Hurghada (ar. Al Ghardaqah الغردقة) is an Egyptian tourist center on the Red Sea. The city was founded in the early 20th century and since the 80´s continually enlarged by American, European and Arabian investors to the leading bathing resorts on the red sea. Holiday villages and first class hotels provide excellent aquatic sport facilities for sail boarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorklers.

Hurghada stretches for about 40km along the shore of Red Sea and it doesn't reach far into the surrounding desert.

It consists of several parts, some of which include:

• Sakkala - a relatively modest hotel quarter,
• Dahar - the oldest part of Hurghada, where the town's largest bazaar, post office and inter-city bus station are also situated.

Notable places in proximity of Hurghada

• Sharm El Naga - a village, around 40km south of Hurghada. Its beach contains possibly the most beautiful reef cliff in the region.
• El Gouna - artificially created and privately owned luxury hotel town about 25km north of Hurghada. It's open to tourist traffic but sealed-off for Egyptians not working there. Its beauty comes not only from its quietness and cleanliness but also from the fact that the town consists of several islands separated by channels and connected by bridges. It's sometimes called the Egypt's Venice.

External Links

• Interactive "Hotelfinder", which shows the position of almost every hotel in Hurghada
• Official El Gouna website