Sharm El Sheikh day trips: Tiran, the desert or Mount Sinai?

Choose by how much time you want to give. Our Tiran Island trip and the Ras Mohammed boat are days at sea on the reefs. The quad and camel safari is about two hours of riding in the Sinai Desert, and Old Sharm by evening is an evening in town. Mount Sinai is a night drive and a climb for the sunrise. Cairo and Luxor are full days by plane, and the flights are not included in the tour price.

Our Sharm El Sheikh tours side by side

Every one of these tours starts with a pickup at your hotel in Sharm El Sheikh. The table compares what each tour itself lists.

Tiran Island: the sea day

Snorkeling means swimming at the surface with a mask, a breathing tube and fins to look at the reef below. The Tiran boat sails northeast of Sharm El Sheikh into the Gulf of Aqaba. You swim, snorkel or relax at the Blue Lagoon, make several more stops at coral reefs, have an open buffet lunch on board, and get more time in the water as the boat sails toward Tiran Island before it returns to the marina. Snorkeling equipment, bottled water and soft drinks are included; diving is an optional extra.

The listing does not name the marina or the other reef spots, and it does not say you go ashore on Tiran. For how this day compares with the boat days from Hurghada and Marsa Alam, see Giftun, Tiran or Port Ghalib: which sea day?

The Ras Mohammed day goes by boat from the marina to snorkeling stops on the reefs of Ras Mohammed National Park, with gear included, then lunch on board and White Island, a sandbank in the park with time to swim. The boat is shared, while the transfers and the guide are private. The national park entrance fee is in the included list, but the tour is new on this site: its program, the park fee among it, is confirmed with your quote.

The quad and camel safari: the desert in a few hours

A quad bike is a four-wheeled motorbike built for sand and rough tracks. After a safety briefing and driving instructions, a guide leads a ride of about two hours across dunes and mountain paths. Midway you stop at a Bedouin tent for Bedouin tea (the Bedouin are Arab desert tribes; the inclusions call this stop a Bedouin village), then ride a camel led by local Bedouins and stop at Echo Mountain. Quad rental fees and the camel ride are included.

The listing offers either a sunrise or a sunset ride but gives no time of day, so say which you want when you book through our contact page. Other desert days are on the desert experiences page.

Old Sharm: an evening in town

Old Sharm by evening is private, just your group, with a tour leader. The Al Sahaba Mosque is 1.4 km from your hotel, about 2 min without traffic, and the Old Market is a short drive from it, with spice stalls, shops and cafes and free time before the drive back. It is new on this site: its program follows how the day usually runs and is confirmed with your quote. More evenings are on the evenings page.

Mount Sinai: the night climb

This tour is private, just your group. You cross the Sinai Desert at night, 215.6 km from your hotel to Mount Sinai, about 3 h 10 min without traffic, and climb with a Bedouin guide to reach the summit for sunrise. Next comes St Catherine's Monastery, built under Emperor Justinian I, which holds what is believed to be the Burning Bush; its entry fee is included.

The way back runs through Dahab, 128.6 km from St Catherine's, about 1 h 36 min without traffic, for lunch at a seaside restaurant (optional, not included) and time at the local markets. The last drive, from Dahab to your hotel, is 99.7 km, about 85 min without traffic. The whole night is set out in Mount Sinai at night: how the sunrise climb runs.

Cairo or Luxor by plane

Both days start with the drive to Sharm El Sheikh airport, 20 km from your hotel, about 19 min without traffic. Both are private, with an English-speaking Egyptologist (a specialist in ancient Egypt) and lunch at a local restaurant, and on both the flights are not included in the tour price.

• Cairo: the Grand Egyptian Museum first, whose collection includes the treasures of Tutankhamun, then the Giza pyramids 4.9 km away, the Sphinx and Valley Temple, lunch and Khan El Khalili bazaar. Entrance inside the Great Pyramid is not included, and a felucca ride (a traditional Nile sailboat) is an optional extra.
• Luxor: Karnak Temple, 8.6 km from Luxor airport (about 11 min without traffic), Luxor Temple, lunch, then the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple and the Colossi of Memnon. Entrance fees to these sites are included; entrance to the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I is not.

How the Cairo days by plane from each Red Sea resort differ is covered in Cairo in a day from Hurghada: how the day runs.

Weather in Sharm El Sheikh

These are average daily air temperatures from World Meteorological Organization climate normals, not sea temperatures.

Which day fits

• A few hours free: the quad and camel safari.
• A day on the water: Tiran Island or Ras Mohammed, both with lunch on board.
• An evening in town: Old Sharm, the Al Sahaba Mosque and the Old Market.
• Sunrise from a summit: Mount Sinai, a night on the road with St Catherine's Monastery and Dahab after it.
• Ancient Egypt: Cairo for the pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, or Luxor for Karnak and the Valley of the Kings.

All our tours from the resort are on the Sharm El Sheikh page.