Things to do in Hurghada

• Giftun Islands shelter more than 196 types of hard and soft coral and almost 800 marine species around Big and Small Giftun, protected since a 2004 presidential decree and a major nesting ground for green turtles; boats to the reefs leave from Hurghada's marina each morning.
• Orange Bay spreads a sandbar of white sand on Giftun's shore, its shallow turquoise water calm enough to wade into well offshore before it deepens over the reef; day boats from Hurghada stop here and at nearby Mahmya for lunch and snorkelling.
• Hurghada Museum opened as the Red Sea Governorate's first antiquities museum, its 2,000 artifacts tracing Egypt from the ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman periods through to the Islamic and modern eras, built through a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the private sector.
• Sand City displays large sand sculptures built around mythology and pop culture themes, its artists carving scenes and characters from compacted sand along the Safaga road south of the centre; a workshop area lets visitors try sand sculpting themselves.
• Desert safaris head inland from Hurghada by quad bike or jeep to the dunes and rock formations beyond the coastal strip, most trips stopping at a Bedouin camp for tea and a look at desert life away from the resorts.

Hurghada grew from a small fishing village into one of Egypt's largest resort towns after oil was discovered nearby in 1913, and tourism took over as the main draw once the Red Sea's coral reefs and diving conditions became known abroad. Hotels now line a long stretch of coastline, still anchored by the fishing-village character of Ad-Dahar, the old quarter, and by the boats that head out to the reefs from the marina each morning.

Neighbourhoods to know

Ad-Dahar, in the north, is Hurghada's original quarter, its market streets and everyday shops built for residents rather than visitors. Sigala, the newer downtown strip that grew up to its south, holds the marina, most restaurants and the bulk of the dive operators. Further south again, the Villages Road hotel strip and resort areas such as Magawish stretch along the coast toward Sahl Hasheesh.

Excursions beyond the city

El Gouna, the lagoon town Samih Sawiris began building in 1989, lies around 39 kilometres north along the coast, its canals and marina built in a consistent Nubian-inspired style. Sahl Hasheesh, a newer master-planned resort with its own beachfront promenade and dive centres, sits around 30 kilometres south, with Makadi Bay's hotel strip a further stretch beyond it at around 39 kilometres. Luxor, best known for the Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple, lies around 290 kilometres inland and usually makes for a long single day trip or an overnight stay.

When to go and for how long

Winter, from October to April, brings the easiest weather for walking Ad-Dahar's streets and the marina, once summer's peak heat has eased. Two to three days cover the old town, the marina and a boat trip out to the Giftun Islands at an easy pace, with extra days useful for a trip further along the coast or inland to Luxor.

Getting around

Microbuses run fixed routes along the coastal strip, picking up and dropping off anywhere along the way, while taxis and ride-hailing apps cover routes the microbuses do not reach. There is no metro or tram: distances between Ad-Dahar, Sigala and the southern hotel strip are usually covered by a short taxi ride rather than on foot. The Red Sea reefs off the marina are one half of places to visit in Egypt; the other is the run of pyramids and Nile temples inland, with Luxor around 290 kilometres away.