Canaries/Egypt in February?

ironman1

Me and the girlfriend are looking to go away early next year to somewhere hot and with half decent food. We have stayed in Gran Canaria in Feb/March and the weather was fine but wouldn't mind going somewhere we haven't been like Sharm where I have heard mixed reviews from mates that have been.

We always seem to go the usual places like Portugal and Spain but the weather is usually moody till it gets to at least May.

Any suggestions? Wouldn't mind going all inc for once aswell now we have bills to pay!

Thanks

zico_2

Have been to egypt twice now in late Feb and just recently, early Nov. You get the sun and snorkelling, and included drinks if you go AI but the food is very hit and miss on all inclusive in my opinion. It seems a lot of the hotels are geared towards the Russians and food is aimed at them.Food is a very personal thing though, everybody has different expectations and mine are now higher than egypt offers!! If food is important to you on holiday, I would suggest going B&B and eating in restaurants which are not included in the hotel or locally. Granted you will need to buy your drinks, but take a couple of bottles from duty free, and as you are going out of EU it is duty free, have these in your room and buy mixers. We have seen lager/beer in local supermarkets but wine is rarer and often quite expensive. We chose egypt over canaries this time, but now feel that food is more important to us overall on our holidays so next time may well go for canaries. It might be worth looking at a do it yourself holiday to egypt if you decide on it as a lot of the no frills airlines go there and you can probably pick up hotel rooms on lastminute.com in good hotels.

arthurx1234

ironman
agree with zico
We went in Jan last year and hot during the day cool at night
bought a bottle of duty free spirits each in England as drinks were expensive in our b+b hotel "The Hyatt" very good hotel but expensive
Took a few things out the mini bar-- looked at the prices and nearly died so found a little shop in Sharm were i bought the exact same things and replaced them ie cans of beer shop price £1.00 hotel price £5.00 pringles 50p hotel price £3.50
So you could stock up with cans of beer for about a pound a can in Sharm or bottles of wine/spirits are £5+ depending on the brand
Coose a hotel with a good reef as the snorkelling is fab and i am a very poor swimmer but i went snorkelling twice a day every day
arthur

KonkyWonky

Stayed at Three Corners Kiroseiz in Namma Bay and loved it. Had no problems with the food, decent quality and a large selection. Obviously not as good as you will get in a restaurant but perfectly acceptable. Naama Bay is the busiest of resorts in Sharm.

It depends what your budget is I suppose, regardless I would always choose Sharm over the Canaries....

flush_the_hamster

Would thoroughly recommend Sharm. We stayed at Three Corners St George at the end of Nov and are going back in Feb and can't wait!! Flights are roughly £450 and a weeks' AI will be at least £350 in total.

Doublespresso

Is there much to see in terms of local culture in Sharm?

kegg_2

Sharm is a tourist resort with nothing of any cultural interest at all.

I have been to Eygpt 7 times (twice to sharm) and it is just a tourist resort. You could be anywhere in the world as the only thing egyptian there is the fellas who try to con you to buy their over priced tat.

On the plus side the weather will be alot warmer than europe but the days are quite short as it will be getting dark by 5 and it does get chilly in the evenings.

BritRael

Doublespresso wrote: »

Is there much to see in terms of local culture in Sharm?

There are only 2 reasons to go to Sharm; sea and sun. The Egyptian Red Sea is a great place to dive or snorkel (albeit there is a lot of damage due to the number of novices). If you want culture, you could always go to Cairo (pyramids/sphinx at Giza, museum, souk) or Luxor (karnak, valley of the kings etc.).

Doublespresso

Is Hurghada the same as Sharm? I see that Hurghada is located on the mainland but still on the Red Sea.. could this be a good compromise between Sun/Sea and a bit of local Culture?

Also, my GF is blond and I heard that blonds get harassed a lot in Egypt even if they are with a guy... is this a real problem?

Sorry for hijacking the thread

kegg_2

Nothing of any curtural interest in hurghada either. Hurghada was oringinaly a small fishing village but now it is a fast growing tourist resort.
It does still have the old town where you will rub shoulders with the locals but there is nothing of interest to see and to be honest it is quite dirty and smelly.
All of the red sea resorts are devoid of any culture as they have been developed to cater for the tourists.
On the plus side there is some lovely beaches and good snorkling and diving.
If you want to do the curtural thing you really need to look at Luxor, Cairo or Alex.
You can go to either Luxor or Cairo from Hurghada or Sharm on a da y or 2 day trip but it is a long day.
Hurghada to luxor is about 5 hours each way, longer to Cairo
Sharm to Cairo is about the same.
You can fly up but it is still a longish day with a lot of traveling involved.

As to the blond thing you will get no more hassle than any other woman which can very on how you handle things.
In Egypt you often have to forget your manners and ignore street venders and hawkers as they are very thick skinned and dont take much notice on a polite no thankyou. It is sometime better just to ignore them and carry on walking . Never encountered any thing i cant handle and on the whole i feel very safe there even if i am out shopping or just walking without my oh.
I have been 7 times and will be off again next year but we always so in august as we love the heat and diving/snorkling.

BritRael

kegg wrote: »

...In Egypt you often have to forget your manners and ignore street venders and hawkers as they are very thick skinned and dont take much notice on a polite no thankyou.....

Yup, most Brits tend to go for the 'polite' option in every situation. However, in Egypt, better to ignore them every time, because if you open your mouth in any language (including Arabic) it just gives them more ammo to hassle you with. If they don't know what nationality you are, they'll try several languages as you are walking past and (hopefully) give up if you do not respond

Have a great time