(Banks Street, Hadaba. Tel. 012 316 5979) Fateer is the 800-year old Egyptian version of the pizza: crispy round layers of filo pastry filled with either sweet or savoury ingredients. Layalina has more than two dozen varieties at prices so reasonable they'll bring a smile to your face.

  (The Main Drag, Naama Bay. Tel. 069 360 3190) Sophisticated Egyptian and Middle Eastern cooking, incorporating flavours from the country's rich ethnic past (Circassian, Armenian, Turkish, Syrio-Lebanese and North African). Mezze and traditional dishes, such as molokheya and stuffed pigeon, are a treat. The rooftop area open to the stars.

  (Naama Bay. Tel. 069 360 2603) The perfect setting for an intimate candlelit supper. Tables are laid out on the pier, with the twinkling lights of Naama Bay on one side and lambent waters of the Gulf of Aqaba below and all around you. Fish, naturally, is a speciality of the chef. It's at the southern tip of Naama Bay.

  (The Main Drag, Naama Bay. Tel. 069 360 1030) Nightclub, restaurant and sushi bar via Asia, Paris and Nirvana. Subtle lighting and rich interiors. Dishes combine luxury ingredients—lobster, sea bass, the finest cuts of meat—with intimate surroundings.

  (Forouseya Street, Hadaba. Tel. 069 366 2218 ) Ten minutes by taxi from the Naama Bay hotspots, the Mayday Lounge seeks to recreate the tranquillity of a Bedouin camp. Open-air venue with low tables, cushions, water pipes and draft beer.

  (The Main Drag, Naama Bay. Tel. 069 360 0700) The unofficial hang-out for divers, golfers and locals—Egyptians and expats. Decent live music, including regular appearances by Sharm legends On the Rocks, who crank out often inspired interpretations of blues and rock 'n' roll classics.

  (Naama Bay, next to the Royal Plaza Hotel. Tel. 069 360 3610) Chill-out music till midnight then the action starts. Kamanga has a reputation for catching the late crowd. East-meets-West design over three levels. Be entertained.

Head to Old Sharm for T-shirts, pharaonic knick-knacks, hubble bubbles, spices and the inevitable stuffed camel, much of it made in China. Sharm traders sadly suffer from a distinct lack of imagination, but if kitsch is your thing, it's merely a question of how low you can go.

Taxi drivers will tell you there are set prices for journeys within the Sharm city limits. But if business is quiet they become considerably more flexible.

Naama Bay is the hub of Sharm's communal—rather than resort-based—life. International fast-food chains, 'traditional' restaurants and lounges, shops, bars and clubs all congregate around King Hamad bin Isa Street, more commonly known as the 'Main Drag'.

 – Eschew 21st-century hedonism for the austere beauty of the Sinai's mountainous interior. We recommend a visit to the sixth-century Saint Catherine's fortress monastery, which lies at the foot of Mount Sinai on whose summit Moses received the Ten Commandments.

Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Sharm el Sheikh has benefited from being next to one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.