Real quick before we get into this. This post is a companion to our full honest review of visiting Egypt, where we detailed everything that went wrong during our trip. I’m not softening our stance here. I’m sharing the safety information I wish I’d had before we boarded that plane. If you’re planning a trip to Egypt, read that post first. Then come back here.
“Is Egypt safe?” is the question I’ve been asked more than any other since publishing our experience. It shows up in our comments. It lands in our inbox. It comes up at dinner parties when someone finds out we went. And I get it, because it’s the exact question I was Googling obsessively before our trip — only to find a sea of blog posts claiming Egypt was “totally fine” and “just like anywhere else.”
I’m calling BS on that, and I’m going to be real with you instead.
Our Honest Assessment of Safety in Egypt
Let me start with the caveat that every traveler’s experience is different. We’ve heard from plenty of folks in our comments who had a wonderful time in Egypt, and I don’t doubt them for a second. But those folks almost universally had one thing in common: they traveled with a reputable guided tour. The safety gap between guided and independent travel in Egypt is enormous, and that distinction matters more here than in any other country we’ve visited.
The harassment is constant and aggressive
I’m not talking about friendly shop owners inviting you to look at their wares. I’m talking about men following you for blocks, grabbing your bags, physically blocking your path, and getting visibly angry when you decline their services. From the moment you leave your hotel until you return, you are a target. Not because anyone wants to hurt you, but because you represent money in a country where desperation runs deep.
Is this “unsafe” in the traditional sense? Debatable. Did it make me feel unsafe? Absolutely. There’s something deeply unsettling about being encircled by six taxi drivers at an airport, or having a man get aggressive because a woman told him “no.” The aggression we encountered wasn’t violent, but it was relentless, and the line between aggressive hassling and genuine threat felt uncomfortably thin at times.
We were threatened by a police officer with his hand on his gun
I’m just going to be real here: the biggest reason I never plan on visiting Egypt again is because I felt genuinely unsafe. Not “a little uneasy.” Unsafe. And the moment that cemented it was at the Luxor train station.
We’d taken the train from Aswan to Luxor and were speed-walking toward the exit, heads down, avoiding eye contact — standard Egypt protocol at this point. A man started shouting “where are you going” behind us but we kept moving because we didn’t need anything and hadn’t done anything wrong.
He chased us down, grabbed my husband’s shoulder, and shouted “I am a police officer, why didn’t you stop when I told you?” Then he motioned for money while placing his free hand on his gun.
It was, honestly, the most terrifying travel experience we have ever had in our lives. We shouted that our taxi was waiting and ran. The officer followed us out of the train station but our hotel driver was there, so we jumped in the car and left.
After our experience with the corrupt officer, we were constantly looking over our shoulders. We knew that if something happened to us, we couldn’t rely on the police for help. That was a feeling we had never experienced before in any country, and it completely changed how we moved through Egypt for the rest of the trip.
And we weren’t alone. We spent an hour chatting with a young couple from England who had nearly identical stories — guards cornering them in temples, demanding tips with a hand resting on their weapon. When two unrelated couples from two different countries have the same experience at different sites, it’s not a fluke. It’s a pattern.
Even airport security asked for tips
Our flight out of Egypt was at 5am. At the security checkpoint, the officer working the metal detector tried to grab my bag to put it on the belt and asked for a tip. When I walked past him without acknowledging the request, my bags were promptly searched and I was frisked twice. His colleagues demanded to know what my foam roller was for (spoiler alert: my leg).
When the people responsible for airport security are soliciting bribes from departing passengers, what exactly are we calling “safe”? That’s not a rhetorical question. I genuinely want to know what metric the “Egypt is totally safe” bloggers are using.
Solo female safety in Egypt
I traveled with my husband and still felt unsafe. I genuinely cannot imagine what it would be like to travel Egypt as a solo female.
The unwanted male attention was constant. I covered my hair, wore loose fitting clothing in 100+ degree heat, and still felt wandering eyes everywhere I went. By the end of the trip it became clear that there was nothing I could have done to prevent the staring. Men looked at me with open hostility or uncomfortably forward interest, and having my husband next to me only partially mitigated it.
95% of Egyptians are Muslim and women cover themselves completely. As a Western woman, you will stand out no matter what you wear. Several of our female commenters have shared similar experiences — the staring, the comments, the feeling of being constantly watched.
My honest recommendation for solo female travelers: If you’re determined to visit Egypt, book a reputable group tour with a female-friendly company. Don’t travel independently. Don’t walk alone after dark. And please, read the comments on our main Egypt post to hear from other women about their experiences. I’m not trying to scare you — I’m trying to prepare you.
The massive safety gap between guided and independent travel
This is the single most important thing I can tell you about safety in Egypt. Guided travel and independent travel in Egypt are two completely different experiences. It’s almost like visiting two different countries.
With a guide, you have someone who speaks the language, knows the customs, handles the negotiations, and — most importantly — keeps the touts and scammers away from you. We noticed an immediate difference the first time we hired a guide through our hotel. People stopped approaching us. The hassling dropped by maybe 80%. We could actually look at the temples instead of fending off vendors.
Without a guide, you are fresh meat. Every vendor, taxi driver, and self-proclaimed “Egyptologist” within a two-block radius will zero in on you. The harassment is constant, aggressive, and exhausting. We spent more energy managing the chaos than actually experiencing the historical sites we’d traveled thousands of miles to see.
If you’re visiting Egypt independently, you’re not “saving money” — you’re trading money for stress, fear, and lost experiences. The $100 per person for a half-day guided tour was the best money we spent in Egypt, and the only regret I have is not booking one from day one.
Terrorism history (because no one else seems to mention it)
Located in Africa and bordering the Middle East, Egypt carries the weight of a “conflict zone” label. Terrorist incidents targeting tourists have occurred with greater frequency than most Western countries, and I’m frankly baffled that most “Egypt travel tips” blogs don’t mention this at all.
I’m not trying to be unkind. I’m trying to be honest so you can make an informed decision. Notable incidents targeting tourists include the 1997 Luxor massacre, the 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh bombings, the 2006 Dahab bombings, the 2015 Metrojet Flight 9268 crash (a Russian passenger plane bombed over the Sinai Peninsula), and the 2017 Sinai mosque attack.
Are these attacks rare? Relatively, yes. Should they prevent you from going? That’s your call entirely. But they should factor into your decision, and the fact that most travel bloggers omit this information entirely is doing them a disservice.
One of our tour guides said something that has stuck with me ever since. She kept thanking us profusely for coming to Egypt, and when I asked why, she explained how badly tourism had declined. Then she said: “I could understand it. No one wants to die on vacation.”
Food and water safety
A few days into our trip we were both waking up with stomach pains, even though we were vigilant about what we ate. We stuck to hotel food and bottled water because the conditions at street-level restaurants were rough — flies, stray animals, and hygiene practices that would not pass inspection in most countries.
Do not drink tap water. Do not brush your teeth with tap water. Do not eat from street vendors unless your gut (literally) can handle the risk. Stick to your hotel restaurant and sealed bottled water, and even then, pack Imodium and Pepto-Bismol just in case.
So Is Egypt Safe?
Here’s my honest answer: it depends entirely on how you travel.
With a reputable guided tour, a good hotel, and pre-arranged transportation: Egypt is manageable. You’ll still encounter hassling and scams, but your guide will handle the worst of it. Many of our readers who traveled this way had a positive experience, and I believe them.
Traveling independently: I did not feel safe. My husband did not feel safe. The English couple we met did not feel safe. We were threatened by police, scammed by taxi drivers, harassed nonstop by vendors, and couldn’t walk the streets of Cairo in broad daylight without looking over our shoulders. If you don’t feel safe walking the streets in daylight, the city isn’t safe. Period.
I’m not here to make the decision for you. But I am here to give you the information that every other blogger seems to gloss over, because I would have wanted someone to do the same for me. For our full experience, including every gritty detail, read our complete honest review of visiting Egypt.
I hope this helps, Antonina
More Egypt Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on our firsthand experience, Egypt presents real safety concerns for independent travelers. We experienced police corruption (an officer demanded a bribe with his hand on his gun), constant aggressive harassment from vendors, and taxi scams. However, many travelers who visit with reputable guided tour companies report much better experiences. The safety gap between guided and independent travel in Egypt is huge.
We would strongly recommend against solo female travel in Egypt without a guided tour. Unwanted male attention was constant even for a woman traveling with her husband. The staring, comments, and hostile looks were inescapable regardless of how conservatively we dressed. If you are determined to visit, book a reputable group tour with a female-friendly company and do not walk alone after dark.
Random street taxis in Egypt are not recommended. We experienced taxi drivers demanding three to four times the fair rate, Careem drivers canceling app rides to demand higher cash fares, and being surrounded by aggressive drivers at the airport. Book all transportation through your hotel instead. The pre-arranged price and hotel accountability are worth the premium.
