By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Red Sea
The top things to do in El Gouna are kitesurfing, boat trips to the reefs and wrecks, and evenings at Abu Tig Marina or Downtown. Add a round of golf and a day on the calm lagoons. El Gouna is a privately built lagoon town about twenty minutes north of Hurghada. It has no reef off the beach, so all snorkelling and diving starts with a boat. It is a place for water sports and easy evenings. For temples, plan a separate stop in Luxor.
El Gouna is a resort town built on the Red Sea coast from the late 1980s. It spreads across man-made lagoons and small islands, about twenty minutes north of Hurghada. It is clean, quiet and well kept, and it costs more than Hurghada for that.
It is best for kitesurfing, boat trips to the reefs, golf, families with small children and relaxed evenings out. It is weaker on reef snorkelling from the beach and on Egyptian history. For those, look south to Marsa Alam or inland to Luxor.
Kitesurfing is the main reason many people come. The bay faces the northerly wind. Off the north beach the water is flat and shoulder-deep over sand for a long way out. That makes it one of the easiest places to learn, because you can stand up and reset.
The wind is most reliable from spring to early autumn, and spring is windiest. In midwinter some days bring no wind at all. In peak season, book lessons before you arrive.
Three questions sort a good school from a cheap one. How many students share one instructor? Is there a rescue boat? Is kit hire included or extra?
The lagoons and beaches are sand, with no house reef. To see coral you take a boat from the marina. Reefs in the Strait of Gubal are half an hour to an hour away, and Shaab El Erg is the closest of the well-known ones.
Divers can make a long day of the wrecks at Abu Nuhas. This reef has caught ships for more than 150 years, and four wrecks lie along its northern side. Wind cancels this trip first, so book it early in your stay.
El Gouna is also a good place to learn to dive. Before you book a boat, ask which sites it uses and how many people go on board. The size of the group shapes the day more than the price does.
The lagoons are calm, warm and shallow, with no waves. They suit small children and anyone who wants an easy swim. Small boats run between points in town, and a water taxi across the lagoons is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon.
Wakeboarding is on offer too. On windy spring days the lagoons stay usable when the open beach turns cool and sandy.
Evenings are what El Gouna does best on this coast. Abu Tig Marina, at the southern end, is the yacht harbour with the busiest run of bars and restaurants. Downtown sits inland around a square of restaurants and shops, with more residents and fewer boats.
You can walk between restaurants without a taxi, which is rare on the Red Sea. Alcohol is served openly in hotels, the marina and Downtown. Prices are aimed at visitors, so budget more for dinners here than elsewhere in Egypt.
El Gouna has an 18-hole desert golf course laid out among the lagoons. From May onwards, play early, because midday is too hot.
Tennis, squash, go-karting and horse riding are all on offer too. They fill a spare morning between beach days.
The El Gouna Film Festival takes place each autumn. The 2026 edition ran from 15 to 23 October. Hotels fill up and rates rise for that week.
If you want to go, book early and check the festival's own website for next year's dates. If you just want a quiet beach week, pick other dates.
Half-day desert trips head into the hills behind the coast. The quad bike convoy with a staged Bedouin camp is short and dusty. The Roman quarries in the Red Sea Mountains are the real desert trip. They need a 4x4, a full day and booking in advance.
Boat trips to Giftun Island, off Hurghada, are sold in El Gouna too. Luxor is about four hours each way by road. A day trip means a pre-dawn start and eight hours in a car. A night in Luxor is a much better way to see the temples.
October to November and March to April are the most comfortable months. The sea is around 22C in January and February and close to 30C from July to September. December to February is mild by day and cool after dark, so pack a jacket.
Kitesurfers should aim for spring, when the wind is strongest. Divers should leave a spare day in the plan, because strong wind cancels boat trips.
We sell the tours of one Egyptian operator, Memphis Tours. Its set Red Sea itineraries stay in Hurghada, about twenty minutes south of El Gouna. None of them is based in El Gouna itself.
Cairo, Luxor and Hurghada, eight days, starts from US$2,040 per person, with two nights on the coast. Nile Cruise and Hurghada, ten days, starts from US$2,310. Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, eleven days, starts from US$2,560. Both longer trips include three nights on the coast. Excursions on the coast are optional extras.
If you want your beach nights in El Gouna, send us a request for a tailor-made trip. We will build it around Cairo and the Nile first, with the coast at the end.
Yes, if you want kitesurfing, boat trips, golf or easy evenings out in a calm, tidy town. It suits families and travellers who have already seen the temples. If you want a reef off the beach or a tight budget, Marsa Alam or Hurghada fit better.
El Gouna is about twenty minutes north of Hurghada by road. The transfer from Hurghada airport takes thirty to forty-five minutes, because the airport is on the far side of Hurghada.
Not in any useful way. The lagoons and beaches are sand, and there is no house reef. For coral you take a boat from the marina, half an hour to an hour out. For reef straight off the beach, look at Marsa Alam.
Spring through early autumn, with spring the windiest. Midwinter is patchy, with some days giving no wind at all. If kiting is the whole point of the trip, avoid December and January.
It is held each autumn. The 2026 festival ran from 15 to 23 October. Check the festival's own website for 2027 dates, and book hotels early, because they fill up that week.
Yes. The lagoons are shallow and calm, distances are short, traffic is light and the town has a hospital. Tuk-tuks have no seat belts, so use a hotel shuttle or a proper car for small children.
Yes. Alcohol is served openly in hotels, the marina and Downtown. Imported wine and spirits carry heavy duty in Egypt, so local beer and Egyptian wine cost much less.
Three to five days suits most people, added to a trip that also covers Cairo or the Nile. A full week works if you are kiting, golfing or travelling with small children.
Read the current US State Department and UK FCDO travel advice for Egypt before you book.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
8 days · Nile & Red Sea
No boat on this one. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a night in Luxor for both banks, two nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies.
from US$2,040 / per person
10 days · Nile & Red Sea
Egypt in three parts: two days in Cairo, three nights sailing Aswan to Luxor, then three nights on the Red Sea with nothing scheduled. The temples first, the sea afterwards.
from US$2,310 / per person
11 days · Nile & Red Sea
The 10 day Nile-and-Red-Sea route with one more day in Cairo at the end, spent on the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies. Two days in Cairo, three nights on the river, three on the sea.
from US$2,560 / per person
