Hurghada
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Bazaar_Street,_El_Dahar,_Hurghada,_Egypt,_Oct_2004.jpg
Mosque,_El_Nasr_Way,_Hurghada,_Egypt,_Oct_2004.jpg
Hurghada (ar. Al Ghardaqah الغردقة) is an Egyptian tourist center on the Red Sea. The city was founded in the early 20th century and since the 80īs continually enlarged by American, European and Arabian investors to the leading bathing resorts on the red sea. Holiday villages and first class hotels provide excellent aquatic sport facilities for sail boarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorklers.
Hurghada stretches for about 40km along the shore of Red Sea and it doesn't reach far into the surrounding desert.
It consists of several parts, some of which include:
- Sakkala - a relatively modest hotel quarter,
- Dahar - the oldest part of Hurghada, where the town's largest bazaar, post office and inter-city bus station are also situated.
Notable places in proximity of Hurghada
- Sharm El Naga - a village, around 40km south of Hurghada. Its beach contains possibly the most beautiful reef cliff in the region.
- El Gouna - artificially created and privately owned luxury hotel town about 25km north of Hurghada. It's open to tourist traffic but sealed-off for Egyptians not working there. Its beauty comes not only from its quietness and cleanliness but also from the fact that the town consists of several islands separated by channels and connected by bridges. It's sometimes called the Egypt's Venice.
On the eastern border of the Egyptian desert lies Hurghada. The city provides a gateway to the prime diving sites throughout the Red Sea. Its central location provides favorable access to very famous dive sites. In addition Hurghada is unique for having access to so many uninhabited off shore reefs and islands.
The capital of the Red Sea was founded in the early 20th century, until a few years ago it was remained a small fishing village. But today, Hurghada counts 40.000 inhabitants and is divided into three parts. Downtown (El Dahar) the old part and (Sekalla) which the second modern part, and then (El Korra Road) which the most modern part of the city. Hotels and Resorts extend along the coast over 40 km now. Several Restaurants, Bars and Shops, Small Pubs and Internet Cafes are available all over Hurghada. Hurghada is known as a party town, as life begins at night in Hurghada, with the many, many clubs. Nearly every hotel has its own Disco. The most famous ones at the moment are "Calypso" and "Papas Beach". If you like belly dancing, Arabic and Nubian folklore than you have to spend an evening at "Alf Leila Wa Leila" ("One thousand and one night"). It is a big open air arena, which offers a bit of everything.
Hurghada has gone on to become the foremost tourist resort of the Red Sea coast and an international center for aquatic sports like (windsurfing, sailing, deep-sea fishing, swimming, and above all snorkeling and diving). The unique underwater gardens offshore are some of the finest in the world, justifiably famous amongst divers. The warm waters here are ideal for many varieties of rare fish and coral reefs, which may also be observed through glass bottom boats.
External Links
- Interactive "Hotelfinder", which shows the position of almost every hotel in Hurghada (http://www.orcaredsea.de/hotelfinder/)
- Official El Gouna website (http://www.elgouna.com/)de:Hurghada