Best Currency to take to Egypt

magthemum

I've read different reports about the best currency for spending in Egypt. Does anyone have any good advice or what worked best for them?

SandC

I've been twice, took Egyptian pounds both times.

redmike123

Israeli Shekels are good, talk about your moneys no good here.

pattycake

Change your sterling into Egyptian pounds once you arrive. There are bank kiosks at the airport and you will get a better exchange rate than getting your foreign currency in the UK.

InsideInsurance

You can change it here but rates are worse and you'll struggle to get small notes which typically you want for tips etc.

Many do give stirling as tips but the problem is locals cannot change coins and so you'll often find people with large numbers of pound coins wanting it exchanging for UK bank notes.

WD1234

i've been told British pounds are illegal but I don't understand why. I've taken Egyptian pounds on my last 2 trips and haven't had any trouble.

sandsy

Take British pounds and exchange them when you arrive into Egyptian pounds as you get a better exchange rate than doing it here.

Our hotel had an ATM which, as well as letting you withdraw money on a card, let you feed in British notes and gave you Egyptian ones in return.

dzug1

WD1234 wrote: »

i've been told British pounds are illegal but I don't understand why. I've taken Egyptian pounds on my last 2 trips and haven't had any trouble.

I suspect whoever told you was either having you on or an idiot or both.

paulswife

I was in sharm for 2 months. I took some us dollar bills 1$ to use for tips, which went down well,better than £ coins for the locals. Used Halifax clarity card for ATM withdrawals, ATMs seemed to usually give fairly small notes. Rate was always better than hotel, I pre loaded the card before I went and arranged to pay by dd when card bill came in as I was not at home!,
Be prepared to come home a bit loaded with 1 pound coins if you are a bit of a soft touch like me! (I did feel sorry for them and changed their tips given by the English-)

magthemum

Thanks everyone. The countdown now begins.