Sudan
North Africa · Africa
- Capital
- Khartoum
- Currency
- Sudanese Pound (SDG £)
- Language
- Arabic and English (official)
- Timezone
- UTC+2
- Safety rating
- 1.5/10
- Best time to visit
- Historically, the window for desert travel is November to March, when daytime temperatures at Meroë and the northern sites are a manageable 25–32°C rather than the brutal 40°C+ of summer, and nights in the desert turn pleasantly cool. Red Sea diving around Port Sudan is possible year-round but best from October to May, with superb visibility and hammerhead season peaking in winter and spring. The rainy season (July–September) mainly affects the south and can make desert pistes impassable. None of this is currently actionable — the civil war prevents tourism regardless of season — but it is the calendar to keep in mind for the day Sudan reopens.
Overview
Sudan is home to more pyramids than Egypt — over 200 of them, concentrated at the hauntingly beautiful royal necropolis of Meroë, where steep-sided Nubian pyramids rise from orange dunes without a tour bus in sight. The ancient kingdoms of Kush and Nubia left temples at Naqa and Musawwarat es-Sufra, the holy mountain of Jebel Barkal near Karima, and burial grounds at Nuri and El-Kurru; the Red Sea coast around Port Sudan offers some of the world's most pristine and least-visited diving, including reefs Jacques Cousteau made famous. Among travelers who visited before 2023, Sudanese hospitality was legendary — invitations to tea and meals from strangers were a daily occurrence, and many rated Sudan their most memorable journey anywhere.
That Sudan is currently out of reach. Since April 2023, a civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has devastated the country, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Khartoum has seen heavy urban warfare, and fighting has spread through Darfur, Kordofan, and beyond. Virtually every government advises against all travel to Sudan, commercial flight access is minimal, embassies have suspended operations, and tourism is effectively impossible.
This page is maintained as a reference for the future, not an invitation to travel now. When peace eventually returns, Sudan's combination of world-class archaeology, Nile scenery, Red Sea reefs, and extraordinary human warmth will again make it one of Africa's most rewarding destinations for adventurous travelers — and its sites, mercifully, have largely survived conflicts before.
Visa requirements
Under normal circumstances, virtually all nationalities need a visa arranged in advance through a Sudanese embassy, typically requiring a letter of invitation from a local sponsor or tour operator, and the process was slow and bureaucratic even in peacetime. A travel permit was additionally required for movement outside Khartoum, and photography permits were needed for many sites. Currently, the civil war has severely disrupted or suspended consular services in many countries, and with nearly all governments advising against all travel, visa issuance for tourism has effectively ceased. Anyone with an essential reason to travel (aid work, journalism, family) should work through their employer or embassy channels. Note that evidence of a previous visit to Sudan does not generally cause entry problems elsewhere, but check requirements for onward travel in the region.
Safety information
Sudan is engulfed in an active civil war and is not safe for travel under any circumstances. Every major government — including the US, UK, EU states, Canada, and Australia — advises against all travel to the entire country and has urged its nationals to leave. Khartoum and its sister cities have experienced sustained urban combat, aerial bombardment, and widespread looting; Darfur and Kordofan have seen severe ethnic violence; and frontlines shift unpredictably. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic, with famine conditions in parts of the country and over ten million people displaced.
There is no functioning embassy support for most nationalities, no reliable medical care, banking has collapsed, communications are frequently cut, and overland routes are subject to checkpoints run by armed groups. Kidnapping, arbitrary detention, and crossfire are real risks for any foreigner. This assessment will be updated if and when conditions genuinely change — until then, no journey to Sudan for tourism can be justified.
Travel tips
For now, the only meaningful travel advice for Sudan is: do not go — follow your government's advisory, and if you have compelling non-tourism reasons to enter, do so only with professional security support. For future reference, the pre-war essentials were: bring all money as cash US dollars in crisp large bills (cards and ATMs never worked for foreign visitors, and this will likely be true again long after any peace deal); register your travel permit and expect police checkpoints between towns; dress modestly and note that Sudan practised a conservative interpretation of Islam, with alcohol banned; and arrange sites like Meroë through a local operator, since independent transport in the desert north was sparse. Arabic phrases go a long way, though Sudanese English is more widespread than many expect. Watch reputable sources — UN OCHA, major press, your foreign ministry — rather than social media for genuine signs of reopening.