Red Sea attractions

With dancing fountains, live performances, a 7D cinema, shops, and eateries, Hollywood Sharm el Sheikh is part theme park, part shopping mall. Kids generally adore the dinosaurs, the animated hosting team, and the cinema, while adults value the choice of restaurants.

A lively shopping, dining, sports, and entertainment complex, Sharm el Sheikh’s SOHO Square offers everything from steakhouses to an ice bar. Entertainment highlights include an ice rink, a bowling alley, a performance stage, the Culturama Historical Cinema, and children’s fairground rides. It’s particularly magical at night, as strobes light up the Soho Square Dancing Fountain.

Ancient Egypt’s boy king Tutankhamun was only around 18 when he died 3,300 years ago, but his story has fascinated travelers since Howard Carter first discovered his tomb. The King Tut Museum, set in Sharm el Sheikh’s Genena City mall, tells his story in a compact space, with around 130 replica artifacts and photos beautifully displayed.

Part of the Giftun Island marine reserve in the Red Sea, just off Hurghada, Eden Island is a stunning beach getaway ideal for lovers of sun, sea, and snorkeling. Set on Big Giftun Island (Giftun Kebir), its pale sands lead to turquoise waters and offshore corals, while numerous visitor facilities ensure you can easily spend an entire day here.

On the outskirts of Hurghada, Sand City boasts around 60 giant sand artworks in an open-air park. Created by talented global artists, the works span everything from giant sculptures of ancient pyramids and pharaohs to reliefs of mythical beings and cartoon characters. A kids’ sand-sculpture workshop area and souvenir stalls complete the picture, promising a fun family outing.

Backed by the enormous Al Sahaba Mosque, Sharm el Sheikh’s Old Market is one of the city’s top souvenir shopping destinations. Vendors offer all the Egyptian signatures, from perfumes and jewelry to shisha pipes and colorful glass lanterns, as well as fake brands, carpets, and technology. Meanwhile, coffee shops and eateries provide space to rest and relax.

Home to about 85 shopping and food outlets, the Senzo Mall just south of Hurghada ranks as one of the largest malls on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. Flanked by palm-fringed fountains and offering everything from major fashion retailers to a food court, this indoor mall is a popular shopping and lifestyle destination for both locals and tourists.

Part of the Wadi El Gemal National Park on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, Sharm El Luli (Ras Hankorab) boasts white sands, virgin corals, and aquamarine shallows. Visitors come to this largely undeveloped beach to wade, swim, and snorkel through its waters and enjoy its overwhelming beauty and peace.

Egypt’s rare porphyry was highly valued by the ancient Romans, and this former Roman quarry—once a thriving settlement of houses, temples, and workshops—was mined for its precious purple and white crystalline stone, used to decorate columns, sarcophagi, and temples. Relics and ruins of this activity remain at this archaeological site.

With its pale sands and translucent waters, Marsa Mubarak is an idyllic bay on Egypt’s southern Red Sea coast. Set within the protected Wadi El Gemal National Park and nicknamed “Turtle Bay,” its biggest draw is rich undersea life: its sheltered waters reveal bright corals and seagrass fields populated by exotic fish, green sea turtles, and even dugongs.

A mix of white-sand beaches, turquoise seas, and rocky valleys, Egypt’s Wadi El Gemal National Park—whose name translates as “Valley of the Camels”—is a little-vaunted desert wilderness along the Southern Red Sea. Snorkel over virgin corals; view dolphins, sea turtles, and dugongs; and spot the wild camels that roam the plains and give the park its name.

The Red Sea channel draws tendrils of Indian Ocean water up through Africa and Arabia to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. Divers and snorkelers appreciate the Red Sea’s clear waters and colorful coral and marine life, while sandy beaches lure sun worshippers from around the world.

Named for the Egyptian military hero Abdul Munim Riad, the Abdel-Moneim Riad Mosque can be spelled many different ways in English. Built in the early ’70s, not long after Riad was killed in action, the mosque’s twin minarets tower above El Dahar (Old Town, Hurghada’s most traditionally Egyptian district.

A resort town in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Sharm el Sheikh offers snorkeling, diving, and desert trips. It's also close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of St. Catherine’s Monastery. Ships dock at the in-town Sharm el Sheikh Port (rather than at a dedicated cruise port), and you may need to tender if another ship is docked.

Part of Aqua Park City, the Aqua Blu Water Park (also known as Aqua Blu Aqua Park is one of Sharm el Sheikh’s biggest water parks. More than 60 different slides and games offer something for everyone—from freefall, high-speed, and kamikaze slides through to a little kids’ zone and even rides for infants.