Hurghada

Britain's cheapest reliable winter-sun-and-diving week turns entirely on which strip you book: lagoon-and-marina El Gouna, the polished bays of Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi, or gritty cheaper Dahar in the old town.

Written by the Departly editorial team Reviewed against GOV.UK on 8 Jun 2026

Find hotels in Hurghada Tours & tickets

Best length

7 nights (the classic package week)

Airport

Hurghada International (HRG), right beside the resort strips

Flight from UK

~5h15 direct charter from Gatwick & Manchester

Best base

El Gouna for walkability; Sahl Hasheesh/Makadi Bay for all-inclusive calm

In short

Hurghada at a glance

Hurghada is the UK's cheapest reliable winter-sun-and-Red-Sea-diving week: a ~5h15 charter from Gatwick or Manchester to a coast of all-inclusive resorts. The whole trip turns on which strip you book, because Hurghada isn't one place. El Gouna is the lower-rise, lagoon-and-marina end; Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay are the polished resort bays 18–30km south; and Dahar/Sakkala is the gritty, cheaper real town. Most people barely leave the resort, and that's fine — but the two things that lift a Hurghada week above 'sunbed and buffet' are a Giftun/Orange Bay snorkel day and one long, brutally early excursion to Luxor's temples. Sort the e-visa before you fly and insure for medical evacuation, because your GHIC counts for nothing here.

The short version

Pick your strip first: El Gouna for lagoons and walkable bars, Sahl Hasheesh or Makadi Bay for polished all-inclusives, Dahar/Sakkala for cheap-and-real.
A Giftun Island/Orange Bay snorkel day (~£20–55pp) is the single best half-day out — the reef, not the resort pool, is the point of coming.
Do Luxor or Cairo as a one-off, eyes-open: Luxor is ~4h each way and worth it; Cairo by road is a punishing 6h, so fly it if you go.
Book a private airport transfer ahead (~£12–20 to central hotels, ~£25–35 to Makadi Bay) rather than haggling a taxi at arrivals.
October–April is the sweet spot for sightseeing-friendly heat; the sea is swimmable year-round and summer gives the best diving but 40°C+ days.
Sort the $30 e-visa before you fly and buy insurance with medical evacuation — your GHIC does nothing in Egypt (GOV.UK).

Hurghada is the workhorse of UK winter sun: a ~5h15 charter from Gatwick or Manchester to a 50km coast of all-inclusive resorts, where a week for two can come in under £1,000 with flights. The thing first-timers get wrong is treating it as a single destination. It isn’t. El Gouna, up north, is a low-rise lagoon town you can actually walk around in the evening; Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay, 18–30km south, are polished resort bays where the plan is to never leave your hotel; and Dahar and Sakkala — the real, central town — are where the souks, dive shops and £1.50 pints are. Pick the wrong one for the holiday you wanted and the week feels off; pick right and it’s the easiest, sunniest reset Europe-adjacent travel offers.

The reef is the actual reason to come, not the buffet. A day boat out to Giftun Island and Orange Bay — two snorkel stops over protected coral, white sand, lunch on board — is the single best half-day in Hurghada, and the northern Red Sea is genuinely world-class for warm, clear, beginner-friendly diving. Pair that with one hard culture day if you want it: Luxor’s temples are ~4 hours each way and worth a single brutal 04:00 start, while Cairo’s 6-hour road slog is only sensible done by air. Beyond that, keep it simple — a desert quad safari for the kids, an evening at the marina, and a lot of doing very little.

The structured planning below — which strip suits you, what each excursion costs in pounds, airport transfers and a realistic budget — picks up from here. The entry, visa and safety facts inherit Departly’s Egypt country review: sort the $30 e-visa before you fly, and insure for medical evacuation, because your GHIC counts for nothing here.

Plan your Hurghada trip

Where to stay in HurghadaNeighbourhoods & hotel areas

Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.

Top things to do in Hurghada

Giftun Island & Orange Bay snorkel day

A day boat to the protected Giftun reef is the main reason to come to Hurghada: typically two snorkel stops on the coral plus beach time on Orange Bay's white sand. A trip with lunch and transfer runs from roughly £20–55pp depending on the boat. Book a smaller-boat trip rather than the 200-tourist party boats for a far better day.

A full day From about £20–55

Check tickets Read the guide

Hurghada Marina & Sakkala

Hurghada Marina is a modern, yacht-lined boardwalk of restaurants and bars, and the adjoining Sakkala district is where the resort strip goes out at night. It is free to wander and pleasant for an evening meal and a stroll. Just don't expect old-Egypt atmosphere — for that you head over to Dahar, the older town.

An evening: a coup…

No tickets required Read the guide

Where to stay first

The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.

El Gouna

£££ premium

A purpose-built lagoon town ~25km north, all canals, marinas, golf and kitesurfing, with low-rise hotels and walkable bar-and-restaurant zones (the Marina and Downtown). The smartest, calmest base if you want to actually stroll out in the evening rather than be stuck on one resort. It is the priciest option and feels more like a manicured village than 'Egypt'.

Best for: Couples, walkable evenings, kitesurfers

Browse hotels ~25km north; ~40 min from HRG

Sahl Hasheesh

££ mid-range

A planned resort bay ~18km south with big five-stars strung along a long, gently shelving beach and a decent house reef for snorkelling straight off the sand. Quiet, polished and self-contained — you come here to not leave the resort. Little to walk to beyond your own hotel and its neighbours.

Best for: All-inclusive calm, snorkel-from-the-beach, families

Browse hotels ~18km south; ~25 min from HRG

Makadi Bay

££ mid-range

A family-first all-inclusive strip ~30km south, anchored by Makadi Water World, one of Egypt's biggest waterparks. Reliable for kids and good-value four-stars, with kitesurfing nearby. The trade-off is total isolation — no town, so you're committed to your resort and its excursions desk.

Best for: Families with kids, waterpark, value all-inclusive

Browse hotels ~30km south; ~30 min from HRG

Dahar (Old Town) & Sakkala

£ value

The real, lived-in Hurghada: Dahar's souk, spice stalls and local koshari joints, and Sakkala's downtown bars, dive shops and the marina. Far cheaper and more textured than the resort bays, but scruffier, hasslier and not a beach-on-the-doorstep base. Best for independent travellers and divers who want town life over a buffet.

Best for: Budget, divers, independent travellers wanting real-town life

Browse hotels Central Hurghada; ~10 min from HRG

Airport to city centre

Hurghada airport transfer options
Option	Time	Cost	Book ahead?
Pre-booked private transfer to central Hurghada	~15-20 min	about £12-20 per car (1-3 people)	The least-hassle option; book before you fly
Pre-booked transfer to Makadi Bay / Soma Bay	~30-45 min	about £25-35 per car	Worth it for the longer southern runs
Transfer to El Gouna	~40 min	about £20-30 per car	Confirm with your hotel or an agency
Taxi from the arrivals rank	~15-25 min to central hotels	agree ~£15-20; drivers may open at £30+	Haggle hard and agree the fare first

Pre-book a door-to-door transfer

When to go

Sweet spot: October to April is the comfortable window — warm 22–28°C days, calm seas and bearable enough to face the long Luxor/Cairo excursions without melting. The sea stays swimmable year-round (low-20s°C in winter, near 29°C in summer), so a beach week works any month. May to September is fierce, regularly clearing 40°C, but that summer heat brings the warmest water and best diving visibility — so it's prime time if you're here for the reef, not the temples.

February half-term and Christmas/New Year are peak UK winter-sun demand, so book those early and expect higher package prices. March–April and October–November are the value sweet spot: warm, calmer crowds and ideal diving conditions. High summer (June–August) is cheapest and best underwater but punishingly hot on land — fine for a pure beach-and-dive week, miserable for a Luxor coach day. Whatever the month, do any temple excursion at dawn before the heat and the coaches arrive.

What it costs

Return charter flights from the UK to Hurghada run roughly £150–£300 on TUI, Jet2 and easyJet from Gatwick and Manchester, and are often cheaper still bundled inside an all-inclusive package — 2026 package deals for two have started from around £216–£270 for short stays. Fares and packages are cheapest outside the school holidays and in the hot summer; they peak over February half-term and Christmas, when Red Sea winter sun is in heavy UK demand.

Daily budget per person

Budgetcheapest £20-35 / day (on top of an all-inclusive)

Mid-range £45-80 / day

Comfortable £110-180+ / day

Giftun/Orange Bay snorkel day (with lunch)	~£20-55pp
Luxor coach day trip	~£45-70pp
Desert quad-bike safari	~£18pp
PADI try-dive	~£30
Local meal in Dahar/Sakkala	~£3-6
Pint off-resort	~£1.50

Sample trip: Because most people go all-inclusive, the real Hurghada budget is the package plus excursions and tips. A 7-night all-inclusive week for two can land around £700–£1,200 including flights and transfers. On top, budget per person for the trip: ~£40 a Giftun snorkel day, ~£50–70 a Luxor day trip, ~£18 a desert safari, ~£30 a try-dive, plus a steady drip of baksheesh — small notes for the porter, the boat crew, the safari guide. Spending money beyond that is mostly drinks off-resort, the souk and the odd à-la-carte dinner.

All GBP figures use £1 ≈ E£69 (June 2026). Hurghada runs on cash and tipping like the rest of Egypt: carry small EGP notes for baksheesh, and at card terminals always choose to pay in Egyptian pounds, never GBP. A pint off-resort is around £1.50, and eating out in Sakkala or Dahar costs a fraction of UK prices.

Book the essentials

Where to stay

Browse staysvia Booking.com

Also in Egypt

CairoGreater Cairo / Lower Egypt LuxorUpper Egypt / Nile Valley AswanUpper Egypt / Nile Valley Sharm El SheikhSouth Sinai / Red Sea

See the full Egypt guide

Hurghada FAQs

Where should UK travellers stay in Hurghada?

Decide what you want from the week first. El Gouna (~25km north) is the calmest, most walkable base, with low-rise hotels and real bars and restaurants to stroll to — best for couples and kitesurfers, and the priciest. Sahl Hasheesh (~18km south) and Makadi Bay (~30km south) are polished all-inclusive bays where you barely leave the resort, with Makadi the family-and-waterpark pick. Dahar/Sakkala, central Hurghada, is the cheap, gritty real-town option for divers and independent travellers who'd rather have souks and dive shops than a buffet.

Is the Luxor or Cairo day trip from Hurghada worth it?

Luxor, yes — once. It's ~310km and roughly 4 hours each way, so it's a ~15-hour day starting around 04:00, but the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Hatshepsut are the densest ancient sites on earth and worth one hard day. Cairo is a different proposition: ~463km and a punishing 6 hours each way by road, so if you must see the Pyramids on a beach week, take the day-trip-by-air option (~1h flight) rather than a 12-hour round-trip in a coach. Many people sensibly do neither and keep Egypt's culture for a separate Cairo-and-Nile trip.

Do you need a visa for Hurghada, and is it safe?

Yes to the visa: UK travellers need Egypt's $30 e-visa (apply online about a week ahead) or a $30 cash visa on arrival — Hurghada is not in the visa-free Sharm/Dahab resort zone, so you can't skip it (GOV.UK). On safety, Hurghada sits well outside the FCDO's warning zones and is treated as a low-risk tourist area; the real-world risks are touts, road safety and stomach upsets rather than anything dramatic. Your GHIC does nothing in Egypt, so insure for medical evacuation, and if you're diving, check the policy covers scuba to depth (GOV.UK).

How do you get from Hurghada airport to your hotel?

Most packages include a coach transfer; if you're independent, pre-book a private transfer rather than haggling at the rank. A car to central Hurghada hotels runs about £12–20, El Gouna £20–30, and the longer southern run to Makadi or Soma Bay about £25–35. Taxi drivers at arrivals may open at £30+ for a short hop — agree the fare before you get in, and have small notes ready. The airport sits right beside the resort strips, so even the southern bays are only 30–45 minutes away.

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