Shopping in Egypt
For the keen shopper, Egypt is a treasure trove of wonders. There are renowned bazaars such as Cairo’s Khan-el-Khalili as well as innumerable stand-alone shops selling a variety of goods not found elsewhere in the world. Cairo, in particular, is chock-a-block with such stores that retail just about everything Egypt is known for antiques, fine cotton and jewellery. In the Tehrir Square area, you’ll find many contemporary shopping malls.
It’s tempting to splurge in Cairo, but do bear in mind that some items are best acquired in their place of manufacture, like alabaster from Luxor.
This Egypt shopping guide gives a short introduction to what you may like to shop for on your visit. No doubt all this shopping will make you hungry, so we'd recommend you have a look at our Egypt restaurants guide as well. For details on specific shops, or to learn more about shopping within a specific city, click on the city below you would like to know more about:
- Cairo
- Alexandria
- Aswan & Luxor
- Hurgada
- Dahab
- El Gouna
- Marsa Alam
- Sharm El Sheikh
Egypt Shopping Guide
While haggling for a good price is a time-honoured tradition, there are many fixed-price stores as well. Getting the best value for your money depends on the shop you pick and your own bargaining capability; at shops where you can bargain, it’s often a trade off between quality and price. Stores with fixed prices rarely compromise on good quality. Which would you choose – a cheap, mother-of-pearl box picked up from the Khan el-Khalili, or a superior quality but more expensive box from a fixed price store?
The Khan-el-Khalili is easily Cairo’s best happy hunting ground for shopping in Egypt and those who enjoy simply browsing around. Intriguing antiques, spices, jewellery, brassware and copper are par for the course. Coptic cloth goods are also very popular. You can also pick up local handcrafted souvenirs at the Souk al Fustat.
Other well known shoppers’ haunts in Cairo are Bashayer, Om El Saad, Wekalat Al-Balah Fabric Market, Arkadia Shopping Mall, Al Khatoun and Sednaoui.
Shopping for local souvenirs in Egypt and general kitsch can be a lot of fun, but do look out for quality goods as well. If you’re lucky, you can pick these up at reasonable prices. Antiques, rugs, carpets, cottons and inlaid wood products (chess, backgammon boards) are popular buys. Leather products, perfumes and sheeshas or traditional water-pipes are items you can pick up in the local markets. The colourful atmosphere and noise come free! Dried herbs and spices are a good buy, since they’re usually of superior quality and considerably cheaper than what’s sold in Western supermarkets. What you finally pay, of course, will depend on your tenacity at bargaining and the shopkeeper’s integrity!
There are many outlets stocking western brands as well. Citystars Mall is Cairo’s latest landmark, with claims to being the biggest shopping and entertainment complex in the Middle East and Africa.
At Luxor, look out for perfumes, fine cotton bed linen and home decor items like wall hangings, carpets and embroidered cushion covers. Aswan is renowned for its spices and beautiful gold jewellery.
Local Handicrafts
A gold cartouche is a popular buy with tourists. This is made up of several hieroglyphic symbols engraved or soldered together inside a loop which can be worn as a pendant. You can find these at all gold shops. If you wish, many of them will engrave your name onto it in an hour’s time.
Papyrus, one of Egypt’s greatest gifts to the world, can be bought all over the country in the form of wall hangings. However, it’s easy to mistake fakes for the real thing. Many roadside vendors, for instance, will try to pass off banana leaf hangings, which closely resemble papyrus, as the real thing. Whereas genuine papyrus lasts for thousands of years (examples of ancient papyri, with writing, exist to date), the banana leaf substitute will probably disintegrate before you return home from your holiday. If you’re keen on buying authentic papyrus, look closely for the individual strips that have been placed together and flattened to create a larger sheet. Such lines will not be visible on copies since an entire banana leaf has to be used to make a hanging.
