- Published
- 14 May 2026
- Reading
- 4 min read
- Where
- Sinai, Egypt
- Prices checked
- 16. Sep 2026.
One sentence at passport control changes about €26 and the whole shape of the trip. It is worth knowing which sentence, and when.
Egypt has a rule agencies rarely mention because there is nothing in it for them: anyone landing in Sharm el-Sheikh and staying in south Sinai does not have to pay for a visa. Instead the passport gets a free Sinai stamp, valid fifteen days. But it does not cover Cairo, and that boundary is real.
What the stamp covers
- Sharm el-Sheikh and every bay around it, including Ras Mohammed.
- Dahab, with the Blue Hole and the canyons.
- Nuweiba and Taba, up to the Israeli border.
- St Catherine's monastery and Mount Sinai — the furthest point it covers.
Where it stops
Everything west of the Suez Canal. Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada need the ordinary tourist visa of about €26. Checkpoints on the road to the canal inspect passports and turn back those carrying the stamp instead of a visa — this is not a formality you talk your way past.
Fifteen days and not one more
The stamp is valid fifteen days and is not extended. For a week or ten days that is more than enough; for a longer stay you buy the ordinary visa, which gives thirty. The price is the one difference that remains: the stamp is free, the visa is about €26 per person.
When you buy the visa anyway
When Cairo or Luxor is in the plan, even for a day; when you stay longer than fifteen days; and when you enter through Hurghada, because the stamp covers only Sinai. In those cases the visa is bought at a bank counter before passport control or in advance on the official portal — in cash, dollars, euros or sterling, not Egyptian pounds.
Egypt, in brief
What now
If this sounds like your trip, start here.
Sharm el-Sheikh
→The tip of Sinai where the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba meet, with the reefs of Ras Mohammed twelve kilometres from town and a Sinai stamp instead of a visa
Day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh
→Ras Mohammed by boat, Tiran, Mount Sinai at night and Dahab for a day — four trips from Sharm that all fit…
Where to stay in Sharm el-Sheikh
→Naama Bay, Sharks Bay, Ras Um Sid or Nabq — four bays choosing between going out on foot, a reef off the…
Egypt
→Two countries under one name: the Nile with its temples, which needs a plan, and the Red Sea, which needs only a charter — few people do both in one trip
Egypt in 2026: the base tickets have held in euros, the extras have not
→Headlines about tickets that have tripled are counting in pounds. In euros the base tickets have barely moved…
Giza without the hassle: the plateau after the new gate and the electric buses
→What made Giza tiring was getting between the pyramids, and that had to be negotiated. Since the new gate and…
A Nile cruise or the train: what you actually get
→The same three temples, two entirely different weeks. The difference is not what you see but when you see it…
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.