Egypt is one of the world’s oldest and greatest civilizations to have ever lived on this earth.
This is clearly shown in the magnificent pyramids and tombs that were built thousands of years ago. And probably the main reason you decided to visit Egypt in the first place.
But Egypt is also known as a massive tourist trap with many Egypt scams around every corner……
Fear not, with these easy travel tips you will be able to spot an Egypt tourist trap miles away and avoid getting scammed.
Should You Visit Egypt?
Have you read similar Egypt reviews as the ones below?
Articles like the ones above are what we continuously came across when preparing for our Egypt holiday.
You have probably read similar statements if you are also planning an Egypt trip.
Let us show you in this Egypt scams article that visiting Egypt is not that bad at all in real life!!
Read on and learn from our personal experience during our visit to Egypt and you’ll be ready to avoid any Egypt tourist trap that you may encounter.
Egypt: The “Worst Place” on Earth
Before we started our Egypt trip we seemed to read nothing but horror stories about terrible, fearful, and intimidating tourist traps towards tourists.
Many of the stories even warned to never visit Egypt! A very bold statement in our opinion.
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Once we set foot in Egypt, we found the actual situation only a snippet of what we had expected.
Of course, there will be some locals trying to scam you out of extra money, but all these tourist traps can be avoided if you prepare yourself with some knowledge and common sense.
In this Egypt scams article, we will offer you some travel tips on how to make your Egypt holiday less stressful, less fearful and you more knowledgeable about Egypt scams and Egypt tourist traps.
These tricks don’t only apply to Egypt scams, however, for every other country you would visit you can apply the same rules and tips to avoid getting scammed.
Most of all, we hope that it lessens any fear and doubts anyone may have incurred about visiting Egypt.
Seriously, it is NOT that bad! We found the majority of Egyptians nothing but friendly and welcoming!
Egypt Scams: Educate Yourself and Be Prepared!!
We want to share our experiences, the real prices of everyday items, and easy tips on how to prevent yourself from falling into an Egypt tourist trap.
Once you have this understanding you will have a massive advantage before you even step foot in Egypt because you will know what is true and what is a scam.
Remember the majority of Egyptians are good people.
Our first tip to avoid getting scammed is for you to acknowledge that Egypt is not a Western country – embrace this before you even land in Egypt. Everything in your home country that would be deemed crazy can be normal life in Egypt.
The cities can be a loud, hectic, and chaotic shock to all of your natural senses, making you think WTF is going on here! Of course, it’s mental, but also kind of cool at the same time!
Go with the flow and embrace the madness!
We totally understand that it can be astounding to people who have never experienced these parts of the world, especially when you see things such as pollution, dusty streets, chaotic and noisy traffic, lots of street dogs and cats, and sadly some extreme poverty.
Whether you are in a rich area or a poor area the streets are filled mainly with friendly, funny, and resourceful people who all say to you with a smile – Welcome to Egypt.
In fact, the majority of locals that we spoke to were honest people who just wanted to have a chat and laugh with us.
Egypt Scams: It’s Easy, Just Say No Thank You!
Our next tip when visiting Egypt is to make you aware that everywhere you go, you will be asked if you would like a taxi, a boat, a tour, come into my shop, one minute please, and many more……
Just say no thank you politely and walk on, nothing more. We can’t emphasize this enough!!!
We have seen so many people that get involved and end up giving in. It is OK to say no and walk on!
If people follow you, say it again – “No thank you, I am OK“. Now and again you will have one person who becomes a bit overly persistent. Then you must stop and tell them – “Please stop, I am OK” using a bit more assertiveness, and you guessed it, walk on!
There will be no trouble, the person will give up and leave you alone. Treat your fellow humans with respect, and be kind but firm.
Our Experience
When ordering food in many takeaway restaurants you will pay first at the cash register and then be handed two receipts.
One of these receipts you then hand over to the people at the cooking stations who will cook your food. Your second receipt is for you to show at the end when collecting your food. We did not know this at first!
A “friendly” local then came out of now where and proceeded to help us and show how the system works. Good for us, because we would have been standing there for ages waiting for nothing!
We proceeded to chat with the kind stranger for about 10 minutes. Then we started to realize that he was trying to set us up for his tourist trap and get us to go back to his gallery to buy stuff, quite persistent he was!
We told him we had no interest and would be heading back to our hotel with our food. Again he insisted that we must come back with him to have a look at his gallery because he had helped us.
I politely put my hand on his shoulder and said with a smile, “We can guarantee you, the only place we will be walking to is our hotel, but thank you for the chat and your help”.
And that was it! He walked away and left us alone, Easy no?! Don’t be afraid to say no and do not get bullied into places you do not want to go to.
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Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 1 – Nothing is Free!
You are walking down the street and a charming man puts a bracelet in your hand, a lovely lady hands you a pretty flower, or the cool security guard lets you into the out-of-bounds area. Nothing is free!!
Unless you want the bracelet, the rose, or see the restricted area, then don’t expect it to be free and you will have to pay for it.
Another quite common Egypt tourist trap is the friendly local walking alongside you telling you the history of the pyramids or whatever tourist sight you are visiting, he is now your guide!
Inside your brain, you may think fxxk off, but again politely say no thank you I am OK! Don’t be guilt-tripped into “I am just trying to make a living” Unless you want the service, say no.
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 2 – Have Lots of Small Notes
One of our favourite tips for avoiding Egypt scams is to always try and break up the bigger notes like 100 and 200. Often people will “never have the correct change to give back.”
By having lots of small amounts this can be avoided. Even in major Egypt attractions where there are hundreds of people visiting that day the poor souls working there won’t have the change to give back to you, despite a drawer full of cash in front of them!
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 3 – Scammed in Restaurants
The only time we got caught in an Egypt scam was when we went for dinner one evening.
We ordered two sandwiches for 50 EGP each and a side dish that was 30 EGP, a total price of 130 EGP. When we went to pay the bill we were quoted 280 EGP.
We argued about the price only to be told 15% service fee and 15% government tax were included on to the bill.
Again, we argued that even if that was the case our bill should be around the 170 EGP mark and not the price given. At this stage, all staff lost the capability to speak English all of a sudden.
They knew that we knew they were trying to scam us. In the end, we gave an agreed-upon 200 EGP and walked out the door.
One of our own rules is to pay at the start of every meal. We forgot this time and got caught, lesson learned.
Sometimes you need these refreshers to remind yourself! Luckily this was the only time we fell into an Egypt tourist trap and to be fair 95% of restaurants will be honest and charge correctly.
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 4 – Taxis
There’s nothing more welcoming than getting off a 10-hour bus drive tired and cranky only to be surrounded by taxi drivers all shouting at you to use their service. Always great craic that is eh!
Try not to be unnerved by all of this and do not go with the first driver if you are unsure.
As always be firm but polite and show that friendly smile. You can even have a bit of a laugh and ask them with a calm voice – Why are you shouting? Often they will laugh at themselves.
At the end of the day, Egypt is a poor country and all workers compete with each other to get any possible fair.
To prevent yourself from yet another Egypt tourist trap, when taking a taxi, agree to the fair first and pay at the end of your trip.
Should you not fancy taking a taxi then often the major cities will have Uber as well. This can also be used as a bargaining tool for taxi drivers if you show them how much Uber is charging.
Not every major city will have Uber available and sometimes you will have to take a taxi.
In that case, we have a magic formula which is 10 EGP per kilometer + 25 %. So for example, a 5 KM ride should cost 5×10=50 +25% (1.25) equals 60.25 EGP.
Tip – Do your homework before you arrive. Use Google Maps to see the distance from the bus/train station to your hotel. That way you will have an estimate of how much the fare will cost you.
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 5 – Negotiating
Not so much an Egypt scam or tourist trap, but negotiating prices is a part of Egyptian life and culture.
When haggling with street vendors or shopkeepers selling souvenirs, sunglasses, clothing, etc. you should not settle for the first price given to you.
Often you can bring that price down by at least 33%. Were you to be an excellent haggler you may even get that price down 50% or even more. One day I bought a pair of sunglasses for 100 EGP down from 280 EGP.
However, some vendors are very honest and the prices are so cheap you just pay for the asked amount.
This happened when I bought another pair of sunglasses for 60EGP and an NY cap for 50EGP. Go on, convert that to your own currency, and tell me how good of a deal that was!
Like in SE Asia, such as Thailand and Indonesia, many vendors have calculators that will show you the asking price. You then type in your price and go back and forth until you reach an agreed price.
The vendor will start very high, so that means you start very low, but have a price in your head of what you are willing to pay.
It’s a game of chess and can be a bit of craic as well. If you are unhappy with the final price quoted say no thank you and walk away.
Unless it is a crazy price that you are demanding the vendor will say okay and give it to you for your price.
*Tip – If the vendor asks you, What do you like? Charm the socks of the seller and reply that you like Egypt! They love it!!
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 6 – Day Tours
We learned during our Egypt holiday that it is important to negotiate for day tours as well. We were quoted many different prices for a day trip to the Bent Pyramid and the Step Pyramid.
One tour agency wanted us to pay 3000 EGP/90 USD per person which is insane money in Egypt.
Our hotel told us he could arrange a tour for 1200 EGP in total, but in fairness, he informed us that there were cheaper options.
We ended up paying 800 EGP/25 USD in total for a private driver who drove us around from 9 to 5. Shop around, it will be worth your while.
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 7 – Scammers, Beggars and Street Kids
When you are walking on the street during your Egypt holiday it is going to be inevitable that someone will ask you:
- Excuse me one minute please.
- Come this way.
- Can I ask you a question?
- I am from Syria.
- Where are you from?
- You look Egyptian.
- Again don’t be afraid and intimidated, it’s very simple. Reject with confidence, say no thank you and walk on. Do not follow somebody back to their gallery because they will try and bully you into buying shite for high prices!
- Egypt is not known for violent robberies and the only thing that will happen is you getting pestered. Our experiences with actual real homeless people were that they would say hello and “Welcome to Egypt” and wouldn’t even ask for a penny.
- Guaranteed at some stage street kids and even ordinary citizens will try and stop you on the street and ask you for money….Same routine again – No thank you, keep walking, stay firm yet polite and they will stop following you. The majority of the kids were simply curious and wanted to say “Hello” and “What’s your name?”
Egypt Scams: Tourist Trap 8 – Real Prices
During your Egypt trip, having some knowledge of everyday item prices you already have an upper hand and less of a chance to get scammed.
When you are in a shop picking up items try and keep track of the estimated cost.
Most shops also have calculators. If you are unsure about the price given then ask to be shown on the calculator. In case there is none, you always have one on your phone.
Another alternative is if you know the exact amount it should be, then give that exact amount.
Don’t let this freak you out too much though. We would estimate that around 90% of shopkeepers did ask for the correct price.
The only place we found where shopkeepers were overcharging was in Giza and Luxor.
| A 0.5 litre of water | 5 EGP |
| a 1.5 litre of water | 7 EGP |
| Snacks like nonbrand chocolate, cake, biscuits | 8 EGP |
| A coffee | 15 – 25 EGP |
| Kosheri (which is the national dish of pasta, rice, lentils, meat and sauce) | 25 – 30 EGP |
| A shawarma | 30 – 50 EGP |
| Snacks like non-brand chocolate, cake, biscuits | 5 EGP per item |
| a kilo of bananas | 20 EGP Per KG. |
Understandably there will be people who disagree with what we are saying. “Sure it’s only a small bit more they are charging.”
Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We do not like getting overcharged, even if it is small amounts, it is the principle of honesty that we value highly.
Egypt Scams: Summary
What have you learned about your Egypt trip? Let’s sum it up for you.
- The majority of Egyptian people you will encounter will be honest, friendly, and kind people.
- If you are feeling hassled – be firm but polite, and don’t be afraid to have a laugh, often they will laugh with you!
- Say no thank you with confidence, a smile and a tap on the shoulder go a long way.
- Choose your battles when haggling with street vendors, is it really worth all that hassle for 5 EGP? For shopkeepers overcharging, however, if the price is 5 EGP then I am paying 5 EGP!
- When haggling tell people you love Egypt (which was true for us) and immediately they warm to you. Egyptians are very proud of their country.
- Shop around for tours, do not pay Western prices.
- Have lots of smaller notes.
- Pay for meals straight away, don’t give the chance to receive a higher bill.
- Most important one of all, don’t be a dick!
Repeatedly people say “I would never go to such and such country because someone told me or I read online that such and such”……Be your own judge, experience it for yourself.
Especially when the person giving that advice has never even been to that country. Often the online news is far from reality as well. Yes, I know the irony, you are reading this online now!
Should You Consider Visiting Egypt?
That’s an easy answer for us. We would absolutely recommend a visit to Egypt.
Don’t let any of the above deter you from visiting Egypt, they are just tools, tips, and advice for Egypt scams and tourist traps that can be applied anywhere in the world.
Egypt is a fascinating country with lots of world-class attractions, plenty of friendly locals, and some great prices and we loved our visit!
Put it on your bucket list!
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