Duty free in sharm el sheikh. What to bring from Egypt? Assortment of duty-free airport in Sharm el-Sheikh. Rules for shopping in Duty free
Duty free is a network of stores around the globe, and in Egypt in particular. The main feature of this type of establishments is that they are located right at the crossing of the state border, that is, on neutral territory. Most often they can be found in the international terminals of air harbors, as well as on sea or air passenger ships.
Due to the fact that duty-free shops are located at the border, all goods sold there are not subject to any customs duties, excise duties and taxes. This makes it possible to sell them at a price much lower than in the usual retail outlets. Here you can buy tobacco products, spirits, clothes, cosmetics, perfumes and souvenirs.
Duty free in Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada
There are two duty-free shops in Sharm el-Sheikh - at the international airport and in the shopping center located in the Naama Bay area. Hurghada has four such shops - in the arrivals hall and in the departure area of the international airport, on Village Road (on the first floor there is a huge assortment of tobacco and alcohol, on the second floor you can buy good cosmetics and perfumes) and on the facade of the Sea Gull 4 hotel *.
Assortment and prices
Tourists arriving in Egypt from Russia and the CIS countries focus primarily on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages - it is on these purchases that you can save the most. In addition, in duty-free shops you can often find very high-quality goods that cannot be bought in our country, especially at such low prices.
In addition to tobacco and alcoholic products, it is very profitable to buy cosmetics and perfumes in duty free - you can save up to 30% on it compared to prices in large chain stores. Here you can also find something that will never be sold in Russia and neighboring countries. There is another plus - in duty free you can often buy the so-called travel sets - sets of several types of cosmetics packaged in probes. By purchasing a travel set, every girl can afford elite cosmetics at the lowest price.
On jewelry sold in Egyptian duty free, you can save about 15%. The final price depends on the city where you want to buy the product, on the design and on the manufacturer.
Duty free shops in Egypt provide an opportunity to purchase various goods at a reduced price. But it is important to remember one rule - even with all the price reductions, goods in a city duty-free store will cost much less than in a similar store, but on the territory of the airport. When buying, pay attention to the price tags - on some the cost is indicated in dollars, and on others - in euros.
If we compare duty-free shops in Moscow and Egypt, then in Moscow prices are generally higher, and the choice is greater than that offered by duty-free shops in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, but this only applies to cosmetics and perfumery products. As for alcohol and cigarettes, the prices are lower and there is more choice just the same in duty free in Egypt.
The whole of Russia goes to Sharm el-Sheikh to rest, in large numbers - Ukraine, Poland and Italy, to a lesser extent - the rest of the CIS countries and Europe. Residents of other EU countries prefer to choose other places for recreation, despite the fact that Sharm el-Sheikh is recognized as a European level resort, and residents of the European Union, like Russia, Ukraine and some other countries, can visit the resort without a visa. The so-called "Sinai Stamp" allows you to stay for 15 days in the Sinai Peninsula as a whole, and also allows you to visit Jordan and Israel. If you need to stay in Sharm el-Sheikh for more than 15 days, or you want to make an excursion to Luxor and visit the Pyramids, then you will have to pay $ 25 at the airport for a tourist visa, which allows you to stay anywhere in Egypt for 30 days .
In fact, the resort in Sharm el-Sheikh is very hot and dry in summer, but the heat is easier to bear on the beach, near the water, in which you can take a dip when the heat becomes unbearable. The water on the local coast is never colder than 20 degrees Celsius even in winter, and in summer it rises to 28 degrees. The average air temperature in the summer months fluctuates around 30 degrees, and sometimes reaches 45 degrees in the shade. But the sea, the sea - it smoothes and softens everything. Sharm el-Sheikh has many beaches, access to them is free, and sometimes there is even a free shuttle bus. In addition, almost every hotel for tourists is equipped with an indoor pool so that you can cool off without moving to the Red Sea, and swim without special slippers that protect against cuts on the sharp edges of corals.
There are also many usual resort activities, such as numerous excursions, quad biking and camel riding in the desert, diving, innumerable water attractions for children and adults - in general, there are a lot of pleasures. There are also shops that are necessarily present in the places of congestion of the resort public in order to give it the opportunity to throw out some of the money saved up for the rest. Otherwise, the rest will simply not be real.
Duty free shops
In the city, of course, there are bazaars. Sellers at the counters are well versed in the flow of buyers, and prices for foreigners are kept on top. After all, not all visiting guests know how to bargain as required by the eastern market, and not every woman who examines the goods is Aunt Sonya from Odessa, so the main income of local merchants, of course, is from holidaymakers. Therefore, bargain boldly, knowing that prices are probably overpriced many times over. This is the only way you can reduce your costs. And, if you notice that you are good at bargaining, then you can safely buy goods at the bazaars, this will give a significant financial result. And in the event that you yourself like to be in the market, wander in the crowd, engage in a skirmish with sellers, then this will help you not only find the product you need, but also choose it by price and quality - you know the basic rule market: do not buy from the first seller.
If you are not a fan of market exotics, or you need to buy branded goods or expensive drinks, then you need to go to the shops. Here, as a rule, they do not trade, but there is more confidence that you are not buying a fake, but exactly what you wanted. Let it be a little more expensive than a similar purchase on the market would cost you, but the quality is worth it.
And if you visit duty free shops, you will not lose the price. There are several such duty-free shops in Sharm El Sheikh. On Soho Square, in the Old Market, at the airport, and in the Naama Bay area, there are as many as two duty free shops. By the time you get around all five stores, you can do some decent shopping and buy a lot of what you planned. And, since no duties are charged from you, the prices in these stores are much lower. You just have to be careful about the fact that You have only two days, during which you can visit duty free shops. If you miss, you will be left without goods at low prices.
True, only a few groups of goods are on sale here: alcoholic beverages, perfumes and confectionery, mainly chocolate and sweets. There is a limit on the sale of goods to one person for alcohol, and this limit is different for different stores. And the prices for the same type of goods can vary significantly depending on which store the purchase is made in. In the most expensive duty free shop located at the airport, the limit is 4 bottles per person. In other stores they will sell you cheaper, but only 3 bottles - they have such a limit. Roman Kartsev’s crayfish immediately come to mind: “But three ...”
Here are the approximate prices for alcoholic products in local duty free shops:
- whiskey, from 20 to 60 dollars per 1 liter;
- rum, 20-25 dollars per bottle;
- gin - from 13 to 25 dollars;
- tequila, from 15 to 30 dollars per bottle;
- wine, prices vary, but on average 20-27 dollars.
Duty free shops, which you can find in the Naama Bay area or within the Old Market, have a slightly expanded assortment, and you can see something from small technical goods in them. Maybe choose some item for yourself, because the price, as expected, is very low.
And when the prescribed two days expire, you, having got rid of duty free shops, will start exploring all the local trading establishments in a row, which are more expensive than duty free shops, but also much more interesting than them. You will have to visit large shopping centers, and walk along the tangled streets, look into small shops and street stalls, where you can buy interesting trinkets for souvenirs for friends and acquaintances for a dollar or two. Yes, and for educational purposes, this is of interest - it will allow you to look "behind the scenes", see with one eye how those people who daily serve you in casinos and hotels live.
But, since the other side of life is never attractive, you need to quickly return to its front side - to your hotel, to the beach, to the usual and such an attractive resort life.