TOPLESS SUNBATHING & RECOMMENDED ATTIRE: – is actually illegal in Egypt , which is a predominantly Muslim country. Lonely Planet Guide explains this. Hotel staff are all male & there are notices around several of the hotel’s pools requesting that you don’t sunbathe topless. Some hotels will tolerate it, others will enforce it. Even if they don’t (for fear of upsetting the guests because they want the tourists trade to grow!) it doesn’t make it any more legal & can only add fuel to the theory that some hold, which is that western women are “easy”. The Tourist Police apparently do try to enforce the law but it’s becoming increasingly hard for them to do so.

Be careful if you go out of resort on trips to wear 3/4 length trousers or jeans or a long skirt & cover chest, shoulders & at least upper arms. You’ll attract cat-calls & unfriendly stares from the women in Cairo , Alexandria etc, plus stares & comments from the men if you’re skimpily dressed by their standards! Some people are more affected than others by this type of attention.

Men will need knees & shoulders covered to visit mosques.

Ladies of all ages will attract plenty of male attention, most of the time it's just a laugh & they don't cross the line but some will try. Be polite but firm & don’t give eye contact, wear shades!

People wear shorts & skimpy tops in the hotel grounds & around resort; this is expected but, again, that’s ok if you can deal with any resulting attention.

Please also read this information from the Cairo forum: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g29...