Safety in Traveling to Egypt

When you begin planning an international trip always check: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html > International Travel > Learn About Your Destination > where it says Where Are You Traveling enter Egypt in the Learn About Your Destination field and click on the search icon on the right:
Egypt - Level 3: Reconsider Travel
Poland – Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
Egypt is nothing like Poland.
If you decide to go to Egypt enroll in STEP: https://step.state.gov/step/ who will keep you enformed by email. I enroll in STEP everytime I leave the country.

The tour companies are still selling Egypt tours. Tours have come with armed guards for years. No one knows the future. It seems that you must decide your comfort level with nearby war . Get travel insurance that covers this type of unrest so you can cancel the trip if things change. Egypts economy needs the tourist dollar so they will keep as safe as possible. We went to the Great Pyramids in a bus caravan from the cruise port in 2021 December. The was a guard on every one of the ten buses and 2 police cars with red lights in front and back of our buses. No where else in world have we had a police escort. It would be a fascinating ancient civilization. Traveling south along the Nile River would take you away from the conflict.

The trip we are looking at his hitting Cairo, Alexandria, and a cruise on the Nile. It looks like a great adventure. My one concern if making my 76 year old mom nervous that she won’t relax.

You really shouldn’t be asking about how concerned others feel. You should ask yourself what your risk tolerance is.

I have been to Egypt three times and would not hesitate to go back now.

It depends on your tolerance for risk. Right now it's most likely okay, but things could change very quickly. As Raquet said in a previous response, make sure you have good travel insurance that covers potential wars, terrorism and civil unrest --- many (most?) policies don't. Also, make sure to register with the STEP program from the State Department.

Having now scared you half to death, I have to add that I would almost certainly return for another visit if the opportunity arose, even with the current situation in Israel and Gaza. It's a fascinating county that is well worth visiting.

If you are comfortable traveling to Poland with the war in Ukraine, you would probably be comfortable traveling to Egypt with the war in Gaza.

We were on a TCS World Travel/Smithsonian multi-county, multi-continent trip in October, and I selected that itinerary specifically because Egypt was included. We were traveling when the war had just begun. We were told we were being rerouted to Malta (which was lovely), instead of Egypt for safety reasons. The jet on which we were traveling is operated by Titan Airways, and they are English owned, so they follow the advice of not only the US State Department, but also the equivalent for the UK.

When I returned home, I looked at the equivalent of our State Department for the UK, and at that time, UK citizens were warned not to travel there, and there was a mention that travel insurance may not pay if they had a problem. You can look to see what the current advisories are.

My guess is that in our circumstance, it was not only the safety of the passengers (and the tour brand, if something happened), but GUESSING an insurance claim on the jet itself could have had problems if it traveled into an area where the UK advised against.

I have a sister and brother in law there )or just finishing) on a Tauck Tour that traveled to Jordan and Egypt, so they (and their tour company) felt confident enough to press forward. Tauck is known to be cautious and had suspended trips to Egypt several years ago, but then resumed later.

It's a matter of one's risk level. The world is fragile right now, and situations can change on a dime.

My husband has wanted to travel to Egypt since he was a kid reading National Geographics...so bummer we missed it.

Please post a trip report if you go.

Only go if you go on a tour.

Definitely only travel there on a tour now.

I am in Egypt now, on a Nile Cruise. I have seen absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Cairo was safe (if not loud due to Ramadan) and because of the Gaza unrest, less crowded! In fact all the sites are less crowded. That said, I would only come with a tour.