Hurghada Old Town and El Dahar Market

Old Town and El Dahar Market

El Dahar district (El Dahar) is the old town of Hurghada, from where the current modern resort and big city began to grow. Unlike the tourist areas of Hurghada, built-up areas of large hotels and filled with tourists, the houses of local residents are located here, and only rare tourists appear on the streets. This is a very colorful place, typical of Egypt in everyday life, where you can see the life and way of life of ordinary Egyptians. Low-rise houses, street markets, local eateries, along with shops selling consumer goods, household appliances and more. Here is one of their Christian temples - the Coptic Church.

El Dahar Market is a real local market, not a tourist one. It was formed in a residential area in the alleys between the houses. On the first floors of the houses there are shops, nearby there are stalls. The goods are displayed mixed up, chaotically, vegetables and clothes are nearby. Finding a specific product will not be easy if you have not been here before. Nevertheless, you can buy almost everything you need at the market: vegetables, fruits, meat, live chickens and pigeons, fish, clothes, shoes, household items, hairdressers, cafes. There are also goods for tourists such as simple traditional souvenirs, hookahs, papyri, etc. Theoretically, prices here should be much lower than in tourist areas, but in practice, as usual in Egypt, you will be offered to buy everything at inflated prices, so you need to be guided in prices and bargain well so as not to overpay. Some sellers have price tags on their products, and in such cases you don't have to bargain. But prices, as a rule, are indicated in old Arabic numerals, and to understand them, read our note about numbers in Egypt. In general, before going shopping in Hurghada, we advise you to read our article about shopping in Egypt.

For tourists, the area and the market in El Dahar are not the best place to walk. Dirt is everywhere and there is a sense of poverty. At the same time, there is no intrusive harassment, unlike the merchants on Sheraton Street. Not everyone will like it here, but it's worth going here at least once to see the traditional Arab way of life.

On the streets of the old town

You can easily see russian cars here

And here is such a "city" transport

From the old fruit market there was only a dump and a gate

Fruits are now sold between houses

They also sell poultry here

And it's very dirty here

💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Hurghada with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites:

• 📷 Search for excursions in Hurghada on Sputnik8.com
• 📷 Search for excursions in Hurghada on Tripster.ru
• 📷 Search for excursions in Hurghada on Tezeks.com