24 Jun2021
Egypt expenses – how much I spent in Egypt in 3 months
It took me a while to count my Egypt expenses but I managed. To be precise, in this post I focus only on how much I spent in Egypt during my last visit there from the 19th March to the 8th June 2021. It was my 5th visit to the country but the first one without a travel agency. The previous 4 visits were all inclusive holidays with my family.
My last trip to Egypt could have be done a lot cheaper but traveling outside of Slovakia finally after 8 months made me less money-savvy. I just wanted to enjoy everything as much as possible. I was not very strict when it came to prices.
I bought expensive nuts, vegan dark chocolate or ice cream when I was craving them. I also spent a week at an all inclusive resort to pamper myself.
If you ever plan a trip to Egypt on your own, I hope you find this post useful :)
vegan ice cream in Hurghada
Facts first
- Days I spent in Egypt = 82
- Places visited = Hurghada, Luxor, Makadi bay
- I flew directly into Hurghada and flew out of Hurghada, too
- I did not travel much around Egypt as I did not feel like it in that heat, nor during the Ramadan
- I ate out at restaurants more than 10 times alone. If I’d bought the food at a market instead, it would have been much cheaper. But I wanted to taste traditional Egyptian meals and I had no idea how to make them myself.
- On top of that, different friends invited me for dinner 14 times while in Egypt. Yay, thank you guys for a nice company and money saved!
The exchange rate during my stay was the following:
1 eur = from 18.6 to 19.12 EGP (Egyptian pound)
Most of the time 1 eur was 18.80 EGP which is the rate I use in this article each time I paid in cash. Otherwise, when paying by card, I counted the exact amount I was charged in eur.
on a boat from West bank to East bank in Luxor
Expenses in Egypt
Transportation
15.45 eur train Snina – Bratislava (Slovakia)
282 eur return flight from Bratislava (Slovakia) to Hurghada (Egypt)
7.72 eur GoBus Hurghada – Luxor
7.87 eur GoBus Luxor – Hurghada
37 eur taxi + Uber + boats for my entire stay in Egypt (In Luxor I had to cross from West bank to East bank and back a few times by boat. And I traveled by taxi and Uber a few times in Hurghada and to Makadi bay.)
1.80 eur public transportation bus in Bratislava (from the train station to the airport, and then back 3 months later.)
25.91 eur night train Bratislava – Snina
2.25 eur public transportation around Hurghada = minivans (1 way ticket on a minivan cost 2 to 3 EGP which equals 0.10 eur to 0.16 eur.)
I spent a total of 380 eur on all the transportation: to get to Egypt from my home town Snina in Slovakia, to get around Egypt, and back from Egypt to Snina.
on a local minivan in Hurghada
Accommodation expenses in Egypt
902.86 eur spent on hotels in Hurghada
44.41 eur spent on hotel in Luxor
I saved money on 10 nights while in Hurghada. A friend of mine was nice enough to let me stay in his flat for 9 nights altogether, and I also got 1 free night at a hotel in exchange for Instagram promotion.
I spent a total of 947.27 eur on accommodation for almost 12 weeks in Egypt.
As you can see, the biggest part of my Egypt expenses was money spent on accommodation. I could have rented an apartment in Hurghada for a lot cheaper but then it would not be that easy with beach access.
my hotel room in Luxor
Entrance fees
In Hurghada I did not visit any site where I needed to pay entrance fee. I did in Luxor, though.
Sites I visited in Luxor where I had to pay to enter:
160 EGP Luxor temple = 8.51 eur
200 EGP Karnak temple = 10.64 eur
240 EGP Valley of the Kings = 12.76 eur
I spent a total of 22.91 eur on entrance fees.
Karnak temple in Luxor
SIM cards and mobile data
I found out that in Egypt it can be cheaper to buy a new SIM card for a month (it’s 28 days to be exact), than to keep the old SIM card and recharge the data. Well, that’s what I was told.
10 eur on the 1st SIM card with 20 GB data at the Hurghada airport
8,60 eur on the 2nd SIM card with 16 GB data
7,84 eur on the 3rd SIM card with 16 GB data
I spent a total of 26,44 eur on SIM cards and mobile data.
getting a new SIM card with mobile data
Other Egypt expenses
Here I have to mention, that my first 11 nights in Hurghada I had fruit breakfast included in hotel price. Then I decided to buy my own food at a local fruit market.
And later on in mid-May I enjoyed an all inclusive meal plan for a week at another hotel. So a part of my accommodation expenses were basically spent on some food, too, but it’s difficult to count it separately.
I spent a total of 145.60 eur on everything else, such as food, some souvenirs and natural cosmetics and oils.
breakfast on the beach
enjoying traditional Egyptian food alone
Conclusion
Counting everything together…
I spent 1,522.22 eur in Egypt in almost 3 months
1,522.22 eur divided by 82 days makes 18.564 eur per day.
A friend invited me for dinner
Follow me on Instagram for more photos from my trips around the world, and also yoga videos:
Pozrite si tento príspevok na Instagrame
TIP: Here’s an older post about one of my previous visits to Egypt with my mom. How did I survive 12 days there without internet?
TIP 2: What about other countries, such as Maldives? Are they budget-friendly or not at all? In this post you can find out how much money I spent in Maldives in a month.
Do you think I spent too much money in Egypt or my trip was quite cheap? What’s you opinion about my Egypt expenses? Tell me in the comments below.
Pieter
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This blog is very helpful for us, thanks!
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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I am glad to hear that! That’s the reason why I write blog posts to help others via my experiences and opinions :)
Shamsul
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Doing fitness during travel-time is a great idea! And thanks for all the information.
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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Thanks a lot Shamsul. Yes, it’s important to move yourself even on the road.
David Rainey
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You were extremely economical, Alexandra. The article was well written, informative, and thorough. Well done as usual.
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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Thank you so much, David :) Appreciate it!