna.at
Consular section of the Embassy of the Arab Republic
of Egypt
Hohe Warte 50 - 54
1190 Vienna
Tel: 0043 - (0) 1 - 370 81 08 - 60, 61, 62
Fax: 0043 - (0) 1 - 370 81 08 - 69
Email: egyptembassyvienna @ egyptembassyvienna.at
Web: www.egyptembassyvienna.at
Swiss representations in Egypt
Embassy, Embassy of Switzerland in Cairo
10, Abdel Khalek Sarwat Street
11511 Cairo
:
Embassy of Switzerland
PO Box 633
11511 Cairo
Egypt
Tel: 0020 - (0) 2 - 2575 8284
Fax: 0020 - (0) 2 - 2574 5236
Email: [email protected]
www.eda.admin.ch/cairo
Representations of Egypt in Switzerland
Chancellerie, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
in Bern
Elfenauweg 61
3006 Bern
Tel: 0041 - (0) 31 - 352 8012
0041 - (0) 31 - 352 8013
Fax: 0041 - (0) 31 - 352 0625
Consulate General of the Arab Republic of Egypt
in Geneva
Route de Florissant 47ter
1206 Geneva
Tel: 0041 - (0) 22 - 347 6379
0041 - (0) 22 - 347 6255
Fax: 0041 - (0) 22 - 346 0571
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