Almost every one of our travellers needs a visa for Egypt, and almost every one of them gets it without leaving home or at a kiosk before passport control. This guide was checked against the UK Foreign Office advice and Egypt's official e-Visa portal in September 2026.
A visa is required: British, Irish, EU, US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passport holders all need a visa to visit Egypt. All of them can get one online in advance or on arrival at the airport.
Option 1, the e-Visa: apply on Egypt's official portal, visa2egypt.gov.eg, at least 7 days before you fly. A single-entry tourist e-Visa costs US$30 and a multiple-entry one US$65, paid by card. Getting it before you travel is the calm option and avoids queues on arrival.
Option 2, the visa on arrival: at the approved airports, kiosks before the immigration counters sell a tourist visa for US$30, cash only, valid for up to 30 days. Since 1 August 2026, Cairo International Airport also sells a digital visa on arrival by card, at self-service machines or through the official visa-on-arrival portal, for US$36 including a US$6 service fee.
The Sinai exception: if you fly into Sharm El-Sheikh and stay under 15 days in Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba, you get a free entry stamp instead of a visa. Leave those resorts, for Cairo, Luxor or anywhere else, and you need the full visa. Our Egypt trip is outside the Sinai, so this does not apply to it.
Every traveller from the UK, EU, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is eligible for the e-Visa. You can also apply by post or in person through an Egyptian consulate, but for a holiday there is no reason to.
The quickest way to see the exact rules for your passport is to check your requirements with Sherpa, which keeps track of the latest entry changes for you.
Here are the 2 trips we run in Egypt.
Once your visa is stamped, you need no further permits for Cairo, Giza, Aswan, Luxor or the Red Sea coast. Our 9-day Backpacking Egypt trip takes in the Giza pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, Philae Temple at sunset and a felucca on the Nile, and its 9 days sit well inside the 30-day visa. If you are carrying on to Jordan or Israel, the land and sea borders have their own charges, so read our Jordan visa guide and the Foreign Office page before you go. For when to travel, see our Egypt weather guide.
Check the latest visa requirements:
Yes. British passport holders need a tourist visa: a US$30 e-Visa applied for online at least 7 days before you travel, or a US$30 visa on arrival paid in cash at the airport. The only exception is a stay of under 15 days in the South Sinai resorts after flying into Sharm El-Sheikh.
US$30 for a single-entry tourist e-Visa and US$65 for a multiple-entry one, on the official portal. The visa on arrival is US$30 in cash; at Cairo International Airport the card-payment digital visa on arrival costs US$36, including a US$6 service fee.
The e-Visa if you can plan 7 days ahead: it is paid by card, printed at home and there is no cash to find at the airport. The visa on arrival is fine if you are carrying US dollars in cash and do not mind a short queue at the kiosk.
Up to 30 days on a visa bought on arrival. Tourist e-Visas are valid for up to 3 months, so check the dates on yours. To stay longer, apply for an extension at a Passport and Immigration Office before your visa expires.
Not if you fly into Sharm El-Sheikh and stay under 15 days in Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba: you get a free entry permission stamp at the airport. If you travel beyond those resorts or stay longer, you need a full visa, which you can buy at Sharm airport or online.
If your visa has expired by more than 14 days when you leave, expect a fine and difficulties at the airport. Extend it in time at a Passport and Immigration Office rather than risk it.
Sort the e-Visa the week before you fly and you will be through Cairo airport and on your way to the pyramids before the queue at the kiosks has moved. Check out our Egypt backpacking tours.
We run one trip in Egypt, and 31 more countries besides. Your next adventure is waiting.
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