The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Beat the rush to the Red Sea
This winter sun favourite is back – and set to be more popular than ever. Whether you are after indulgence or adventure, it’s the place to be, says Chris Leadbeater
There is a solid argument that the Red Sea is a sea like no other – an incomparable body of water that packs more into its narrow, sun-kissed channel than any other on the planet. Even the quickest of glances at the atlas is enough to remind the casual observer of its geographic importance. For here is a line in the sand that, while only 221 miles across at its widest point, separates two continents in the style of an ocean. While we are at it, here too is a touchstone of legend and faith whose backstory underpins two religions; whose most famous tale starts with (to quote the biblical Book of Exodus) God telling Moses to “hold out your hand over the sea, and the water will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and their drivers”, and finishes with Charlton Heston pulling off the same feat on celluloid in 1956 (or Christian
Bale in 2014, if you prefer. Though you shouldn’t).
Here, too, is a global crossroads where merchant vessels have sailed for centuries – and on whose fringes ancient civilisations have risen and fallen. Even now, eight different countries stand stationed on its main torso and two upper arms: Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti on its African flank; Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen on the Asian. But let’s not get sidetracked. While last week’s removal of every remaining African and Asian nation from the UK’s much-disliked red list is spectacularly good news, our first journeys back to both continents are likely to be tentative footsteps to familiar places. And in the case of the Red Sea, that means three countries: Egypt,
Israel and Jordan. These are the three destinations that have most successfully repurposed some of their Red Sea coastline to its most obvious travel-related purpose: beach holidays. Naturally, this is easier in some cases than it is in others. Egypt can boast more than 1,050 miles of beaches, including sections of both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan, by contrast, has just 16 miles of Red Sea coast, while Israel’s share is smaller still – at just seven miles.
But the effect is much the same. Hotels with consistent degrees of high comfort – loungers and swimming pools facing the water, with the odd golf course tucked in – are an enticing image, particularly at this time of year when Europe is tipping towards winter. Visit Sharm El Sheikh, Eilat or Aqaba in the next few months and you can expect temperatures in the low to mid-20s. Good enough – and all the better when you consider that all three countries are open to British travellers (with certain caveats; see panel opposite).
Of course, a holiday by the Red Sea does not have to be an exercise in pure indolence – and a beachside resort can just as easily be a base for, or part of, a broader itinerary that takes in key cities, historic sites and areas of geographic majesty. Indeed, green shoots of demand for such getaways are already showing.
“We have had a substantial increase in enquiries about Egypt since the red list ruling was lifted,” says George Morgan-Grenville, CEO of luxury tour operator Red Savannah. “Pent-up demand means that we are already seeing limited availability in the best hotels and on the best Nile cruise boats.”
This is echoed by Jenny Cox of adventure specialist Exodus Travels. “The news that the red list was being dramatically reduced has boosted consumer confidence,” she says. “We have already had a number of enquiries about Egypt, but as visitor numbers will take time to return to what they had been prior to the pandemic, the next few months will be a good time to travel.”
SHARM LIFE
It may be Egypt’s most celebrated beach destination, but Sharm El Sheikh has been inaccessible to British tourists for much of the last decade. It was off-limits between the Octobers of 2015 and 2019 due to Foreign Office concerns about the security of its airport, and barely had the warning against travel been lifted than the pandemic pulled the shutters down once more. For all this, though, this sandy hotspot is an alluring option for a week of winter sun, dipping its toes into the Red Sea at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Its latest return is a welcome boost for holidaymakers and tour operators alike.
A seven-night all-inclusive break to the five-star Sensatori by Tui Blue resort, flying from Gatwick on Dec 5, costs from £644 per person with Tui (020 3451 2688; tui.co.uk)
PYRAMID SCHEME
Sharm El Sheikh’s location, around 300 miles from Cairo (a hop and a skip in Egyptian terms), means it can easily be the relaxing full stop to a tour that explores the country’s epic past.
Red Savannah (01242 787 800; redsavannah.com) offers an Essential Egypt trip that begins in Cairo, heads south to Aswan ( for the Abu Simbel temple) and Luxor (the Valley of the Kings) – and can be tailored into an 11-night affair which ends at the Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh. From £4,185 per person, including flights and four nights at the beach
SHORE THING
It can probably be said that Hurghada is the most sure-footed of Egypt’s Red Sea options. Where Sharm El Sheikh has fallen in and out of feasibility in the past six years – and where rival beach zones Taba and Dahab have been on the Foreign Office’s disapproval list since 2014 – this resort city has been steadily open for business. Its reliability is partly due to location – 290 miles south of Cairo, on the main body of the Red Sea, well away from areas that the FCDO considers a risk. But it is also about air connections. Depending on the season, you can fly in directly from Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, East Midlands, Birmingham, Bristol, DoncasterSheffield and Newcastle (with Tui or easyJet).
A seven-night all-inclusive getaway to the five-star Jasmine Palace, flying from Birmingham (with Tui Airways) on Dec 3, costs from £544 per person, including transfers and checked baggage – with On The Beach (0871 474 3000; onthebeach.co.uk)
NILE HIGH
As with Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada can easily serve as the the end-game to a longer Egyptian odyssey…
Abercrombie & Kent (01242 547 760; abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers an eight-night escape which splices four nights of luxurious Nile cruising to another three at the Oberoi Hurghada – a five-star spa hotel right at the water’s edge. From £3,999 per person including flights
CHILD’S PLAY
It can sometimes feel as if there are two types of holiday to Egypt, and that they are incompatible. That the deep heritage of the land of the pharaohs is for adults and serious-minded travellers with tombs and treasures in mind; that beach-only packages should be your choice if you want to go away with children. But compromise is possible. Exodus Travels ( 0203 993 7391; exodus.co.uk) offers an Egyptian
Family Adventure which offers a best of both worlds. This regular nine-day escorted tour (groups of between eight and 20) merges the Sphinx, the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum with the Karnak Temple and all the landmarks of Luxor. It ends with two nights at a resort in Hurghada – with a submarine ride in the Red Sea as part of the fun. Six departures are planned for 2022; the next, starting on Dec 24, would have you on the sand on New Year’s Eve – from £2,149 per adult, and from £1,542 per child, including flights
AFTERNOON TEE
Unlike much of Egypt, Hurghada has very little history. It is effectively a 20th-century creation – the fruit of heavy investment during the 1980s, which helped to transform a fishing village into a tourism playground. Thus it has all the amenities you would expect of a purpose-built holiday zone, including first-rate golf facilities. Locations include the course at the Cascades Golf Resort (thecascadeshotel.com), 35 miles south of the city at Soma Bay – an 18-hole challenge designed by the South African nine-time major winner Gary Player (rounds from £67). Then there is the El Gouna Golf Club, 20 miles north of the city in the resort area of the
same name (18-hole rounds from £36; elgouna.com/golf).
A week at the Cascades Golf Resort, flying from Gatwick on Dec 11, starts at £963 per person with Red
Sea Holidays (020 7332 2670; redseaholidays.co.uk), including accommodation on an all-inclusive rate. Rounds of golf can be added to the holiday cost
INTO THE BLUE
Travel a further 180 miles south along Egypt’s Red Sea coast and you encounter another outpost that has become a holiday haven. Though much smaller than Hurghada, Marsa Alam draws in tourists with its clear waters, superb conditions for scuba diving – and an array of marine wildlife that runs to dugongs, dolphins and turtles, as well as tropical fish. Scuba specialist Regal Dive (01353 659 999; regal-diving.co.uk) offers getaways to Marsa Alam’s Concorde Moreen Beach Resort – a five-star with its own dive centre. Seven-night all-inclusive stays cost from £915 per person, including flights. The house reef provides opportunities for local exploration, while excursions to sites further afield – such as the wreck of the Hamada, which sank in 1993 – can be organised for an extra fee
DEEP DIVE
Marsa Alam’s sub-aqua clarity of vision is also a magnet for those who take their diving so seriously they consider a seafront hotel an unnecessary indulgence. Scuba Travel (01483 411 590; scubatravel. com) offers “liveaboard” holidays aboard the Hurricane – a 118ft vessel whose comforts and equipment allow divers to maximise their time on (and in) the water. It sails a range of itineraries – among them the unabashed Simply the Best. This seven-night package visits key sites – including the Daedalus Reef (a standalone expanse of coral so long that it has its own lighthouse to warn shipping) and the Elphinstone Reef. Five departures are scheduled before the end of the year, from £1,405 per person, with flights
Overseas travel is currently subject to restrictions. See page 5