Hurghada Holidays

Hurghada will have you spoilt for choice - overspilling with sun-drenched days, stylish evenings out, and some seriously jaw-dropping scenes waiting to be captured. Consider your paradise found.

✨ Highlights of your Holidays to Hurghada 2026 and 2027

• Red Sea diving and snorkelling: Hurghada's reefs are the reason this stretch of coast became a holiday destination. Coral starts in waist-deep water, the visibility is regularly 30 metres plus, and Giftun Island is a full day out by boat.

• Year-round sunshine: around 3,500 hours of it a year, winter highs of 22°C to 24°C and summer at 37°C. Hurghada doesn't really do an off-season. January and February are the coolest it gets and they are still shorts weather.

• Family-friendly all-inclusives: the Egyptian Red Sea is built around mega-resorts that genuinely earn their family-friendly billing, pools and waterparks, kids' clubs, multiple restaurants, the lot, mostly for the price you'd pay for a much smaller hotel in the Med.

• The desert on your doorstep: the Eastern Desert starts at the back of the resort strip, and the Bedouin camps are a 20 to 40 minute drive out. Quad-bike sunsets, dinners under the stars, camel rides, the desert side of an Egypt holiday without a long transfer.

• Four very different bases in one destination: central Hurghada for buzz and value, El Gouna for lagoons and marina dining, Makadi Bay for family resorts, Soma Bay for the polished end. Pick your character, the rest of the coast is a 30-minute taxi away.

💡 Good to know for your Hurghada Holiday

• ☀️ Weather - Around 3,500 hours of sunshine a year and no bad times to come. Summer runs 36°C to 38°C, winter 22°C to 24°C, and the sea sits between 21°C in February and 28°C in August. There is no off season here.

• 💰 Money - A great value destination. A meal with a drink at a marina restaurant is around £10 to £25 / €12 to €29, a snorkelling boat day trip about £15 to £22 / €17 to €25, and street food is pennies rather than pounds.

• 🐠 Fun fact - The Red Sea has around 1,150 species of fish and roughly one in seven of them are found nowhere else on Earth. Hurghada sits on the most biodiverse stretch of the red sea, which is why it's so loved for diving and snorkelling (even if you've never done it before, you must try it!)

Holidays in Hurghada, our expert tips...

"I've done a lot of holidays but Hurghada still surprised me. The Red Sea is extraordinary, the snorkelling is the kind of thing you'll be talking about for years, the fish come in colours you simply don't expect. The desert excursions are unmissable too: quad biking out to a Bedouin camp as the sun drops, sitting around a fire eating kofta cooked over charcoal, is a completely different side to the holiday. One thing worth knowing before you go: tipping - baksheesh - is woven into daily life here, so keep small notes on you at all times. And if you get the chance to wander into El Dahar, the old town, do it, you'll see a different side to the place."

- Rob Brooks, OtB Holiday Expert

A holiday in Hurghada is perfect for you if...

• You want to snorkel off the beach in front of your hotel and see an incredible range of fish

• You want winter sun in December that is still hot enough to be T-Shirt weather

• You want an all-inclusive that includes the à la carte restaurants, and the waterpark, at a price the Med stopped doing years ago

• You want the desert and the sea in the same week, because the dunes start behind the hotel and the Bedouin camps are just half an hour out

🗣️ Master the Lingo, Egyptian Style

Whilst you're on your holidays in Hurghada you'll easily be able to get by in English but if you wanna level up why not throw in some Arabic phrases to impress the locals and your travel buddies?

• Ahlan (AH-lan) - Hello!

• Sabah el-kheir (sa-BAH el-KHAYR) - Good morning!

• Shukran (SHOOK-ran) - Thanks!

• Aywa / La (EYE-wa / lah) - Yes / No. The two you will actually use twenty times a day.

• Bikam? (BEE-kam) - How much? Your best friend in the souk.

• El-hesab law samaht (el-hi-SAB law sa-MAHT) - The bill, please

• Fanta Lemon fein? (FAN-ta LEE-mon fayn) - Where's the Fanta Lemon? (Because your holibobs deserve the ultimate beach bevvy.)

• Ma'a salama (MA-ah sa-LA-ma) - Goodbye!

🏖️ Best Beaches for your Hurghada holidays 2026 and 2027

Hurghada is mega for beach lovers, and the best Hurghada beaches split three ways: the town beaches, the bays south of the airport and Giftun Island. Here's the lowdown on where to sink your toes into the sand:

• Old Vic Beach - The pick of the public beaches in town, down on Sheraton Road south of the Marina. Calm shallow water, plenty of room, sunbeds and somewhere to get a drink. The easy one if you are staying in central Hurghada and just want sand for an afternoon.

• Giftun Island - A marine national park a boat ride offshore, and the reason people come to Hurghada in the first place. Coral in clear shallow water, turtles if you are lucky, and some of the best snorkelling on the Egyptian coast. It is a full day out, around eight hours, and there is a park fee that is not always in the trip price.

• Mahmya - The beach club on Giftun, white sand and turquoise water with a restaurant behind it. The comfortable version of the island day: someone else does the boat, the lunch and the sunbeds.

• Sahl Hasheesh Bay - Twenty-five minutes south of the airport, a long sweep of golden sand with a promenade behind it and reef straight off the shore. The bay is calm and the water is clear, which is why the five-stars ended up here.

• Makadi Bay - Half an hour south, a protected bay with reef inside it and shallow, still water almost the whole way across. The best of the Hurghada beaches if you are in the water with small children.

• Soma Bay - Forty-five minutes south on its own peninsula, with reef running directly off the beach and enough wind across the bay to have made it a kitesurfing address. Quietest of the lot.

🗺️ Where to Stay in Hurghada

Hurghada stretches along Egypt's Red Sea coast, and where you stay can completely shape your trip. From lively resort hubs to peaceful, upscale enclaves, here is how to pick your perfect base.

💑 Where should couples stay in Hurghada?

El Gouna is the standout couples base. A planned resort town built around lagoons and a working marina, often called the Venice of the Red Sea. Walk-to-dinner restaurants, sunset cocktails on the marina, kitesurfing on the lagoons, and a more polished, grown-up feel than central Hurghada. The kind of place where you don't need to leave for a week and you can still feel like you've had a proper break.

✨ Which Hurghada resorts are best for luxury?

Soma Bay is the high-end peninsula further south, five-star resorts with pristine reef directly off the beach, an 18-hole golf course, and a quieter, more refined feel. The closest the Red Sea gets to a true luxury enclave at this price point. Sahl Hasheesh sits in similar territory and houses several of the strongest five-star resorts on the coast.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Where should families stay in Hurghada?

Makadi Bay is the family base, full stop. A single sweeping bay south of central Hurghada lined with all-inclusive resorts, most of them built around proper waterparks. Self-contained, easy, low-friction, the area that does the package family holiday best on the whole Egyptian Red Sea coast.

🎉 Where should groups stay in Hurghada?

Central Hurghada is the natural group base. The marina is the social heart of the coast, bars, restaurants, yacht charters and the only proper nightlife strip outside hotel grounds, all walkable along one promenade. Big all-inclusive resorts with high room counts mean groups of 10-plus can co-locate without splitting across hotels, and the central position makes excursions (Giftun Island, Luxor day-trips, desert safaris) easier to organise than from the bays further south.

💰 Which Hurghada resorts are best value?

Makadi Bay and central Hurghada are where the value picks cluster. Makadi Bay's mid-tier all-inclusives (Pickalbatros Jungle Aqua Park, SRNTY Sun Ray, Lemon & Soul Makadi Garden) deliver five-star feel at three-to-four-star pricing thanks to the bay's scale and competition. Central Hurghada goes a step cheaper still, the original resort town with the largest hotel pool and the lowest entry-level prices on the coast. Either base puts you in striking distance of the polished bays without the polished-bay price tag.

All Inclusive Holidays in Hurghada

Do you wanna go all-inclusive to Hurghada with your family? Imagine a holiday where your biggest worry is whether to go for the piña colada or the strawberry daiquiri while the kiddos are off building the next leaning tower of Pisa in sandcastle-form. All-inclusive? More like all incredible! With stacked-to-the-brim buffets, beaches with swagger and watersports that’ll make you feel like a professional splasher, all-inclusive family holidays in Egypt have it all, so you can leave your wallet in the room and get on with the serious business of holiday fun.

Picture this: you're chilling in the café sipping something exotic, zero worries about the bill sneaking up on you. Or maybe you're both playing ‘Finding Nemo’ with the actual fish, surrounded by flippers and snorkels instead of spreadsheets. With Hurghada all-inclusive holidays, you can forget about the dread of checking your bank balance, and focus on the important stuff - like whether to have that third helping of dessert (answer: always yes).

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What are the best all-inclusive hotels in Hurghada for families?

• Pickalbatros Jungle Aqua Park - Neverland - Eighty-one water slides across forty-five pools, a kids' club, VR games and skating, and a free shuttle to the beach. Very well reviewed, and the waterpark genuinely is the holiday here.

• Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel - Built around its own aqua park with a 400-metre lazy river running through it, ten minutes from the airport so the holiday starts before the kids have asked how long is left. Very well reviewed across more than ten thousand ratings.

💑 What are the best adults-only all-inclusive hotels in Hurghada?

• Steigenberger Pure Lifestyle - Adults-only in central Hurghada and one of the highest-rated hotels anywhere on this coast. Contemporary, calm and very well reviewed, with the marina walkable when you want a night out.

• KaiSol Romance Resort - Adults-only on the Sahl Hasheesh bay with five à la carte restaurants running from Lebanese to Italian to Indian, plus a serious spa. Very well reviewed, and the one to book if the point is to be looked after.

💰 What are the best value all-inclusive hotels in Hurghada?

• Desert Rose Resort - Four restaurants, nine bars, three pools, an aqua park and a private beach, at a price that makes the five-star label look generous. One of the most consistently booked family resorts on the Red Sea.

• Titanic Beach & Spa - Seven restaurants and a seventeen-slide waterpark, with kids staying free on selected dates. The easy answer if you want the big-resort week without the five-star price.

🏨 What are the top hotels in Hurghada?

The best hotels in Hurghada give you a lot of bang for your buck. Even five-star, All Inclusive holidays to Hurghada come with a reasonable price tag, and don't worry - we've got some great deals for all you last-minute Larries out there too. See all hotels in Hurghada or have a look through our lovingly hand-picked top options below...

💑 What are the best hotels in Hurghada for couples?

• KaiSol Romance Resort - Adults Only is the standout adults-only pick on the whole coast, a five-star Sahl Hasheesh resort with elegant rooms, five à la carte restaurants running from Lebanese to Indian to Italian alongside the main buffet, and a serious spa. Strongly reviewed across the board, a guest favourite for romantic Red Sea breaks.

• Steigenberger Pure Lifestyle - Adults Only is the central-Hurghada adults-only counterpart, a contemporary five-star with one of the most consistent review records of any hotel on this coast. Polished, calm, well-run.

• Caves Beach Resort - Adults Only (16+) does something different, cave-inspired rooms cut into the resort's structural concept, three à la carte restaurants and a proper private beach. The vibe is theatrical without being naff, and it lands well with couples after something with personality.

✨ What are the best luxury hotels in Hurghada?

• Kempinski Hotel Soma Bay is the best-reviewed luxury hotel on this stretch of coast, a grand five-star on the Soma Bay peninsula with its own sandy beach, a lazy river, a kids' club and the championship golf course next door. The one to book when the holiday is the treat.

• Rixos Premium Magawish Suites and Villas is the premium end of the coast, ultra all-inclusive with six à la carte restaurants, ten bars, the Rixy Kids Club, the Anjana Spa, a horse ranch for rides along the beach and private cabanas on the sand. Almost everything is in the price, with only a handful of extras charged separately.

• Gravity Hotel Sahl Hasheesh is a five-star beachfront with seven swimming pools, four à la carte restaurants spanning Italian, Oriental, Mexican and Asian, and a kids' club for the family-luxury crossover. It takes families and couples only, which is worth knowing before you book. A guest favourite at this price point.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What are the best family hotels in Hurghada?

• Pickalbatros Jungle Aqua Park - Neverland is the headline family pick on the coast, an absurd 81 waterslides across 45 pools, a kids' club, VR games, skating, multiple restaurants and a free shuttle to the beach. Strongly reviewed by families, the waterpark genuinely is the holiday.

• Jaz Aquamarine Resort is one of the most-reviewed family resorts on the whole Red Sea, a big beachfront all-inclusive south of the centre with its own aqua park, a kids' club and pools everywhere you look. The safe, sunny, everyone-happy choice.

• JAZ Elite Asteria is one of the newest five-stars on the coast, with an on-site aqua park, five à la carte restaurants, kids stay free on selected dates, and the kind of polished modern feel that families with older children go for.

🎉 What are the best hotels in Hurghada for groups?

• Hilton Hurghada Plaza is the standout group pick. Self-contained apartments separate from the main hotel building (genuinely useful for groups of 6-plus who want their own space) plus standard Twin and King rooms in the main resort, three pools including an adults-only one and a kids' slide pool, a Turkish bath spa, multiple restaurants and the Anaconda Bar with live DJs running into the early hours. Walkable to the marina nightlife strip.

• Meraki Resort - Adults Only is the boho-clubbing-scene pick on Hurghada's Red Sea Riviera, private beach, multi-bed room categories (Triple Trouble Rooms work for groups of three), a sports bar, a pub, plus a clubbing scene built into the resort itself. Yoga-to-DJing classes for the daytime version of the same energy.

• Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel handles bigger groups well, Family Suites and Junior Suites for multi-room bookings, an on-site aqua park with a 400m lazy river, multiple restaurants including late-night dining until midnight, and a 24-hour lounge bar. Ten minutes from the airport.

💰 What are the best value hotels in Hurghada?

• SRNTY Sun Ray, formerly Serenity Alma, is the all-rounder family-value pick in Makadi Bay, a big aquapark, theme-park access, spa and sauna, five-star at four-star money. Strong recent reviews.

• Serry Beach pairs day-and-night entertainment and surprisingly polished room amenities (spa products, welcome gift) with free access to the 15-slide Sindbad Aqua Park and its wave pool, a few minutes' walk away at the sister hotel. A guest favourite at the value end.

👉 All hotels in Hurghada

Cheap holidays to Hurghada

Cheap holidays to Hurghada are one of the best-value ways to get proper sunshine from the UK & Ireland, because the price of an all-inclusive week here buys a lot more than it does in the Med. Pick all-inclusive and the budget is set before you fly: the buffet, the bar and usually the waterpark are already paid for, so the only cash you need is small notes for tips.

For the best Hurghada deals, look at central Hurghada first, the original resort town with the most hotels and the lowest entry prices, or the big resorts of Makadi Bay, where competition keeps prices honest. Desert Rose Resort and Titanic Beach & Spa are two of the best-value five-star all-inclusives we sell, both with their own aqua parks, and SRNTY Sun Ray is the pick if you want the bay.

Flexible on dates? Last minute holidays to Hurghada are worth a look all year, because flights run through every season and the resorts are big enough that there's nearly always a room. For winter sun on cheap Hurghada holidays, Hurghada 2026 and 2027 departures are on sale now, and booking with a low deposit holds the price while you sort the rest.

Hurghada Holidays 2026 and 2027 Travel Guide

Wondering what to do in Hurghada? Read on for our guide to all the latest and greatest activities for your Hurghada holidays...

🥳 What are the best things to do in Hurghada for groups?

• Quad bikes and a Bedouin dinner - Race across the dunes of the Eastern Desert, hop on a camel, then eat under the stars with a whirling tanoura show. Quad drivers need to be 16 or over.

• Dive the wrecks - Abu Nuhas, a reef with four shipwrecks on it, is one of the great wreck dives of the Red Sea (certified divers only). Never dived? Try-dives and courses run from the marina.

• Learn to kitesurf - The shallow, flat lagoons at Mangroovy Beach in El Gouna and the steady wind at Soma Bay make this coast one of the best places in the world to learn.

• Papas Beach Club - A beach club near the marina by day and a club with themed and foam nights after dark.

• Orange Bay - A boat day to Giftun's whitest beach, with snorkelling stops on the way. There's a separate national park fee to pay on the day.

❤️ What are the best things to do in Hurghada for couples?

• Sunset at Hurghada Marina - Watch the yachts come in with a drink on the promenade, then pick a restaurant on the water.

• Dinner at Abu Tig Marina - Forty minutes north in El Gouna, a lagoon-side marina of restaurants and bars that's even prettier at night.

• A day in Luxor - Karnak, Hatshepsut's temple and the Valley of the Kings in one long, unforgettable day (about four hours each way by road). The sunrise balloon over the West Bank is best done as an overnight trip.

• The Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum - A short flight to Cairo for the Pyramids of Giza and the full Tutankhamun collection, all together for the first time.

• Hurghada Museum - The first antiquities museum on the Red Sea coast, with around 2,000 pieces of ancient Egyptian treasure. A cool, quiet afternoon away from the sun.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What are the best things to do in Hurghada for families?

• Mahmya on Giftun Island - The best day out from Hurghada: a boat to a white-sand beach club in the national park, with snorkelling straight off the shore. The park fee is paid separately.

• Makadi Water World - Over 50 slides in Makadi Bay, from splash pools for little ones to the Kamikaze for the brave. Open all year.

• Jungle Aqua Park - The waterpark with the biggest numbers on the coast: 81 slides across 45 pools.

• Hurghada Grand Aquarium - Walk through a tunnel with sharks and rays gliding overhead, on the southern hotel strip. A brilliant one for a cooler afternoon.

• Dolphin House - A boat trip to a horseshoe reef north of Hurghada where wild dolphins often gather, with snorkelling in the clear water around it. Sightings aren't guaranteed, which makes it all the more special when they turn up.

🍽️ What's the best food to try in Hurghada?

• Moby Dick - A friendly favourite on Sheraton Road, famous for its camel steak with pepper sauce.

• El Halaka - Where locals go for seafood, near El Mina Mosque: pick your fish off the ice and choose grilled or fried.

• Hurghada Fish Market - Buy fish straight from the fishermen in Sakala and have it cooked on the spot.

• Starfish - Hurghada's best-known seafood restaurant, on Sheraton Road, with a second branch in Sahl Hasheesh.

• An Egyptian breakfast - Ful, falafel and fresh bread at Granada on Sheraton Road, or koshari and kofta any time of day at GAD.

🗺️ More Places to Visit

Settled on Egypt but not sure on Hurghada? There are a couple of standout alternatives along the Red Sea that are well worth a look.

🌴 Sharm el Sheikh - One of Egypt’s most popular resort destinations, known for its lively atmosphere, luxury hotels and incredible coral reefs. Think beach clubs, boat trips and some of the best snorkelling and diving in the Red Sea.

🐠 Marsa Alam - Quieter, more untouched and perfect if you’re after pure relaxation. Expect pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters and world-class diving spots, with a chance to see turtles and even dugongs in their natural habitat.