Greece vs Egypt

This decides most trips. The Greek islands are a summer destination: the sea is comfortable from June to October (around 23-28°C at its warmest, in August), and from November to April it's 15-21°C, most beach hotels close and many flights stop. Egypt's Red Sea coast is the opposite: swimmable all year, with its coolest water (about 22°C) in February and March, and very hot in July and August, when highs reach 37-38°C.

Compare the islands with each other too: Rhodes, in the southeast, has the warmest sea of the Greek islands in the table below, and Corfu, in the northwest, the coolest and the most rain.

Greece wins on beaches: lagoons like Balos on Crete, coves, long sandy bays, and in 2026 more than 600 Blue Flag beaches, second in the world. Egypt wins under water: the Red Sea's coral reefs, some right off the hotel jetty in Sharm El Sheikh, and national parks like Ras Muhammad. If you'll spend the holiday with a snorkel, go to Egypt. If you want to try a different beach every day, go to Greece.

Greece is closer (from London, about four hours to Crete against five and a half to Hurghada), needs no visa for EU, UK and US citizens, and is easy to explore on your own, by hire car, bus and ferry. Egypt needs a 30-dollar visa, bought online or on arrival, and a passport valid for six months. The Red Sea resorts are self-contained, and most visitors use the hotel's transfers and excursions. In Egypt's favor: Hurghada and Sharm have flights all year, while most routes to the Greek islands stop in winter.

Both have some of the greatest ancient sites in the world. In Greece they're close to the beaches: Knossos is a bus ride from Heraklion, the Acropolis is in the middle of Athens. In Egypt the wonders are far from the Red Sea: Luxor is four to five hours each way from Hurghada, and Giza, with the Grand Egyptian Museum that opened in November 2025, is an hour's flight. Worth it, but they're expeditions, not afternoons.

The UK Foreign Office calls the Red Sea tourist areas generally low risk and does not advise against the resorts or Luxor, but it warns about terrorism in Egypt, uneven safety on dive and excursion boats, and sexual assaults reported in resorts. Stomach trouble is common among visitors, so drink bottled water. In Greece the main risks are summer wildfires and heat. The EU's EHIC and the UK's GHIC cover state healthcare in Greece, not in Egypt, so check that your insurance covers medical evacuation.