5 Top Tips For Travelling To Egypt With Kids

We recently took a trip to Egypt with kids and while we have a lot of experience with travelling with kids (see our tips for travel with kids), Egypt was a bit different.

It was somewhere that we felt we needed to do a bit more research on before we travelled there.

Egypt can be very friendly but it is one of the more challenging countries we have visited with kids.

Whether you are just wanting a relaxing holiday by the Red Sea or you want to explore your inner Indiana Jones in the Valley of the Kings, there are some things that you need to know about visiting Egypt with kids.

We’ve included some information you need to know before you take a family trip to Egypt as well as some advice for while you are there.

If you are travelling completely independently, here you can find the 7 day family-friendly Luxor itinerary that we did.

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Egypt with kids – things to know before you go

Check your government’s website for travel guidance

We always check the latest information for travel to any country on the official website of our government before we travel.

If you are based in the UK, you can check here for the UK official government website for news on travel to Egypt.

If you are based somewhere else, please do check the relevant website of that country as the information will be different.

Check your visa requirements for Egypt

Depending on which country you are travelling from, you may need a visa to enter Egypt. A full list of the countries that require visas can be found here.

If you are travelling to Egypt from the UK, every member of your family will need a visa.

British nationals can purchase a visa on arrival, but we had read that there can be long queues to do this so we wanted to arrange ours in advance.

We have travelled to quite a few countries and have done most of the visa applications ourselves. We didn’t see why Egypt would be any different so we applied online through the official Egyptian government website.

We paid around $25.00 per person. Unfortunately, we were caught out as the application took longer than we expected. We arrived at Hurghada airport with no visa.

This meant that we had to go to the ATM upon arrival and withdraw US Dollars, wait in a long queue and then buy new visas for the whole family – again. The original visas came through a few days after we arrived and were non-refundable so we lost around $100.

It is cheaper to apply yourself. There is no denying that. But if you want to make the process simpler, you can use the services of a visa company.

One of the companies that we recommend is E-visa. You can read all about applying for your Egypt visa here.

You can also check your Egypt visa requirements here. The main things you need to have are a valid passport and details of your itinerary (dates and where you are staying).

The recommended time to allow for the visa process is around 10 days (this is a guidance only).  You can submit your visa application as soon as you know where you will be staying but it won’t be processed until 30 days before departure.

Egypt with kids – things to know when there

Learn how to deal with the hassle

We have visited all of the countries in Northern Africa (see here for our guide to visiting Morocco with kids in case you are considering going there).

We would say that we experienced a lot more hassle in Egypt than anywhere else from people trying to sell you stuff.

You will receive this hassle from Egyptians in the ‘tourist’ industry at all of the major tourist spots. They will be very persistent. As soon as you get away from the tourist areas, the hassle will stop.

When visiting the main tourist sites, there will be unofficial guides everywhere. They will offer to show you ‘secret’ places. If you accept this offer, be aware that they will be expecting a tip (baksheesh). Have a lot of small change on you.

Don’t handle anything you don’t have any intention of buying. Try to discourage the kids from picking up things on a market stall. This will create an open invitation to start the selling negotiations with you.

The way to deal with this is to be firm. If you don’t want to buy something, say ‘no thank you’ (or la-shukran if you want to say it in Arabic).

Food and water

We recommend that you always drink bottled water in Egypt. Also try to eat in recommended restaurants. We try to eat in local restaurants that look busy (with locals).

This way you will get authentic food and more peace of mind that the locals will not eat in a restaurant with a bad reputation for food hygiene.

We tend to find restaurants on Tripadvisor and then walk past to get a sense of whether the reviews are accurate or not!

Get the kids interested in Egypt

We have two Egyptian mad kids and so we knew that a family trip to Luxor would be a hit. Seeing real mummies in The Valley of the Kings just blew their mind and exploring Karnak temple was the highlight of their trip.

Our kids love the Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles. They are suitable for age 8+. If your kids have read the Percy Jackson series, they will probably love this series too.

Another great way to get kids interested in visiting Egypt was to watch movies set in Egypt. For young kids, Prince of Egypt is a good one.

Older kids might enjoy:

The Mummy.

The Spy Who Loved Me (not about Egypt but part of it was filmed at Karnak Temple and the kids loved re-creating the scene!)

Death on the Nile.

If you have any questions on visiting Egypt with kids, or the Egyptian visa situation, drop us a line or leave a comment and we’ll get back to you.