A passport valid for at least six months, and a visa. The visa is paid in cash on arrival, or you can buy it in advance on the official government portal. No vaccinations are required if you are flying in directly from Europe or North America.
That is the short answer. The rest covers which of the three routes suits which trip, where the expensive trap is, and the one mistake with the Sinai stamp that catches people out every season.
The passport
It must be valid for at least six months from the day you arrive, with at least one blank page. This is not a guideline. Airlines check it at the gate, and Egyptian immigration checks it again.
A practical habit worth having: photograph the data page and put it somewhere you can reach from a phone. If the passport goes missing, that photograph is the difference between an afternoon at a consulate and three days.
Three ways to get a visa
| Route | Cost | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| Online e-visa, official portal | as published on the portal | If you would rather have it settled before you fly |
| On arrival at the airport | a fee in cash, as published by the Federal Foreign Office | The normal route for most package and tailor-made trips |
| Egyptian embassy or consulate | set by the mission | Multiple entry, or simply peace of mind |
On arrival
You buy the visa at a bank desk before passport control, not at the immigration counter. Payment is in cash, and change for large notes is not guaranteed, so bring it close to exact. The visa is valid for a stay of up to thirty days.
Cairo is replacing the physical sticker with a digital visa and a QR code. That carries an additional processing fee, payable by card only. Until the rollout is finished, carry both cash and a card.
Online, in advance
The official portal is visa2egypt.gov.eg. The e-visa is issued by email and you print it.
This is where the only real money trap on the whole trip sits. A large number of commercial sites resell exactly the same e-visa at three to six times the price, and they rank well in search results because they pay to. They are not fraudulent, they are simply expensive. Check that the address bar ends in .gov.eg before you type a card number.
The Sinai stamp, and the mistake people make with it
Arrive by air at Sharm El Sheikh or overland at Taba, and you can be given a free entry permission stamp for up to fifteen days instead of a visa. It covers Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba.
It does not cover Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada or any Nile cruise. Travellers who book a day trip to the mainland on this stamp are in the country without a valid visa. The German Federal Foreign Office notes that breaches of the stated purpose of stay can bring deportation and multi-year entry bans.
If your itinerary includes both the Sinai and the Nile, buy the ordinary visa. Ask before you fly, not on the day you leave.
Health
Nothing is compulsory if you arrive directly from Europe or North America. Proof of yellow fever vaccination is required for everyone aged nine months and over arriving from a country with transmission risk. Egypt also requires polio vaccination proof from travellers arriving from the DR Congo, Kenya, Niger or Syria, given between four weeks and twelve months before arrival.
Which vaccinations are recommended is set out in the travel and safety advice of the German Federal Foreign Office. Whether they make sense for you is a question for your doctor or a travel clinic.
Two points that matter on our own trips:
- Schistosomiasis. Do not swim in still or slow-moving fresh water. That means the Nile and the irrigation canals. Pools and the Red Sea are not a concern.
- Dengue. The German Federal Foreign Office has information on dengue and other health risks in its travel and safety advice.
Travel insurance is not an entry requirement, and it is still the one line item we would never cut. Treatment is billed privately and repatriation runs into five figures. Our prices do not include insurance.
Cash at the border
- Egyptian pounds: in or out only up to a set limit.
- Foreign currency: above a set value, declare it on arrival. Undeclared sums above that may not be taken out again.
- Declaring is simple. If you are above the limit, declare the amount on arrival. It takes a couple of minutes and that is the end of it.
Desert trips: the part nobody mentions
If your trip goes west of the Nile, read this before you book it with anyone.
The German Federal Foreign Office warns against travel to remote areas of the Sahara and to the border regions with Libya and Sudan. For excursions into the western and south-western desert it states that they require permission and are run by a recognised operator. Which areas this covers is set out in the current travel advice, and it can change.
Exactly which oases and desert areas are covered is redrawn from time to time. Before a desert journey it is worth reading the current advice rather than a travel page.
Two things follow. Do not drive into the desert independently. And ask any operator selling you the White Desert or Siwa whether they hold the permit and who is driving. We would rather answer that question before you have to ask it.
Frequently asked
Do I need a visa for Egypt?
Almost certainly yes. Most European, British, American, Canadian and Australian visitors need one. You can apply online in advance, buy one on arrival, or get it from an Egyptian consulate before you travel. All three are legitimate.
How long does my passport need to be valid?
At least six months from the date you arrive, with at least one blank page. This is checked at the desk, and it is the single most common reason people are turned away at check-in.
What does the visa cost?
A fee in cash on arrival, valid for up to thirty days. At Cairo, where the sticker is being replaced by a digital visa, there is an additional card-only fee. The current amounts are published by the German Federal Foreign Office, and prices for the online e-visa are set on the official government portal.
Is the visa on arrival reliable?
It is the normal route for most visitors and the desks are before passport control, not after. The friction is practical rather than bureaucratic: bring the exact amount in cash, because change for a hundred-dollar note is not guaranteed, and bring a card too, since the new digital visa fee at Cairo is card only.
What is the free Sinai stamp?
Arrive by air at Sharm El Sheikh or overland at Taba, stay up to fifteen days, and remain within Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba, and you get a free entry stamp instead of a visa. It does not cover Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada or a Nile cruise.
Which vaccinations are required?
None, if you are arriving directly from Europe or North America. Proof of yellow fever vaccination is required from anyone aged nine months or older arriving from a country with transmission risk. Polio proof is required from arrivals from the DR Congo, Kenya, Niger and Syria.
How much cash can I bring?
Egyptian pounds only up to a set limit. Foreign currency above a set value must be declared on arrival, and undeclared sums may not be taken out again. The current amounts are published by the German Federal Foreign Office.
Do I need travel insurance to enter Egypt?
It is not an entry requirement. It is still the one expense we would not skip: treatment is billed privately and a medical repatriation runs into five figures. Our trip prices do not include insurance.
Where this comes from
Entry rules change. The current travel and safety advice of the German Federal Foreign Office on the day you travel is what counts, not this page.
- German Federal Foreign Office - Egypt travel and safety advice (fees, health, currency rules, desert permits)
- Official Egyptian e-visa portal
Given in good faith, without warranty. Check the official source for your own nationality before you travel.
If you are travelling with us
The visa is yours to obtain - no operator can do it for you. What we can do is tell you which of the three routes fits your itinerary and remind you in time. For the dahabeya between Luxor and Aswan and the classic Nile cruise it is the ordinary tourist visa. For the Nile and the White Desert and Cairo, Alexandria and Siwa, the desert permit question above applies as well, and we handle it.
The same ordinary tourist visa covers the day trips from Hurghada, and a tailor-made itinerary built around your own dates - in both cases, we tell you which route applies before you book.
Write to us if anything here is unclear for your passport. We would rather answer a question early than fix a problem at a desk.
How to stay well once you are there - stomach, heat, mosquitoes and what to pack - is in staying well in Egypt.
Auf Deutsch lesen: Einreise nach Ägypten - Visum, Reisepass und Gesundheit
Keep reading: Money in Egypt: cash, cards and changing money · The best time to visit Egypt, month by month
Last checked: October 2026. Official rules on entry, fees and currency change from time to time. The authority here is the current travel advice of the German Federal Foreign Office. We review this page every quarter.