All-inclusive genuinely works here and is the default for good reasons. It also quietly decides how much of Egypt you will actually see.
This is the most consequential booking decision after the town, and it is usually made on price alone. Worth knowing what else it decides.
We print no prices — the pound moves too fast for that to be honest — so what follows is about structure and behaviour rather than numbers.
A family week in a resort bay
All-inclusive
In Soma Bay, Sahl Hasheesh or Makadi there is little outside the gate, and removing the daily food question genuinely improves the week.
A week in Hurghada or El Gouna
Half board
Both towns have real restaurants at every price. Paying twice for dinner and then eating the buffet out of guilt is the most common way this goes wrong.
Anyone who came to see Egypt
Half board or room only
All-inclusive is an anchor. If the food is paid for, you will eat it, and the country stays outside the gate for a fortnight.
Divers on a package
Half board
You will be on a boat for lunch most days. Paying for a lunch buffet you are never present for is money spent on nothing.
A first trip, nervous about food
All-inclusive
A fair reason and no shame in it. Do book one dinner outside the hotel — the gap between a buffet and a grilled fish restaurant is the point of coming here.
Whatever you pick, ask one specific question before booking: which drinks are included, by brand, and which are charged. That single answer separates the properties where all-inclusive is a genuine bargain from the ones where it is a starting price.
Last reviewed 25 July 2026. We take no commission from either side — how we make money. Disagree with a call? Tell us why.