Is Egypt Safe? I Traveled Solo to Egypt and Yes, it Was Safe

NEW UPDATE IN 2021: I’m back in Egypt for my second time, and once again during a time when tourism is at an all time low. This time it’s due to the pandemic, so I’ll explain safety in that regards as well. But again, the number one question I get is “Is Egypt safe?”

First and foremost; I have been living in Cairo solo for a month, and still feel just as safe as anywhere else I’ve lived in the world. In fact, I’d argue that it feels more safe here than where I lived in the US last (Venice Beach). I still stand by my first article, where I explain that since Egyptians are heavily reliant on tourism for income, they do everything possible to protect them. In fact, it’s a law that an armed guard travels with big groups when they’re touring!

Please read the original article below!

Raise your hand if Egypt is at the very top of your bucket list. Keep your hand raised if one of the reasons why you haven’t gone yet is because you heard it’s unsafe. If you’re still raising your hand, you need to read this. Because I just traveled solo to Egypt for almost two weeks, and yes, it was safe.

from my article on The Huffington Post

I’m not just saying that Egypt is safe because I want you to read my article or check out my blog. I’m not saying it because I’ve already seen the dozens of press releases from travel and tour companies predicting Egypt to be one of the most popular destinations in 2017. I’m telling you what my experience was like, because like many of you, I was holding myself back from traveling to Egypt because of people telling me it wasn’t safe.

But, being the free-thinking, independent, global citizen and wanna-be World Peace maker that I am, I realized that all of the people telling me that Egypt was unsafe, hadn’t even been there! News reporters for one, had never reported their negative findings about Egypt FROM Egypt, they reported what they were told to say from a box in the U.S. That my friends, is what I like to call false advertisement. Or fear mongering. Or in simple terms; bullshit.

Yes, conditions were bad in Egypt way back in 2011, I will not deny that since even Egyptians explained to me what happened during the revolution. But that was years ago, and since then the country has not only improved its own conditions, but enhanced the conditions for tourists as well.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alyssa Ramos #SoloTravel Nomad (@mylifesatravelmovie)

Why? Egypt’s third most important source of income, is tourism. They not only want you there, but they need you there. That’s part of the reason why it’s so safe to travel there right now. Not only do the people respect the sh*t out of tourists and travelers, but the government takes extreme measures to make them feel safe as well. If you think about it, without tourism, the entire country suffers. And if that country suffers, guess who’s never going to see the awesome Great Pyramids, Sphinx, or Egyptian Tombs? You.

There are a few points I’d like to share about what particularly made me feel safe in Egypt, as well as why I’d suggest traveling there right now.

But first, if you’re interested in going to Egypt, I have to throw a little self-promo in here and ask you to please check out the itinerary I did from Cairo to Aswan to Luxor, with Lady Egypt Tours.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alyssa Ramos #SoloTravel Nomad (@mylifesatravelmovie)

First and foremost, as I already admitted, I too had some doubts about safety in Egypt before I went. Especially since I was traveling there alone. That’s why I ended up booking an organized tour to go to the places outside of Cairo, like Luxor, Aswan, and Hurghada. There is nothing wrong with taking a tour, and in fact, for this particular trip, I’d actually highly recommend it. I am not promoting the tour I took with this post, which is why I am omitting the name of it, but this is honestly one aspect of my view on safety that I felt was necessary to include.

The tour not only organized all transportation, hotels, and admissions, but it also gave me a chance to hear insight from other U.S. travelers on the tour, including two other solo females! By the way, for those of you thinking, “She didn’t really travel solo, she was with a tour group”, please stop letting things like that blockade you from seeing the bigger picture. Solo travel does NOT mean that you need to isolate yourself in solitary confinement! One of the awesomest parts of traveling is meeting other people, which also means you never really have to be alone!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alyssa Ramos #SoloTravel Nomad (@mylifesatravelmovie)

I did go completely solo to Cairo and Hurghada though. Aside from constantly trying to be sold a souvenir (like any major tourist destination), and getting asked to take selfies with little boys, I really did not feel any threat at all. Learning the Arabic phrase for ‘no thank you’, “La’a shukran”, helped a lot with the sales aversions, and also gained me a lot of respect from the locals.

Also, much to my extreme appreciation, I was never asked even once, “Are you alone”, or “Where’s your boyfriend?”

Speaking of the locals, despite the many trying to sell me their little scarves or pyramid statues, I found one thing in common with everyone; the look in their eyes when I said I was from the U.S.

It was a look of both bewilderment, gratitude, and hope.

It took some of them a few seconds to put the thought together, but most automatically blurted out, “You are welcome!” As if they were trying to convince me more than I already was that I was welcome in their country. I also was shocked at how many of the locals told me about how sad they were that Americans no longer came to visit Egypt, because the media portrayed such a negative image. All I could say in response to that was, “I know, that’s why I’m here.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alyssa Ramos #SoloTravel Nomad (@mylifesatravelmovie)

What many of you may not realize is that it was us Americans who dominated the tourism demographics in Egypt before it got such a bad name. But since we are all so easily persuaded by what we hear, it was sadly very easy to single-handedly discourage an entire nation from visiting this country. Egypt has not seen much of a decline in tourism from any other country, but ours. And that’s honestly part of the reason why I went there.

I could keep going on and on about reasons why I felt safe in Egypt, but I’d also like to point out a few important points about why it’s a really good idea to go now. First of all, as I mentioned, tours are already expecting an increase in visitors next year,which means all of the major awesome sites are going to resume being crowded AFin no time

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alyssa Ramos #SoloTravel Nomad (@mylifesatravelmovie)

It’s also a good idea to go right now because it’s insanely cheap! The dollar is not only extremely strong in Egypt right now ($1USD = 9-15 EGY), but tours are all discounted, included the one that I personalized myself! There’s also a couple of major discoveries about to be unveiled, like the two chambers found in the Great Temple, and perhaps even a hidden tomb connected to King Tut’s!

I know this is a lot of information to digest, but I really hope if you don’t have the time to read it, you at least see the photos that I took to emphasize how beautiful of a place Egypt really is. Trust me when I say, that it’s definitely a place that you want to see, before it’s too late.