Customs & Currency

Customs

Egyptian Airport and Port Authority Customs.
To avoid any problems when entering or leaving the Egyptian territory, you should be aware of the country’s customs authority rules.
You are permitted to bring only 250 grams of tobacco, two cartons of cigarettes, one liter of alcohol, and personal stuff. If you are organizing to bring your pet, make sure you have a veterinary health certificate, including a valid rabies certificate.
According to Egyptian law, you are not permitted to bring more than 200 cigarettes (or 25 cigars, 200g of tobacco) and not more than 2 liters of alcohol. It is unlawful to bring in drugs, firearms, and cotton.
Moreover, it is considered illegal to export narcotics (drugs), firearms, and cotton. Locally bought gold and silver can export if personally use or in small quantities.
Egypt’s strict laws rule the import and export of antiquities and artifacts more than 100 years old. You will need to get a license to export any item of the sort.
There are limits to the amount of currency you can bring in or out of Egypt. However, the traveler is requested to declare amounts of 5000 Egyptian Pounds or foreign equivalent.

Money & Currencies

Money Currency

The currencies referred to are $US, £UK (sterling), Euros, and £E (Egyptian Pound).
The Egyptian Pound (EGP) is the local currency in Egypt. The pound (or “Geneeh”) (Referred by LE – Livre Egyptienne) divide into 100 “piasters” (or “Ersh”). Egyptian banknotes come in divisions of 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, and 1 pound, and 25 and 50 “piasters.” But you will very rarely see any coins.
The value of each note wrote in English on one side and Arabic numbers on the other side, so please make sure you familiarize yourself carefully with the various note values, as they can be quite confusing.

Currency Conversion:

  • $1 (US) is equivalent to 16.00 Egyptian Pounds.
  • £1 (UK) is equivalent to 21.00 Egyptian Pounds.
  • 1 Euro is equivalent to 19.00 Egyptian Pounds.

Branches of major banks are available in plenty in all the major cities. Banks operate from 8.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday, while some branch offices extend their opening hours till 5.00 p.m.

Hotel/Airports and the primary entry ports banks in some cities operate throughout the 24 hours daily.
You will find a multiplicity of banks at the airport and several foreign currency exchange offices.
Always change your money at an official bank, whether in the hotel, on board the cruise, or downtown. You will then still receive the official rate of the change for that day (fixed by the government).
Never be encouraged to change money in the streets if you are approached at any time during your stay; this is strictly illegal and should avoid at all costs.
ATMs are also spread throughout the branches and other locations such as supermarkets, petrol stations, and shopping malls.
Most of the major credit/debit cards, like American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Cirrus, Euro cards, and JCB, are excessively accepted in various hotels and shops.
If you, at any point during your tour, run out of money, and your credit cards are not accepted, you still can obtain money transferred to you from abroad; In Egypt, there are plenty of Western Union branches; it takes just a few minutes to get any kitty of cash sent to you from abroad.
If you want to convert your currency, you can use $US, £UK, or Euros, accepted in many banks and other places. TIP: Don’t change your $, £, or Euro until you arrive in Egypt – the conversion rate is much better here!
Please don’t bring Scottish pounds, Irish punts, New Zealand dollars, etc. , as they declined it in Egypt!

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