Egypt Travel Guide
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Guide
Egypt's cheapest way in is a free stamp that only lets you see a slice of the country. Arrive at a Sinai airport or cross at Taba and you can get a Sinai entry stamp at no cost, good for 14 days on the peninsula, including St Catherine's Monastery and the road down to Sharm El Sheikh. Guides also list Dahab, Nuweiba, and Taba itself as covered. Cairo, Luxor, and Hurghada are not, and going beyond Sinai needs a proper Egyptian visa arranged in advance.
For everywhere else, the money has just gone up. The visa on arrival, sold at airports and border crossings, has cost 30 US dollars since 1 March 2026. The tourist e-Visa rose on 27 April 2026, to 30 dollars for a single entry (from 25) and 65 dollars for multiple entry (from 60). A single entry e-Visa is valid for three months and allows a stay of up to 30 days, while a multiple entry one is valid for six months, with each stay capped at 30 days. The only official application portal is visa2egypt.gov.eg.
Border crossings
- Taba to Eilat, the only crossing built for tourists
It opened on 26 April 1982 after the Egypt-Israel peace agreement and runs around the clock, except during Eid ul-Adha and Yom Kippur. It is currently the only crossing between Egypt and Israel that handles tourists, and Israel calls it the Menachem Begin Crossing. A Sinai stamp does not let you travel from Taba into the rest of Egypt.
- The Libyan frontier is not a sightseeing route
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against all travel to a 20 km strip along the Egypt-Libya border, with the exception of the town of El Salloum. Egypt's other border areas are under military control, and movement of non-military people and vehicles there is restricted, and in some places prohibited.
- Read your own government's current advice on Sinai and Taba
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a security alert on 18 March 2026 titled as an update on the Taba border crossing and safety guidance for U.S. citizens in Sinai. Whatever passport you hold, it is worth checking what your own embassy says before a Sinai trip, since conditions there have changed more than once.
Transit routes
- Ask for the Sinai stamp at the desk
The stamp is handled at the immigration desk. Tell the officer you are staying in Sinai, and guides report they scan your passport and apply a free electronic stamp. Do not ask for it if you plan to leave the peninsula.
- Sinai stamp and a Cairo day trip do not mix
The stamp covers the peninsula and nothing beyond it. A visitor who lands at Sharm and later decides to see the pyramids has to have the right visa in advance, so decide before you fly.
Entry point notes
- Apply for the e-Visa through the official portal
Applications go through visa2egypt.gov.eg, and approval is downloaded and shown on arrival.
- Two sets of visa fees are being quoted, so check the date
Anything written before March or April 2026 will show the old 25 dollar and 60 dollar figures. The current figures are 30 dollars on arrival and for a single entry e-Visa, and 65 dollars for a multiple entry e-Visa. The March rise applies at airports and other points of entry, so it covers land crossings such as Taba as well.