I think you will struggle with finding that type of thing Kedi .

Sharm El sheikh is the most popular choice . Basically several miles of coastline , mainly A/I hotels behind closed gates .Desert one side Beautiful Red sea the other . There are some areas with new purpose built areas of shops/bars etc such as Nabq and sharks bay . The main town of Sharm is Naama Bay and here you will find bright Neon lights , loads of shops, restuarants and plenty of shisha pipes . Not exactly traditional but if you want to self cater or BB look for something here although I think SC options would be very limited.

Another option could be El Gouna (flights to hurgharda). I havnt been but from what I understand very nice . It is purpose built but you have both a downtown or marina area so you could stay B&B/HB or A/I. many of the A/I options (i know thats not what you want though) offer a dine around facility as part of the A/I where you can take your meal at one of the local resturants .

There is also Hurghada but again think that would be mainly A/I but maybe worth a look is Dahab (backpackers & divers favourite ). Not sure but that is somewhere that could well be more traditional. Maybe somone will know more .

lyn

We would like to go somewhere that is more traditional rather than purpose built where we can go out and eat in nice restaurants, not bothered about nightlife though as such as we have young children. We like to swim and have a look round markets and bazaars and it would be good if we could do a couple of trips

I have been thinking about your question and to be honest I tend to agree with Lynn, it might be a bit harder to find what you are looking for in Egypt, sharm and the Red Sea resorts are very much purpose built, other areas such as Luxor do have a lot of what you are looking for however swiming is limited to pools, there are some bazaars that you can wander around however you must be prepared for constant pressure from the sellers / taxi drivers/ in fact everybody.

As a thought would you consider Tunisia?

Graham

Ok so it looks like the best option would be to go to Luxor and make sure we get a swimming pool. To me Egypt is more for history anyway rather than beaches.

I have been to Luxor before on a cruise so I know there is a lot of hassle but I lived in Turkey so I'm pretty used to brushing it off!

Thanks for the advice, I may take a look at Dahab too just in case.

I have thought about Tunisia but there seemed to be no self catering accomodation there at all, not even through private rentals.

One important point I think Kedi is that it's not called the Red sea for nothing . The beautiful Red Sea really is a big part of a holiday here.

The Egyptians are very similar to the Turks and they are also very hospitable . They are a little more reserved but I actually find them more genuine in many ways although quite naturally now they are beginning to evolve as they mingle with so many westerners. Despite the similaries with the people it really is a very different type of holiday though .

Actually quite fancy Dahab myself .

I have had a look at Dahab and it does look quite nice. Now I am thinking that may be better and to wait until the girls are older to go to Luxor as they are a bit young for a lot of siteseeing now, I am sure they would prefer the beach.

Thanks Lynn, I will do mre research on Dahab.

Kedi

You could of course just go with the flow and have a different kind of holiday to what you are used to in Sharm Kedi . You never know as a family you may enjoy the change. .Good luck with the research .

Sightseeing is going to be very demanding and terribly hot for the children .I know you are used to the heat in turkey over the summer but Egypt will be up a gear over the summer . Easter or October are good times . we go just for a week over Easter and it's 30+ then .

A friend of mine owns some apartments in Luxor - send me a private message if you're ineterested, and I will let you have the details.

Lynn, I don't think we would go in summer, it would either be Feb half term or easter, I'm sure it would be far too hot in August. Yes, maybe we could have a complete change too!

Thanks doonhamer32, I will keep that in mind if we do choose Luxor