Photo : Marc Ryckaert — CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons — Licence Wikimedia Commons
Hurghada · Sahl Hasheesh, some twenty kilometres south of Hurghada
Old Town Sahl Hasheesh
A piazza, paved lanes and a pier: the one place in Sahl Hasheesh where you walk.
Old Town is the pedestrian heart of Sahl Hasheesh, a resort built in one go some twenty kilometres south of Hurghada. The name says old town and nothing in it is old: it is a new set of arcades, domes and ochre stone, drawn to look like a medina. There is a piazza with fountains and pavilions, lit at night, lanes of shops, galleries and restaurants, a supermarket, and a seafront promenade running out to a long wooden pier above the "sunken city". People come in the late afternoon, when the heat drops: cars stay outside, children walk in front, and dolphins are sometimes visible from the quay.
The extra bit
Walk to the end of the pier as the sun goes down: that is where you see the whole bay, and it is the only free thing on the promenade. For water and snacks, the supermarket in the block costs a third of what a terrace thirty metres away will charge.
Know before you go
Sahl Hasheesh is a resort still under construction in places, and Old Town only comes alive in the evening and in high season: out of season, or in mid-afternoon, you can find yourself almost alone, shuttered shops included. The promenade is in full sun and shade is scarce before sunset. Prices are resort prices, higher than in central Hurghada. There is no public transport: it is some twenty kilometres of road from Hurghada, and agree the return before you get out of the taxi, because you do not flag a car down here in the evening.
