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I have booked an all inclusive trip to Egypt for 2 weeks in January. It includes a cruise on Nile for a week and a week in a resort in Hurghada. I would like to know if it is safe to visit Egypt in this time. Are there any attacks against tourists in Cairo since I am planning to go to Cairo for 2 day in these 2 weeks.

If someone was there recently and could throw some light on the current situation would be really helpful.

We are travelling from Germany and with the recent aircraft crash in Sharm, I was worried about any such presence of threats due to ISIS and is life at risk when travelling around Luxor, Aswan, Cairo, Hurghada if we just stick to the touristy places.

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    Did you mean to tag this "Egptian-citizens"?
    – Golden Cuy
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 9:28
  • What level of risk counts as "safe" for you? Where are you traveling from? What especially concerns you about safety (violence, road safety, boat safety, property, something else)?
    – CMaster
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 9:36
  • edited my question @CMaster
    – smyslov
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 9:42
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    "Is it safe" is still a value judgement, hence opinion based and unanswerable here. Either ask "what is the current level of risk to tourists visiting <destinations> in Egypt", or try to explain what level of risk counts as "safe" to you.
    – CMaster
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 10:15

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I'm sure that the German government provides travel advice for its citizens, however I couldn't find any in the English section of the federal foreign office's website. The German language advice on Egypt can be found here (thanks @simbabque, who indicates it gives similar advice to the UK's FCO).

The UK's foreign office does however proide a fairly detailed page of advice on Egypt. They note that

There is a high threat from terrorism.

however

Over 900,000 British nationals visit Egypt every year. Most visits are trouble-free.

There is blanket advice against travel to North Sinai at all, and advice against "all but essential travel" to the rest of Sinai and any of the western desert regions. However, none of the areas you mention visitng are in these areas. The fortified areas of Hurgada and Sharm El Sheikh are mentioned as being especially secure, althogh flying to or from Sharm is advised against. (The question remains as to why the FCO feels that other Egyptian airports are safer, as one would expect similar security measures at all of them. Perhaps there are specific issues at Sharm el Sheik). Edit: The Egyptian government has just claimed (after this answer was placed) that there is no evidence of terrorist involvement in the recent plane crash.

Beyond issues of terrorism and violence, the FCO draws particular attention to dangerous conditions on the roads, saying that

Road travel

Accidents are common, mainly due to poor road conditions, dangerous driving and non-enforcement of traffic laws. The UN estimates that road accidents killed almost 16,000 people in Egypt in 2011.

and that many incidents have occured on Nile Cruises:

River and sea travel

In the past, overcrowding and poor safety standards have led to several accidents on Red Sea ferries and Nile cruisers. There were four significant fires on Nile cruisers between September 2006 and November 2012.

So it would seem prudent to enquire with your travel organisers as to the standards that they hold your vehicle operators to.

Is this safe enough for you? That is a personal value judgement, but the UK's authorities at least are not stating that what you wish to do is something that is necessarily avoided.

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    The German Auswaertiges Amt Reisewarnungen are at auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Laenderinformationen/00-SiHi/Nodes/…. It basically says stuff like "don't drive around alone, don't go into the desert, be careful with demonstrations, don't go to Gaza; there have been terrorist attacks that might also target foreigners"
    – simbabque
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 12:52
  • I have a friend in the MOD and his advice regarding Egypt is 'don't be a statistic. It isn't worth the risk of getting your head removed.'
    – Gusdor
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 12:53
  • @Gusdor - that implies that he thinks being kidnapped and held hostage is a major threat in Egypt? Would be well down my list of concerns I think.
    – CMaster
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 13:22
  • @CMaster I would expect your list of concerns to be formed by the diplomatic phrasing issued in travel warnings. Can you imagine if the travel advice was 'don't go here, you may be shot'? The Egyptians would wet the bed. Turns out, a whole bunch of UK travellers did actually get shot in that part of the world this year (Tunisia). I really want to go to Cairo but if a guy working at this level tells me its a bad idea I'm inclined to pay attention.
    – Gusdor
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 13:35
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    @CMaster I wouldn't expect you to accept my anecdotal advice but I can recommend avoiding Bournemouth at all costs. Dorset is a wretched hive ;)
    – Gusdor
    Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 14:09

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