Ive only ever done A/i in egypt Shirley so I'm probably not the best judge on costs for eating out etc . from what Ive been told and gained from here is that it is fairly cheap to eat there.

If you are thinking Sharm What you will find yourself up against is that most of the B+B's will be in Naama bay (the main town) and accomodation prices there always seem to be higher . Most of the A/Is are outside Naama bay and prices reflect that. For that reason what I'm trying to say is that theres often not a great deal of difference. in the price .

Naama bay is the main town and you would need to get a taxi/hotel courtesy bus if you are not staying there . Sharm is a very long stretch of coast and goes on for miles and basically outside of the town it's wonderful red sea on way side of your hotel and desert on the other . from what Ive been reading lately though there appears to be some life at the nabq bay end of sharm .

There are other options such as El gouna which has many fans here . there you will find a down town area and a marina for eating drinking and a good selection of B+B/HB or A/I. it sounds lovely . hoping to get there myself soon.

lyn

Thanks Lyn, so much to think about and so little time to research - only just over 14 months
Seriously, we like to book well in advance, so hoping at least to choose a country in the next month or so. I'm probably looking at booking around end of September (finances permitting).

shirley the easter school holiday time is not cheap . Ive just booked some flights (sharm is only a ten minute taxi drive from the airport. easy peasy to DIY) that I thought were a good price for next year. Flight prices are normally around the £400 mark for the school easter holidays but I booked some for 4th april for just over £300 . TC flights with travel republic . flights to Hurgarda for El gouna where under £300 .

Ive always booked way in advance for Egypt and the last 2 years prices have gone up quite considerably after ive booked . It's a very popular easter destination and one of the best times to go weather wise

lyn

Are you thinking on red sea resorts only? I have always gone back to Cairo, as I am not a fan of big tourists areas as prices on everything are much higher. In the city you can find better deals, and a lot to do. I am on process of writing my blog, and recommendations of places to eat.

I stayed in 5* hotels three times, and also in 3* hotel for 100l.e a night, which was very pleasant experience as it gave me much more spending money, the hotel provided breakfast but I never woke up for it, as I was always out until late every day. I eat out every day for 3weeks, the prices and restaurants vary, and the maximum I spent was £20 but mostly a lot less.

Hi Sara - I'll probably be going with Shirley, & it is one of the Red Sea Resorts which we're looking for. I have been to Cairo, and visited the pyramids etc, but would like a beach resort this time.

Hi Helen
There are a lot you can do around Egypt so what are you looking in specific? Just sharm/ hurghada ? My friend been to a tour around all Egypt, I think was for two weeks, she paid around £300 ( not exactly sure but it was around it) which included flights, hotel stay in each stop, sites tickets, and a lot more, she only had to pay for her meals. The above is for low budget, and stay in small hotels, if you just want relaxing holiday on the beach, I would say hurghada better than sharm, as sharm is very commercialised.

thanks Sara I'll take a look at Hurghada.

Hiya

I do think that if you want to go B&B you really need to be in one of the hotels in Namma Bay or possibly Ras el um Sid. As both of these places should have restaurants you can get to quite easily.

Namma Bay you will just be able to walk to them and at Ras um Sid you can get to Il Mercato which is a new shopping center with restaurants and Old Market is five mins in a cab, but be warned as a lot of Brits dont like Old Market and find it dirty. Didnt venture there myself as for a week I found enough restaurants by cabbing to NB every other night and eating in my hotel and El Fanar the other nights.

There is also Fantasia at the ras end which has a show and a street of Egyptian restaurants running along the side of it.

Have you seen the maps that are around that give the locations of all the hotels ?

Im sure Lyn will post them if you would like as she has them saved to her favorites.

These are only of Sharm though not Hurgharda.

Sometimes if you look at them it gives you a better perspective on where you would prefer to be based.

Doe

If you choose Hurghada pick a good hotel, some of my friends went in the summer and was packed in with a load of Germans getting rather drunk and very loud. I cannot direct you to a good hotel as do not know it, but got put off by some reviews on other sites.
Sharm we have been a lot of times and have eaten Bb, HB and A1.

If the prices remained nearly the same as they did in 2005, then eating out was the best for us, plenty of different choices to other restaurants.
Last year was the first time we went A1 and our hotel went A1 also. I didnt enjoy it very much, but the free drinks were good, and also the fact the food option for us was a free upgrade from BB to A1 by thomson.

When we went back last Nov the food had improved in 5 months, so now we are converted to A1. Food in Naama bay has changed, its dearer and most of the normal restaurants serve the same food. Half of the food outlets have changed or shut down. Costs are dearer as well, we found this out having a gander at the menus.

If i could afford eating out all the time i think i still would, but i certainly enjoyed our food at the sonesta, piled on the pounds

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen

In the you need them Helen/shirley

http://sharm-el-sheikh.ovh.org/mapa_lewa_engl.html

http://www.sharm-el-sheikh.ovh.org/mapa_prawa_engl.html

As its within walking distance of Naama bay and A/I which we prefer Im giving the sonesta Beach resort a go this April after all Michelles recommendations . I'll be coming after her if its pants

I think its your fault the prices for the Sonesta Beach have gone up so much Lyn, they must have heard you are coming and ordered in the smoked salmon and caviar on the AI.

Thanks Lyn,
just been studying those maps and if I'm reading them correctly there don't seem to be many bars and restaurants about. The nost I could find was a cluster around the Old Town and then the odd one or two elsewhere. Would that be right?

Move that 1st map over to the right and you will see naama bay . You may need to click on the bottom right hand corner to get it to stay put
Just had a look and no it isnt really showing many shops bars etc but there are loads in naama bay , along the prom, huge shopping area behind including TGI's /hard rock etc and many backstreets leading from these .
I think its more of a hotel position map .

Thanks again Lyn,

I've been reading other threads and there does seem to be a fair bit going on in Naama Bay I've just started another thread enquiring about prices in the resorts. I hope someone can help. I'm getting quite excited as Egypt is looking like the probable winner for Easter 2010

Shirl sharm is brilliant for a winter destination, virtually no rain and constant sun

I do not recommend TGi fridays, if you don't believe me, check the toilet out before you decide (if you decide) to go there.

Lyn, i will eat a camel if you dont like it

I think i should be on with free hotel rooms by all my recommendations lol.

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen

Another thing to consider with AI versus BB is that the all inclusives tend to be much bigger and livelier than the B&B hotels on the promenade (though I'm sure there will be exceptions!). I found the 'animation' far lower key at the Novotel and the Maritim Jolie Ville and the hotels were generally a lot quieter than at the all inclusive Conrad or Hilton Sharks Bay. That suited me but if you have a family you may want something with more of a buzz.

I concur with Michelle about TGI Fridays. I went there on a Thomsons night out. It semed that about 200 Brits all met up and were herded from one bar to another like cattle. My idea of absolute hell and what I don't like about Brits abroad- however, my 18 year old daughter had a wonderful time so I'm probably just past it! On the other hand I love the Hard Rock Cafe. Food is reasonably priced and in the evenings staff dance to tunes such as YMCA - great fun!

Never made it to TGI's but we did make it to the Hard Rock. Did feel like you could be anywhere in the world rather than Egypt though, but I guess that is the idea.

My two who were youngish teens at the time liked it there. Very lively loads of dancing waiters.

I guess one thing to weigh up when thinking about AI verses B&B is that in most of the B&B hotels there have 3 or 4 paying restaurants, so wherever you locate yourself, if you have a lazy day by the pool and can't be bothered to go out that evening, you can still get a nice meal in your hotel at cost anyway.

The Rennaisance Golden View Beach had two lovely pool bars that did wraps, fresh pizzas etc that they would make for you for lunch and waiters deliver to your sunbed round the pool. We found two lunches served 4 of us.

It also had a Mexican resturant that people from other hotels used to come to.

If I manage to get back their this spring though I think I will go AI as I am on a bit of a budget, but wouldn't hesitate to go B&B if money was no object.

Thanks all. We are on a budget, as we're also hoping to get away in the summer. Can't make up our minds though whether to make Easter or summer our main holiday. Can't say we really like AL although we have been twice, as we like to eat in different places. However if it is much cheaper to go AL then that's what will decide it.

The B&B hotels and the AI seem to come out as similar prices when I check Helen. Unless you go to for a really cheap 3* B&B which I wouldn't recommed.

You will probably be better going AI and then eating out a few different evenings to get the best of both worlds, unless you strike a really competative B&B deal in one of the better hotels in Namma Bay.