Cairo Travel Forum

Hi, i wonder if anyone can help me, has anyone used the car ferry from Aqaba to Nuweiba? All travellers will have British Passports, will have a car and the intention then is to drive to Cairo, will welcome any advice on the best way to do this. How easy is it to obtain entry visas into Egypt at Nuweiba? How long roughly would it take then to drive from Nuweiba to Cairo?

Well I didn't use the ferry and from what I learned from the people who did it does challenge your patience. But, HEY, this is Egypt!!!

You are coming by car(s)....?

I wouldn't recommend to drive in Cairo. The traffic is CRAZY!!!!!!

From Nuweiba to Cairo it will be 6 to 7 hours. Don't drive at night. There are little herds of camels and goats wandering around the Sinai desert that can show up on the main road. And since the roads are not lighted... you can be in for a surprise!!!

We experienced it a year ago while we were driving from Alex to Nuweiba with an inexperienced driver (he said he didn't leave Alex in 20 years!!). We left Alex to late at 2pm and arrived in the Sinai way after sunset. We drove behind a public bus and that saved us! We encoutered a herd of camels and the bus was just able to avoid them. We stopped and let the herd go away. If the bus wasn't there.......

It is very easy to get a visa in Egypt. I am quite sure there will be a bank desk or a custom desk right after you left the boat

I have done it the other way around and while it took some time to board, the system does work. You just have to have patience. Do you hafve all the relevant paperwork for taking the car from Jordan to Egypt? A similar question on taking the ferry was asked very recently so it will either be in the Acaba Foru7m or the Nueweiba one. I concur with the not driving at night. In any case, the Sinai is absolutely stunning and you'd not want to miss it. Swissinai is a good contact to ask re Nuweiba and the Sinai and he probably can answer be succintly re the ferry.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/6c902/

This is the adress of swisssinai aka Alvin.

He is not very regular around VT so better to contact him at his own e-mail adress on the Swisscare link you can find on his VT homepage. He is a bundle of information on the Sinai side of Egypt and if you are looking for a very good, not that expensive place to stay his resort is the one to be!!!

Good luck, Dora.

Talking of the devil....

Hi ya Dora and Hawkhead ! :-)

Back to business... yes, make sure that you have all the papers in order before you arrive with a car. The procedures are very complicated and tedious. Check with the Egyptian Embassy for the contact details of the Automobile Club who will advise on such matters. You most likely will need to leave a guarantee ( quite a large sum of money ) at customs to ensure that you take the car out of the country again. There are procedures around this done through the banks which is why you must get all the details first.

Then, the ferries are never punctual or prompt. At certain times of the year, especially at the beginning of the summer, when alot of Egyptian families return for the summer holidays from working abroad in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait. Jordan, Iraq and Syria, the ferries will be busy for the vehicles and it has been known to have to wait at Aqaba for 3 - 4 days. At certain other times of the year, i.e. after the Hajj pilgrimage, the foot passangers are too numerous. One can not reserve the ferries in advance.

If your car takes Octane 92 or higher then you will have problems as often the petrol stations run out of stock. There are two stations in Nuweiba. One near the port and one near the town, use the latter, it usually has Octane 92. The one at Taba Heights, 50 km to the north, also usually has octance 92, but after that the next two going across Sinai usually does not have it.

You could go through St Catherine. Its only a detour of about 70 km more than going via Wadi Watir or up towards Taba and then across the Sinai. Driving through Sinai is a pleasure. Empty roads, in pretty good conditions, but, as the others say, take care at night. Especially with the camels !

Driving from Nuweiba to Cairo should take between 5 and 6 hours max. Going via St Catherine adds 3/4 hour plus anytime at the monastery there.

Hello there Swissinai - nice to know you are still around and sunning yourself on the edge of the Sinai!!

Thankyou to everyone who replied here, this information will be very useful particular entry from swissinai. I am actually living in Egypt and this information is for people coming to visit who asked me the best way from Jordan. I will pass this onto them, perhaps they will have to think again as it doesn't seem so straightforward with a car.

Hi ya Alvin,

You are the BEST!!!!!!

I recently posted a long reply to someone asking about using this ferry. I also posted it as a tip on one of my pages here. Below is a link to that tip.

It explains the experience in pretty decent detail but sorry to say I can't help with the car part of your question. Hope it helps.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/a88e0/de1/9/

Gottagocit