Hurghada

Hurghada was originally an oil town, however there are no longer any oil wells operating. Tourism started to develop in the resort in the late 1980s. The resort falls into three main areas, the central town El Dahar, El Saka, and El Sakala. Locals are generally very friendly and many speak some English.

Coral reefs, spectacular fish and relatively warm water in winter make this a specialist scuba-diving destination. The NW wind makes it suitable for serious windsurfers. The resort is suitable to those seeking a Mediterranean type holiday.

Almost all of the hotels in resort are on the beach. Most offer a range of water sports.

All hotels situated between the coast road and the sea have their own beaches with parasols, sun loungers and windbreaks. They usually have their own bars, snacks and aqua centres for water sports. The natural desert sand is coarse, but has the advantage of not sticking to sun cream covered bodies. Most of the hotels have replaced the coarse sand with fine golden sand.

Dominating the main bazaar area of the town are numerous gold shops offering good value. Other shops offer leatherware, brass and cotton items.

During the day activities would involve sun bathing, sea, and water sports. There's an aquarium, horse riding, camel rides, bowling allwy, tennis and squash. During the night almost all hotels provide either Egyption folklore or showgirl evenings. Almost all pubs and discos are hotel based.

Taba

Taba was part of Israel until 1989 when it's frontier was moved. The resort has over 12 miles of coastline and has the purpose built resort of Taba Heights. Here, several hotels are located as well as a golf course, diving centre and some shops.

The resort is suitable for couples of all ages looking for restful tranquillity and guaranteed sunshine. Particularly popular with divers. It suites those looking for sun and sea.

There are a few hotels located by the border, but a larger and growing number are being built down the coast, particularly in Taba Heights. Most of the accommodation comprimises of 3 and 5 star large scale chain hotels offering all inclusive and half board options.

The beach is long and narrow, has golden sand and theres the man made beaches too. There's a varied selection of water sports and renowned scuba diving centres.

Most of the shopping in the resort is limited to hotel shops, most offering beachwear, diving equipment and the usual tourist paraphernalia.

During the day there's plenty to do; quad biking, beach and pool activities, scuba diving, windsurfing, desert tours, excursions to nearby towns, tennis and golf. During the night it's mostly hotels own entertainment, with a few bars and casino.

Sharm el Sheikh

Sharm el Sheikh was originally a fishing village, but took off as a diving location in the 1980's. Downtown Sharm is a small dusty village with a few hotels. The flat residential hilltop of Ras Um Sid to the east is a developing area. 5 miles north east is Naama Bay, the main area of touristic development, which comprimises of a mile of well spaced hotels with an attractive promenade seperating them from the beach. Behind them is a busy main dual carriageway lined with a row of less well situated hotels and various commercial outlets. In the south west corner of the bay is the commercial centre of the resort, made up of compact grid shops, restaurants, small hotels and diving centres.

The resort is suitable for people who enjoy scuba diving and snorkelling. It's full of unique marin life and spectacular coral reefs.

Most of the accommodation is situated in Naama bay, with a small number in downtown Sharm. Most hotels are 4 or 5 stars, and almost all are of a holiday village style. There are a few self catering options.

Most of the beaches around the resort are man made. Naama Bay beach is made of coarse desert sand. Most of the beaches are controlled by hotels. The beach is covered with sunbeds, parasols, bars, restaurants, water sports operators and crazy golf. There's a beach at Sharm el Maya Bay, which is of finer sand. The bay here is an enclosed marina full of moored boars, so the water is not as clean as other sections across the coast.

During the day there are plenty of activities, these include scuba diving, snorkelling, myriad water sports,beach activities, camel rides, horse riding, quad bikes, bicycles, golf, bird spotting, and most hotels provide entertainment programmes. During the night most of the entertainment is provided by the hotels, which usually have discos and live music bars.

If you like eating out, there's plenty of restaurants of all international persuasions, including chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian, French, Egyptions and more. Most of the restaurants are hotel based, but there are some in both of the centres, and along the beaches and main roads. Naama Bay even has a McDonalds.

Luxor

Luxor is one of the oldest tourist destinations in the world. The city of Luxor on the east bank of the Nile has Luxor Temple as its focal point, with the old town imediately behind. The main hotels, and shops are situated along the attractive main street, called the Cornich or promenade, and it's quite sensitively developed. Most of the qntiquities, tombs and ancient temples are found on the west side. In all, the Luxor experience is typically Egyption combination of awe-inspiring sights, genteel, old-world hospitality and bustly, colourful, commercial areas.

The resort is suitable for those who are interested in ancient history, monuments and cultures. It's a genuine winter resort with great sunbathing weather.

The hotels outside the centre are fairly quiet with more relaxing settings. The hotels near the centre are more convenient for sightseeing. Most of the accommodation availabl is in the 3-4 star range.

Luxor doesn't have a beach.

During the day you can go sightseeing taking in the Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, Mummification Museam and Luxor Museum with displays from temples and tombs including Tutankhamun's felucca. There's hot air trips and golf. During the night there's Hotel Novotel Coralia's disco on a boat, themed dining, sound and light show at Karnak Temple.