Don’t go to Hurghada
OK, you might go for swimming in the Red Sea but it is a 100% touristy town while Aswan is several hours away only.

There have been several useful forums about Egypt here, just do a search.

I’m going to second what Andrew said, Hurghada is a very resort-type atmosphere, if you don’t have a lot of time and are more interested in the culture rather than the beach, I would go to Aswan instead. Or Luxor. Or do a day trip to Abu Sibel. Or maybe consider doing a Nile cruise, and then you can get a day of resort type living and still be in another city at the end of the day.

do a search. there’s tons of info.

ss

It depends what you’re looking for. Aswan and Luxor would be good, but if you want culture, obviously you shouldn’t bother going to any place with a resort. The Bahariya Oasis was something else. It’s a small town about 4 hours from Cairo by bus toward Upper Egypt. There’s a couple hostle-hotels there, and if you decide to head into the White Desert you can stay at the hostel run by the trek company.

the thing is, Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh are much cheaper to fly to (charter flights) than flights to Cairo. Even a 2 week package tour is cheaper than a round trip flight to Cairo.

I also wouldn’t spend time in Hurghada, but it’s a great and convenient way to get into Egypt without busting your bank account!

it’s 9 hours away by bus. Luxor is 4 hours away by bus from Hurghada.

im Mostafa from Egypt ..i work for 5stars hotels owner company as a regional engineer for all egypt..and im will be glad to give any advice or help for anyone who plan to visit my country..you can depend on my experince in touristic field here ..and hope that you all enjoy staying in Egypt and full fill all what u looked for in my beautiful Egypt