# Driving Test in Hurghada



## dougaldon (Jan 26, 2011)

does anyone know how much it costs to take your driving test in hurghada as im moving over there very soon, i have a uk licence but been told i will need an egyptian licence, also i will be looking to buy a car soon,is there a used car classified anywhere, any infomation gladly recieved


----------



## gerhardme1954 (Jul 6, 2011)

you dont need to take a test normally. Just go to the authority, on arrival, and produce your UK license. They will normally just issue you a 10 year local license. In the "old" days they may have asked a "fee" to do, but maybe now no longer.


----------



## dougaldon (Jan 26, 2011)

gerhardme1954 said:


> you dont need to take a test normally. Just go to the authority, on arrival, and produce your UK license. They will normally just issue you a 10 year local license. In the "old" days they may have asked a "fee" to do, but maybe now no longer.


Thanx for the info gerhardme do you know wheres the best place to look for a used car ?


----------



## dougaldon (Jan 26, 2011)

gerhardme1954 said:


> you dont need to take a test normally. Just go to the authority, on arrival, and produce your UK license. They will normally just issue you a 10 year local license. In the "old" days they may have asked a "fee" to do, but maybe now no longer.


Authority where would i find this building in Hurghada?


----------



## GM1 (Sep 30, 2008)

it is in the area where you also go for an extended/residence visa. Have a look at this map: hurghada-information.com - Welcome to Hurghada Information Net in the locator go to "all the other stuff" and scroll to visa office (almost last). 
The traffic police has also a new location, but I don't know if they moved everything. The "old" location in Google Earth: 27°15'26.16"N 33°48'24.88"E 
New location: 27°12'60.00"N 33°48'24.47"E

I know that it will be valid as long as your (residence) visa is valid, you have to renew the drivers' license also when you have renewed your residence visa. At least that was the rule in 2009, I will have to renew next year.

Good luck!


----------



## ice2x01 (Jul 3, 2011)

As far as classifieds are concerned, I hope the mods don't mind me sharing links if so please delete them and OP PM me..

Try, 

car100100.com, ewaseet.com, facebook marketplace should be useful

You are better off finding a used car in Cairo than in Hurghada.


----------



## hurghadapat (Mar 26, 2010)

dougaldon said:


> Thanx for the info gerhardme do you know wheres the best place to look for a used car ?


prices are high for used cars.....so unless you know an expat who is selling one you are better off buying new....!!!!


----------



## Gounie (Jan 27, 2011)

This was my (long) story copy and pasted from another forum about getting my 10 year Egyptian licence in Hurghada in 2008. Not sure if it has changed. Grab a coffee before you start reading.....

Driving your own Car:
If you’re living here on a long term tourist visa, you can legally drive on a valid international driver’s license for (1) month. If you intend to live here for an extended period of time or have a resident visa, you need an Egyptian driver’s license. To obtain this, you must go to a license office and bring:


 Your passport and a valid visa
 Your (4) photos – passport size.
 A note from both a medical and eye doctor certifying your good health.
 A lab report stating your blood type.
 A statement from your Embassy confirming your place of residence in Egypt (with Arabic translation).

The story so far......... (September 2008)

Went to the hospital, which by the way was on fire, but plenty of guys running around with buckets of water and the arrival of the fire brigade soon had that under control. (Note smokers: distinguish cigarettes before throwing in bin!.) Had my blood group test done in ten minutes. OK but it is different to what I thought it should be? He said he did it twice and went off to do it again. Same result! Later contacted the Blood Donor people in UK to confirm my group and yes it is different to what they say here. Will get a third opinion!

Had the medical done LE45 no probs. Had the eye test LE45 and he recommended I need glasses for the distance now as well as just for reading. Off to the optician and ordered vari-focal, anti-glare, Italian frames with the progressive sunglass bit when you go in the sun. LE1,454 and they will be ready in about a week.

Met up with a 'lawyer' Friday night in Tamr Henna square for a tea to discuss the paperwork I need to take. Now his English was as good as my Arabic but I think even with perfect English he would have still tried to be as confusing as possible. He said I have to live in a registered property to be able to get a driving license?!? But he still asked for a copy of my contract for my property?!? And the price for this fake piece of paper saying I live in a registered property and everything else for this license will be? Maybe LE500, LE600, Le700, not more than LE1,000! Hmmmmmm. And we have to go at 9am the next morning to spend five hours in Hurghada to get this registered property paper?!? One hour later and still confused as hell and this 'lawyer' with a constant unnerving smile I decided to give up!

Off to the marina party and bumped into an Egyptian friend and told him the tale. He said he had helped another European to get his license and I don't need this registered property paper and he would come with me to the Traffic Police.

So off we went in my friend Diana's car together with Ahmed. The office is really chaotic with many Egyptians queuing at all the windows outside, well no queuing is the wrong word but squashed in a huddle all trying to get served at the same time and me somewhere in the middle. We then moved inside and were dealt with by a nice lady who took my passport and British driving license. She kept a copy of the passport and my annual tourist visa stamp. She also looked at my contract for my property. We then had to wait a long time to see the 'Chief' who asked Ahmed a few questions about me and requested a copy of my property contract and told us to come back in 2-3 weeks!

To be continued................................... 

Had another blood group test done at Nile Hospital in Hurghada and that test came out the same as El Gouna hospital. She also did the test three times! So the Blood Donar people in the UK have me down with the wrong blood group!

A response from the Blood Donor Group doctor:


Thank you for your e-mail and your interesting query.

You will be someone who is typed as a weak D. D (known as the Rhesus type)
is usually strongly typed as positive or negative. However, some people like
yourself possess a weak D and, in these cases, as a patient they will be
grouped as Rhesus negative as they must receive RhD negative blood and
components. However, as a donor, that person must be considered as a RhD
positive group because their weak D has the same potential to create
antibodies in a recipient as a strong RhD.

I am sorry if this sounds complicated but please be reassured that there is
no reason to be worried. For blood donation purposes you will appear as A
RhD positive as this is safe for patients. However, when you are a patient,
you will appear as RhD negative - just as you did in Egypt who were quite
correct.

Many thanks for your interest in blood donation

With very best wishes

Dr Elizabeth Anne Page
Associate Specialist
Donor Services

That makes me feel better Will be in Hurghada on Saturday to try and do the next step towards getting my license!

October 2008
Went on Saturday and was just sent round in circles and told come back on Monday for sure you will get your license then. Went Monday even though it is a holiday here and the office was closed. Off on our trip tomorrow. Also heard that after the kidnapping in Egypt they are not selling bus tickets to Cairo or Luxor from Hurghada to foreigners. Lets hope all the security check points allow Diana and I to drive all the way to Siwa in her car alone on our annual tourist visas!

Last visit and had to do a driving test going through and reversing around a series of bollards. Got my 10 year Egyptian driving license at last!!!!


----------



## Gounie (Jan 27, 2011)

*Two British Ladies driving alone around Egypt*
My friend Diana and I have just got back from our Siwan adventure trip. We left a week ago in Diana's car from El Gouna. It was the first day after the holidays and feast. El Gouna had been full to bursting with people from Cairo but luckily they had all left the day before. The road to Cairo was so quiet and no-one took any notice of us at any of the security check points. We stopped at the new development of Porto Sockhna for two very expensive cups of coffee.

Driving in Cairo is horrendous as I have experienced many times and road signs are very confusing. I did use Web browser and Live Maps are incompatible to get a route to our hotel on the Cairo/Alex desert road but the website uses road numbers on their maps and the signs never show a number and keep referring to local road without a name.

It certainly helps to have an understanding of Arabic to read the signs that are not in English. Distance El Gouna to Oasis Hotel was 469km.

Leaving Cairo the next day towards Alexandria is busy but many lanes and then we turned off after Wadi Natrun to take the very quiet road to El Alamein. This is easy driving but the landscape is very flat and boring. We arrived at the main road that runs all along the north coast. Again very little traffic and a good, straight road and no-one interested to stop us at the security check points. The amazing thing is the amount of construction all along this stretch to El Alamein. The road is lined with real estate advertising boards and villa and apartment construction. The coast road is quite a way from the coast but you can see in the distance the beautiful turquoise sea and white chalky sand. The rest of the scenery is still flat and boring.

After a total of 930km we arrived at the town of Marsa Matrouh. We had to stop and ask directions to the hotel on the cornish as there were very few signs and mainly in Arabic.

The next day we headed south through the desert 300km to Siwa. Again the landscape is very flat with sand and just a few dry shrubs for the camels to eat. The road started with new tarmac and is quite narrow and the height of the new tarmac left a big drop either side onto the rough and rocky desert ground. There is very little room for error when you have a big truck coming in the opposite direction. After this we had 10 km of very rough surface and 30km speed limit where the road was waiting for the new tarmac. Following this the road was good, very quite, narrow but fast. There are a couple of tiny cafes in the desert but no petrol stations.

We were looking for a very exclusive Ecolodge whichh does not have any signs directing you so luckily we have been given the GPS marks for all our turns and for the lodge and I had borrowed a hand held GPS. We would never have found it otherwise. The Adrere Amellal Ecolodge is worth the 1,233 km journey from El Gouna and the ridiculously high price of 319 USD per twin room per night! It is absolutely amazing and in the most beautiful location. For exploring the desert and town of Siwa the lodge provided Toyota trucks and guides included in the price.

On the journey back we noticed they had filled in the big drop off either side of the new tarmac with sand. This road is excellent but I would never want to travel on this or any road in Egypt at night. Scattered all along the roads are blown out tires or contents of lorries thrown all over the desert after it has come off the road. There are sudden holes and bumps and because of the high speed we can do along here there is little room for error. Camels are also a hazard. The tour companies offer drivers to take you all the way from Cairo to Siwa without stopping. That is around 750-800 km and the drivers usually just turn straight round and go back after dropping you off. I was so glad I was driving with Diana at our own pace and schedule.

On the way back we stopped at Marsa Matrouh overnight again and then to Porto Marina at El Alamein. Another beautiful marina development selling apartments. The 5* hotel was superb and the marina had gondolas to take you along the canal in the middle of the construction. Beautiful shops too but nearly all of the were shut. The whole development was like a ghost town. When we left Marsa Matrouh we ventured further west to look at all the beautiful beaches but again it was like a ghost town. In the summer all the Cairo residents head for the north coast climate but if it has to remain empty from mid October I have no idea how these developments like Porto Marina survive.

Back to horrendous driving conditions in Cairo to get to Heliopolis and the following day finding the ring road to Ein Sockhna. Again no-one was interested in stopping us or seeing driving licence at the security check points. Maybe because of Diana's Cairo number plates?

So the trip was easy and fantastic and very relaxing not being herded around like goats with a group of tourists ;-) We travelled a total of 2,583 km but thankfully petrol is only 18p a litre in Egypt!


----------

