Bazaars and Restaurants Close at Midnight Under Egypt's New Winter Trading Hours
Shops and malls now shut at 10pm and restaurants, cafés and bazaars at midnight, with later closing on Thursdays, Fridays and public holidays. Groceries, bakeries and pharmacies are exempt, and delivery runs around the clock.
26 September 2026
Egypt's winter operating hours for commercial businesses took effect on Friday, 25 September, setting new closing times for the shops, restaurants and bazaars that residents and visitors on the Red Sea coast use every day, according to Egypt Independent.
Under the new schedule:
- Commercial shops and shopping malls open daily at 7:00 and close at 22:00, extended to 23:00 on Thursdays, Fridays and official national holidays.
- Restaurants, cafés and bazaars open at 5:00 and close at midnight, extended to 01:00 on Thursdays, Fridays and public holidays.
- Takeaway and 24-hour home delivery services continue without interruption.
- Workshops and craft businesses inside residential areas may operate from 8:00 to 18:00.
Workshops sited along highways or attached to service stations are excepted from that last rule and are governed by specific operational directives issued by local administration authorities, Egypt Independent reports.
The decree also excludes a list of essential businesses from the closing hours altogether: grocery stores, supermarkets, bakeries and pharmacies, along with fruit, vegetable, poultry and meat markets.
The winter trading schedule is separate from the clock change. Standard winter time resumes on the final Thursday of October — 29 October — when clocks are turned back 60 minutes at midnight, becoming 23:00.
The practical effect on this coast lands at the late end of the evening: bazaars and restaurants are working to a midnight close on most nights and 1:00 before the weekend, while the corner grocery and the pharmacy keep their own hours. The report does not say how the hours will be enforced, or what penalties apply to businesses that stay open later.