EGYPT Is it safe?

I have a 1 month trip planned for Egypt from middle Oct to late Nov. Is anyone there now, is it safe? I have been following what the news has been saying and I am not sure if I should go or not? Any advise?

Way too early to say. The president was overthrown less than three weeks ago, we have no idea what the situation will be like in October.

I agree with the previous response.
For the moment the most dangerous area is north sinai province (terrorist attacked policemen, army cadres, coptic christian and some civilian, the army responded killing dozens of militants) but this province is not a tourist area.
Also Cairo and Alexandria had seen violent clashes and killings (mostly islamist militants).
Rest of egypt had seen protests some clashes but no injuries.
There are three votings scheduled for the next months (constitution, parliament and president). Expected to be held in a very divisive political climate, so nothing reassuring for a better climate in the foreseen future.
Currently the tourists are not within the target groups of the violence in egypt (islamists, political active people, coptic christian, policemen and armymen all had been targeted), but this can change in the future.
(Anyway I will back in egypt in december but mostly to visit friends)
So if you go there you have to take good care of yourself and be ready to compromise some sightseeing in your travelling agenda.
Notice that most western countries issued warnings against travelling in egypt so if something happens you are expected to be treated as a nuissance from the respected embassies (of UK, USA, Belgium etc...).
Anas

AS the FCO have advised against all but essential travel and have done for 3 weeks, there are VERY few tourists about, from what I can understand (other countries have done similar to the FCO).

Good summary from Anas. I would add to my above comment that if you have not yet booked tickets, I wouldn't yet.

..... twelve days into Ramadan now which seems to calmed the demonstrations / protests a bit. After Eid al Fitr see if things are ratcheted up by the Islamists/ Morsi supporters, or political oppression by the Army, if violence disrupts the proposed elections, best to find somewhere else to go. Tourism is an asset to the economy, it could become a target, a very soft target.

Have a plan B....

I'm going in December....Yikes !

This is all really good info thank you for your advise. I have already purchased my tickets..... I bought them long before this was a problem.

...... just keep an eye on developments and decide up to the eve of departure.

There are five influences at play at the moment in Egypt.

Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Army, he has the biggest guns, the prisons, foreign money and support.

Mahmoud Badr the leader of the street movement, he helped bring down Mubarak and Mosi, his supporters are students and young workers with a secular view.

Mohammed Morsi and the Islamic brotherhood with an Islamic view, very committed, very angry having power snatched away them.

Adly Mansou the interim President, from a body of judges mostly appointed by Mubarak, allied with the Army for now.

Mohamed El Baradei, the oldest leader, enjoys a good international reputation, well respected within Egypt, conservative and secular, but in an atmosphere where everyone is shouting at each other unlikely to get meaningful power, assuming the promised elections are free and fair.

In the face of the above, how hangs you holiday decision....... just keep an eye on developments, I can recommend Morocco as an alternative, maybe Egypt when settles down latter.

Hi there,
though I understand the value of a "plan B" I think Morocco on the other side of north africa is not such an alternative.
A good and easy plan b canditate should be Jordan, though not for a whole month.
Jordan is connected by boat to egypt. Also airtickets are quite reasonable (around 200 with air arabia from alexandria, around 250 euros from cairo to amman). One can also travel to dubai with an airticket of 200 euros return from egypt but not to casablanca with less than 300 euros.
If I am allowed to give such advice I would tell you to cut the 30 days visit to egypt to no more than 3 weeks and spend the remaining 10 days elsewhere, preferably in Jordan.
But all depends to your travel style, you have to judge yourself which travel plan you make at the end.
We will appreciate if you give us some info AFTER your travels,
Anas

Again thanks for all the good advice. At the moment I am leaning towards spending that time in Egypt but who knows by the time Oct comes around. I am a bit stubborn and have a can do attitude so most likely I will be backpacking solo through Egypt come Oct. I will definitely keep you guys posted as the trip comes closer, during and after my travels. It is not a sure thing that I will go I still have my doubts and may still implement a plan B which will require a lot of leg work on my part with the air lines. (I have a multi country trip and Egypt is just part of it) As for between now and then if anyone would like to chime in and talk about it, give their advise or just talk about the current situation I am all ears. I would love to continue hearing from everyone about the situation over there and if anyone is actually there now that would help a lot at well. Your advise and comments are greatly appreciated!

I would say that Iran is the only country in the region that can really compete with all that Egypt has to offer, especially now that Syria is off limits! And it's not looking too bad at the moment, although for tourists from many countries the visa is a constant headache.

...... halfway through Ramadan and unfortunately the violence seems to be increasing as reported in the NYT.... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/world/middleeast/egypt.html?_r=0

Hi moroccotraveller! are you still in egypt?
This next weekend will be another test on the confrontation between pro and anti morsi camps.
Pro Morsi islamists called for massive rallies after the friday 26 of july prayer.
The army head (Sissi) called for the masses to take the streets everywhere to support the army to crack down on terrorists!
Crazy isnt it? Absolute provocation, the potential of clashes is set very high... all this after a dozen killings in the current week .

....... Hi Anas, al-Sisi is creating chaos between the two factions so he can step in, crack down hard on both, and be seen as keeping the factions apart, keeping the peace and maintaining security. makes a good case for an Army-man to be President, maybe himself.
One ploy used in Morocco by the regime.... "separating factions" is nicely explained here by a young-man, bright and brave.... http://vimeo.com/36997532 .... al-Sisi will use it too.

There's a crack down on the Palestinians under-way too, the tunnel system between Egypt and Gaza is almost completely shut down by Egyptian forces, these tunnels are the lifeline to the Palestinian economy, bringing in vital medical supplies, building materials etc., can't see how this move is in the interest of Egypt.

I'm not in Egypt and won't be there any time soon, Morocco is my favourite destination, I've being chewing on it for 20 years now, the social and national complexities are as fascinating as they are endless.

Tourists travelling to countries with ongoing conflict as witnessed in Egypt are at risk, national security is paramount for the government, don't expect business as usual, the smiling friendly policeman helping tourists, they're in ranks on riot control now. Regular advice on these pages is to avoid demonstrations, you might not be able to get out of the way in time, and with civil disturbances some lowlife will take advantage of a defenceless person.

...... on reading the OP's title EGYPT is it safe..... after the events overnight and yesterday its not getting safer, BBC reporting up to 100 killed in disturbances in several places, and a mob surrounding a Mosque where Mosi supporters are trapped with the potential of further deaths and it escalates.

Public safety is in question, tourists need to be aware as mentioned in an earlier post by pella1, travel insurance might be void as governments warn against travelling to Egypt.

The debate whether this a Coup or not is clear, what to do now is not.

I was going in November. Now postponing my trip. The situation has become way too unpredictable.

hi moroccotraveler, glad to see you here in Egypt board. You've helped me with some good advice for Morocco back in late 2011. Unfortunately, this time I am kind of stuck with my trip to Egypt in late October through early November. I am torn between cancelling the whole trip now and go to somewhere else or sit tight and wait to see how things develop in the next few months. So far I've paid full round trip airfare (NYC-Cairo) but nothing else.

After reading so many comments in both here and TripAdvisor forum, I am becoming less optimistic about my trip. Since I am going solo without joining any tour group, I am getting concerned about places being closed, domestic transportation cancellation, these sort of logistic nightmares. Frankly, I am not too worry about my personal safety as a single male traveler as long as Egypt does not spiral down to civil war like in the near future. However, I definitely don't want to travel all the way to Egypt only to find out many sites are closed or inaccessible due to civil unrest, transportation problem or simply due to lack of tourists.

...... njtreker. in my option Egypt is unfortunately too unstable for the foreseeable future.

Law and order has mostly broken down, regular civil policing in places non-existent, as police officers have been drafted into riot ranks to suppress Morsi supporters,

Tourists have fled or cancelled plans, the tourist infrastructure is running on empty causing great hardship for workers and small companies. The question of travel insurance arises, as governments have advised their citizens not to travel to Egypt, will your insurance be valid.

Go somewhere else where you won't be looking over your shoulder, where normal policing is working, away from an atmosphere of desperation and fear. Consider one of the Mediterranean countries at that time, good value to be had as shaky economies have encouraged prices down. Spain. Italy, Portugal or Greece to mention a few, or Ireland if you haven't been there yet, might be a bit chilly though.

hi moroccotraveler, thanks again for your feedback. It really sadden me a great deal if I have to cancel my trip to Egypt this coming fall. And thanks for your suggestion of other alternatives. Unfortunately, I have been to all these countries and not really interested in going back to any one of them anytime soon. I am now looking into the possibility of going to Colombia, Ecuador or Guatemala. I do feel ashamed that while I have the luxury to pick and choose where I want to go for my vacation, there are many people all over the world struggling day and night to make ends meet, or worse, just to stay alive.

burning churches, killing Christians

Greetings,

I am sorry if this is a late response but I was just surfing when I came across ur post.

I do think Egypt is unsafe right now and there seems to be no one in control. Many locals are getting murdered according to what I have been reading and an unfortunate American male was stabbed to death as u probably have already heard.

It seems that ppl will use any excuse to harm a soft target with no regard as to how that will impact their economy because at this point they have nothing to lose and that makes things very unsafe for tourists.

I would choose another destination even if it costs you more money because what price is ur life worth?

Hey Njtrekker: Just know that u and I and so many others are blessed to be able to travel and enjoy life, for it is short indeed and not always sweet.

Hi Sasiren, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Let's enjoy life both the sweet and not so sweet parts while we are still alive and kicking.

Happy traveling and let's not forget to help those less fortunate ones along our path whenever we can.

Inshallah! (Is it okay for a Buddhist to say it? Didn't mean to offend any Muslim friends!)