TIME & MONEY

"Time heals what reason cannot".

- Senecao

The standard time zone of Egypt is UTC/GMT +2.


Daylight Saving Time has been suspended the last few years, however some mobile providers or airlines sometimes still instill these in their automated systems because officially Egypt still uses DST...


Egyptians are happy with the suspension because (due to the month of Ramadan in Summer) they were faced with changing the clock 4 times per year.

Egyptians may make appointments with you on the Islamic prayer times.

Islam is a way of life and provides a rythm to life in general.

For example 'Bade Al Dohr' means 'After the noon prayer' (that's around 12.30 pm). But this doesn't necessarily mean they will be there right after 12.30 pm, it can happen they show up hours later. So it's better to make an appointment and insist on a specific hour. You have a better chance they show up in time.

However, people (especially those who work with foreigners) understand that foreigners are counting on the other person being there on time.

The currency is the Egyptian Pound, known as LE or EGP.

1 LE consists of 100 piasters (pt). There are coins of 50 pt, 1 LE and 2 LE and the most common banknotes are 5, 10, 20, 50,  100 and 200 LE.

It is useful to have money with you in small denominations because sometimes there is not enough exact change in shops and for Baksheesh.


The use of Credit Cards is not always possible and if so, you need to pay an additional fee for the services.


In larger cities and at tourist destinations you will find ATM's where you you can withdraw money with a (global) bank card (! Check before departure if your bank card is active in Egypt) and you can always find a place where you can exchange foreign money.

Banks are open during office hours and closed on Friday's, Saturday's and on July 1st. In tourist areas there are extended opening hours. 

The exchange rate of the Egyptian Pound fluctuated in recent years between 6.6 and 20 to 1 Euro, so do not change your money at home but when you are here.

Bargaining is a quite normal in Egypt, but at times prices are set and that's it. Make sure you know about the prevailing price if you start haggling. To pay far too much is not good, but to pay too little (think of crafts where people were toiling on for days and weeks) is in some cases worse. Take your time, have fun with it and remember that you never have to buy it. You insult no-one.


Wireless (WIFI) internet is available for free at some places while others charge a fee and you can always visit an internet cafe.