Egypt Guide
Public holidays
Offices tend to open Sunday to Thursday from 8.30am to 5pm. Shops are usually open from around 10am to around 8pm, sometimes later, with small places often closing briefly for prayers, especially Friday lunchtime between around noon and 3pm.
During the month of Ramadan, all these hours go haywire. Since everybody who keeps the fast will want to eat immediately when it ends at sunset, everything tends to close early to allow for this, and places may open early to compensate. Offices may open 7am–4pm, shops may simply close to break the fast, reopening afterwards, while banks open 9.30am to 1.30pm.
Public holidays are:
Jan 7 Coptic Christmas
April 25 Sinai Liberation Day
May 1 Labour Day
June 18 Evacuation Day
July 23 Revolution Day
Aug 15 Flooding of the Nile
Oct 6 Armed Forces Day
Oct 23 Suez Liberation Day
Dec 23 Victory Day
Coptic Easter MondaySham al-Nassim: April 5, 2010; and April 25, 2011