Hard to believe, but after more than 13 years of travelling and visiting 64 countries, I decided to become an all-inclusive tourist for the first time. Never before had I booked the flight, hotel and transfer together at a travel agency, but this time, for a beach holiday with my girlfriend, I found a really unbeatable offer. Hurghada in Egypt was our destination. In this article, I would like to tell you about our experiences on this holiday.
Kaum zu glauben, doch nach über 13 Jahren des Reisens, in denen ich 64 Länder besuchte, habe ich mich erstmals dazu entschlossen, ein All Inclusive Pauschalreise-Tourist zu werden. Niemals zuvor hatte ich bei einer Reiseagentur Flug, Hotel und Transfer zusammen gebucht, doch für einen Strandurlaub mit meiner Freundin fand ich diesmal ein echt unschlagbares Angebot. Hurghada in Ägypten hieß unser Reiseziel. In diesem Beitrag möchte ich euch von unseren Erfahrungen in diesem Urlaub berichten.
The flight already gave us a great preview of what was awaiting us. Endless desert and turquoise ocean water. Hurghada is located on the Red Sea and along with Sharm El Sheik, it is one of the absolute holiday hotspots in Egypt. At the airport, we bought a visa for $25/person and shortly afterwards were sitting in the bus to the resort, which we reached after barely a quarter of an hour. We checked in, got our all-inclusive wristbands and were ready for unlimited holiday fun.
Schon der Flug gab uns einen guten Vorgeschmack auf das, was uns erwartete. Endlose Wüste und türkisblaues Meerwasser. Hurghada liegt am Roten Meer und ist neben Sharm El Sheik einer der absoluten Urlaubs-Hotspots in Ägypten. Am Flughafen kauften wir ein Visum für 25 Dollar pro Person und saßen kurz darauf im Bus zum Resort, das wir nach einer knappen Viertelstunde erreichten. Wir checkten ein, bekamen unsere All-Inclusive-Armbänder und schon konnte es losgehen mit dem unbegrenzten Urlaubsspaß.
The resort was huge and especially the courtyard with the pools was beautifully designed. We could also enjoy this view from the balcony of our room. The included food was also okay, but unfortunately not more than okay. I was surprised at how much everything was targeted at German tourists. The staff spoke better German than English, you could pay for all additional services in Euros and there was German cuisine in the buffet restaurant every day. Is this how the classic German tourist imagines his holiday? I'm afraid so!
Das Resort war riesig und vor allem der Innenhof mit den Pools war wunderschön gestaltet. Diesen Ausblick konnten wir auch vom Balkon unseres Zimmers genießen. Auch das inkludierte Essen war okay, jedoch leider nicht mehr als okay. Überrascht war ich vor allem darüber, wie sehr alles auf deutsche Touristen ausgerichtet war. Das Personal sprach besser deutsch als englisch, man konnte alle Zusatzleistungen in Euro bezahlen und es gab täglich deutsche Küche im Buffet Restaurant. Stellt sich so der klassische deutsche Tourist seinen Urlaub vor? Ich befürchte, ja!
The beach area could fully convince us. Here we could relax on comfortable sun loungers under large, sturdy parasols and had more than enough space around us. The water was shallow, calm, crystal clear and turquoise blue. This is how I imagined a nice beach holiday. Here I also noticed how much an all-inclusive holiday pays off when considering the prices for the use of sunbeds and umbrellas at some destinations.
Der Strand-Bereich konnte uns voll überzeugen. Hier konnten wir auf gemütlichen Sonnenliegen unter großen, stabilen Sonnenschirmen entspannen und hatten mehr als genug Platz um uns herum. Das Wasser war seicht, ruhig, glasklar und türkisblau. So stellte man sich einen Strandurlaub vor. Hier merkt man auch, wie sehr sich ein All Inclusive-Urlaub auszahlt, wenn man bedenkt, was man sonst allein für die Benutzung von Liegen und Schirmen an manchen Destinationen bezahlt.
On other things, we felt less well treated. For example, when it came to the drinks. It sounds good at first that you can enjoy free drinks everywhere. That even includes beer and cocktails. However, when you get a tiny paper cup with about 0.1 litre of beer and lots of foam or an unbearably artificial tasting fruit juice concentrate, you quickly realise that all inclusive does not mean luxury.
Bei anderen Dingen wiederum fühlten wir uns weniger gut behandelt. Zum Beispiel was die Getränke betraf. Es hört sich erstmal gut an, dass man überall kostenlose Getränke genießen kann. Das inkludiert sogar Bier und Cocktails. Wenn man allerdings einen winzigen Pappbecher mit ungefähr 0,1 Liter Bier und viel Schaum oder ein unerträglich künstlich schmeckendes Fruchtsaftkonzentrat bekommt, merkt man schnell, dass all inclusive nicht Luxus bedeutet.
We quickly got bored with life in the all-inclusive bubble. A full week of just eating and bathing? How can you stand that? So we ventured out onto the streets, into the "real" Egypt and visited a mall, as well as a shopping street. Here, my fears came true. As I had already researched beforehand, you encounter one challenge after another here as soon as you want to do something on your own. As a tourist, you are perceived as a walking money bag and you have to be careful not to get ripped off. Taxis simply charge at least four times the price. Negotiations are mostly useless. Uber works in theory, but the drivers simply refuse to charge via the app and propose their own prices. On the street, you are approached every few metres, involved in conversations, lured into shops and confronted with exorbitant prices. If you don't negotiate, you lose. But negotiating can be extremely tedious and exhausting.
Das Leben in der All-Inclusive-Bubble wurde uns schnell langweilig. Eine ganze Woche lang nur Essen und Baden? Wie soll man das aushalten? Also wagten wir uns auf die Straße, in das "echte" Ägypten und besuchten eine Mall, sowie eine Shopping-Meile. Dabei bewahrheiteten sich meine Befürchtungen. Wie ich schon im Vorfeld recherchiert hatte, trifft man hier auf eine Herausforderung nach der anderen, sobald man auf eigene Faust etwas unternehmen möchte. Als Tourist wird man hier als wandelnde Geldtasche wahrgenommen und man muss höllisch aufpassen, nicht abgezockt zu werden. Das fängt schon bei Taxis an. Hier wird einfach mindestens der vierfache Preis verlangt. Verhandlungen sind meist zwecklos. Uber funktioniert zwar theoretisch, allerdings weigern sich die Fahrer einfach über die App abzurechnen und schlagen ihre eigenen Preise vor. Auf der Straße wird man alle paar Meter angesprochen, in Gespräche verwickelt, in Geschäfte gelockt und mit überteuerten Preisen konfrontiert. Wer nicht verhandelt, verliert. Das Verhandeln kann aber extrem mühsam und anstrengend sein.
However, we dared to go on a much bigger adventure, which I will tell you about in the next post. But what is my conclusion about the daily vacation life in the Egyptian all-inclusive bubble? If you just want to swim, eat and relax cheaply for a few days, you will certainly be satisfied. For me personally, it was an interesting experience, but I'm not really excited about this kind of travel. A nice time it was anyway!
Wir wagten uns jedoch noch an ein viel größeres Abenteuer heran, von dem ich euch im nächsten Beitrag berichten werde. Wie lautet aber nun mein Fazit zum Urlaubsalltag in der ägyptischen All Inclusive-Bubble? Wenn man einfach nur günstig ein paar Tage lang baden, essen und entspannen möchte, wird man sicher zufrieden sein. Für mich persönlich war es eine interessante Erfahrung, aber wirklich begeistern kann ich mich für diese Art des Reisens nicht. Eine schöne Zeit war es aber trotzdem!
See you soon!/Bis bald!
Stefan
I was there on vacation myself several years ago, probably it wasn't yet super famous as a tourist destination, but I must say that it has evolved quite a bit.
Nice! Hope it was an enjoyable holiday also back then 😊
The resort looks totally devine and yes, to want to do noting more than relax for a week or so, it looks big enough to do that as there looks to be so many different areas and your not stuck getting bored in the same spot.
Is the pool closed at night? If so, that's a shame...
And it's no wonder you got hit up and pulled into shops everywhere you went, the place looked practically deserted and they were probably desperate for the dollars.
Atleast you met some new friends anyway.
I love the cat but that little Gekko/Axolotl is sooo gorgeous with his big eyes!
Great shots to by the way. Thanks for sharing your holiday.
Let me know when you get to Australia and I can point you to some extraordinary spots!
Yes, we were super sad that the pools were closed at night. Would have been a great time to go for a swim as it was not so hot like at daytime.
Haha, yes, we saved that tiny Gecko. We found it in a Corridor and brought it back to nature. It was so cute 😃
That's very nice, many thanks! Australia is super high on my list. Hope to go there very soon 🤩
Were the pools closed for any particular reason though?
When you come to Australia I won't let the pools close on you that's for sure!
And I'll even introduce you to some more Gekkos and other totally gorgeous creature to make friends with while you here too!
I have no idea, I didn't ask, just accepted it 😅
That's so nice, thank you so much! 🙏😊
That's a shame, but it is what it is- now anyway...
And any time!
Any time at all.
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1972.
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Thank yo so much! 🙌😊
!LUV
Hello, this place is wonderful, I really want to visit it ☺️ When I saw your photos on the plane, I missed being on one ☺️ Just last week I went 😂 but I was always traveling. You and your girlfriend make a beautiful couple. It looks like they are having a lot of fun on this vacation. Enjoy. Thank you for sharing with us a little bit of your trip ☺️
Thank you so much for your sweet words 🤗 I'm happy to know that you like my post 😊
Very inventive, cool and exotic are these sun loungers and umbrella. I liked them 😊 It's a pity that the food was not very good and adapted to German tourists. It would be nice to eat some local, Egyptian dishes, since you are traveling to this country 😉 As for all inclusive trips. I was on such holidays for the first and only time a year ago and I think it is worth renting a car and organizing additional trips yourself. Then you can have a nice trip. As for Egypt, it is probably it is better to have organized trips. I cant't imagine just staying in the hotel and going to the beach for a week 😉
Yes, the sunbeds were super comfortable 😊 Yes, luckily we tried something Egyptian as well on our trip to Giza. A rental car can be a nice addition but in Egypt I wouldn't like to drive myself, the traffic is way too crazy 😅
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