What this solves
If you arrive in Egypt during Ramadan and do not adjust your day, you will arrive at 11:30 at a museum that closed at 4 pm, walk past a souk that opens only at 21:00, queue at a felucca dock staffed by a single bored guard, and have lunch at a restaurant with a covered window screen. That is the most common pattern. The fix is one of these: rearrange your day so that the high-culture moments happen between 9 AM and 4 PM, and place souk-and-cafe time between 21:00 and 02:00, OR accept that you are on Ramadan time and plan around iftar (~17:30 in winter, ~18:30 in summer).
The rules baked in: (1) Tourist sites — major sites like the Pyramids, GEM, Karnak, the Egyptian Museum — open normally but with shorter hours, usually 9 AM to 4 PM instead of 8 AM to 5 PM. (2) Government offices slow dramatically — embassies, banks, and ministry counters are staffed 10 AM to 2 PM. (3) Most restaurants close during the day, or have a covered screen to shield from in-laws who fast. A handful of tourist-area restaurants stay open; the rest are dark. (4) The souks come alive after iftar — even 21:00 to 02:00 in the bigger markets like Khan el-Khalili. (5) Hotels and resorts are mostly unaffected (international clientele). (6) Cruise ships are unaffected (sailing schedule is fixed). (7) Western Desert treks are unaffected (oases are away from the city).
By governorate: Cairo moderate impact — sites open, food access closes, souks come alive after iftar. Luxor high impact — most restaurants are closed during the day, even tourist-area restaurants scale back, and the West Bank cafeteria scene drops to a single kiosk. Aswan moderate — the corniche cafes shift but hotel restaurants are open. Sinai resort low — Hurghada, Sharm, Dahab are tourist enclaves and stay mostly normal. Alexandria high — the corniche restaurants scale back hard and tram-cities close in the late morning.
The matrix picker
How to read results
- The matrix is hour-by-hour for the named activity. A green cell is "go here with full access". A mid-cell is "go here with reduced access". A red cell is "do not bother".
- Iftar is the pivot of the day. In winter iftar is ~17:30. In summer iftar is ~18:30. Everything re-starts within 30 minutes after iftar — souks at 18:00, restaurants at 18:30, late-night cafe at 21:00.
- Tourist sites open 9 AM to 4 PM. Western Desert oases have variable site hours — Siwa, Bahariya, Farafra operate on local time, not Cairo time, and sometimes close for "the photographer's siesta" between 13:00 and 16:00.
- The "first hour to visit" line. depends on your priority. For sights, 9 am. For the souk, 21:00 (post-iftar, pre-midnight).
- Resort areas are mostly unaffected. Sharm, Dahab, Hurghada, El Gouna are tourist enclaves and serve international clientele year-round. Hotel restaurants are open; the marina mall is open.
The 24-hour × 6-governorate matrix
Hour-by-hour Ramadan-effect during Ramadan 2026 (Feb 18 – Mar 19). Cells use green = full access, amber = reduced, red = closed / not worth it.
| Hour | Cairo | Luxor | Aswan | Sinai | Red Sea | Alexandria |
|---|
Limitations
- Iftar time shifts. The matrix uses winter iftar ~17:30. During Ramadan 2026 in Upper Egypt the iftar is at 18:00 by mid-Ramadan. Add 30 min for the re-start window.
- Western Desert is not in the matrix. Siwa, Farafra, Bahariya operate on local-clocked site hours. A separate "oasis Ramadan" tool would be needed.
- Embassies and banks shift independently. Government offices operate 10 AM to 2 PM during the month. Plan embassy runs accordingly.
- Some tourist-area restaurants stay open. In Khan el-Khalili and around the pyramids, a handful of tourist-area restaurants serve food behind screens. Don't assume "no food" — ask the hotel concierge for current open ranges.
- Ramadan 2026 begins Feb 18 and ends Mar 19. The dates shift backward by 11–12 days each year. Verify next year's exact dates on the Egyptian government calendar.
FAQ
Is Egypt safe for non-Muslim tourists during Ramadan?
Yes. Eating in tourist restaurants is permitted. Drinking water in public is fine. Public drunkenness is never fine. Do not eat, chew gum, or smoke in the street during daylight fast — it is socially hostile. Hotel restaurants are open.
Does the GEM close for Ramadan?
No — but hours shift to 9 AM to 4 PM. The Tahrir Museum hours follow the GEM. Book the royal-mummy hall morning slot to avoid the noon lull.
Will the Nile cruise run?
Yes. Cruise ships are unaffected by Ramadan. Sailing hours, evening entertainment, and ship-board dining all continue on the fixed schedule. The only change is the dining hour, which sometimes shifts to align with iftar (~17:30).
What about Khan el-Khalili during Ramadan?
Quieter during the day; very busy after iftar (~21:00 to 02:00). The famous El-Fishawy cafe is open late. Plan the souk for the evening; do not attempt a 10:00am visit.
Is Ramadan a bad time to visit?
No — it is a different time. The sites are open, the hotels are open, and the souks are more vibrant in the evening. The cost is logistical: your day must be sequenced around iftar. If you are willing to do that, the trip is great.
Related tools
Sources
- Egyptian Government Calendar, Ramadan 2026 (Feb 18 – Mar 19) and 2027 (Feb 7 – Mar 8).
- Ministry of Antiquities, 2026 tourist-site opening-hours bulletin (Ramadan-adjusted).
- Tourism Ministry, hotel and resort operating-hours guidance, 2026.
- Cruise operators' published Ramadan sailing schedules, 2026 contracts.
- Field observation, Cairo / Luxor / Aswan / Sinai / Alexandria during Ramadan 2024–2025.
About
Pharaoh Compass is a small, ad-light, decision-grade toolkit. We started as a one-page Giza order optimiser and grew into 36 calculators. We don't sell tours, we don't take bookings, we don't take affiliate commissions. We make calculators. The Ramadan hours page is one of seven culture-aware tools in the set, paired with the khamsin probability, climate window, and dress-code tools.
This page was last reviewed against the 2026 Egyptian government calendar in October 2026.
Privacy
No personal data collected. No first-party cookies, no analytics cookies, no fingerprinting. The only third-party resources are Tailwind CSS (cdn.jsdelivr.net) and Font Awesome (cdnjs.cloudflare.com), both served from public, no-tracking CDNs. As of this version we run no Google AdSense or any advertising script. Should we later monetise via Google AdSense, this page will disclose: AdSense use, Google's cookie-based personalisation, opt-out URLs (adssettings.google.com, aboutads.info, youronlinechoices.eu), and an EEA consent banner per GDPR/ePrivacy.
Disclaimer
For reference only. Ramadan dates shift each year; the calculator is calibrated for 2026 and 2027 and degrades for 2028 and beyond. Tourist-site hours are typical; specific sites may publish different hours on a given year. Verify at the museum, the hotel, or the operator.