The pyramids of Giza, the temples of the Nile and thousands of years of pharaonic history: Egypt is one of the great journeys of a lifetime.
🧭 Essential facts
Currency
Egyptian pound (EGP)
🌍 About Egypt
Egypt is one of the few places where you stand in front of something built four and a half thousand years ago and still do not entirely understand how they did it. The pyramids of Giza are the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world still standing, and they are not lost in the desert: they are on the edge of Cairo, with the city reaching right to the foot of the plateau. That mix of ancient monumentality and contemporary urban chaos is the trip's first surprise.
The country is organised around the Nile, and so is the trip. Almost everything you come to see is on its banks: Giza and Saqqara in the north, and eight hundred kilometres further south the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel. That is why the Nile cruise is not a tourist whim but the historic way to travel, and it remains the most comfortable way to string temples together without spending the day on the road. Add to that the Red Sea, with some of the best diving on the planet.
Go knowing that Egypt is intense. At the tourist sites there is constant commercial pressure, tips expected for every gesture, and a persistence that wears down anyone who does not anticipate it. It is not dangerous — the country looks after its visitors carefully because tourism is central to its economy — but it demands patience and a firm, friendly 'no, thank you' repeated many times a day. Those who arrive prepared for that enjoy one of the most astonishing trips there is.
💱 Currency and exchange rate
The local currency is the Egyptian pound (EGP). Carry some cash, tell your bank before travelling and check the day's rate.
💱 What your currency is worth in EGPLIVE WIDGET
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✈️ Getting there and around
Cairo (CAI) is the main gateway, and Hurghada (HRG), Sharm el-Sheikh (SSH) and Luxor (LXR) take direct flights from Europe. The overnight sleeper train between Cairo and Luxor or Aswan is the classic way to head south and saves a night's hotel; book it in advance. EgyptAir's domestic flights cover the same routes in a little over an hour. Many people do the Luxor-Aswan leg on a Nile cruise, stopping at the temples along the way. In Cairo the metro is extremely cheap and dodges the traffic, has carriages reserved for women, and the ride-hailing apps work well and avoid haggling with taxis.
🎒 What to do and see
The pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx→
The three great pyramids and the Sphinx, on the plateau at the edge of Cairo. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is 4,500 years old and was the tallest structure in the world for almost four millennia. You can go into the inner chambers for a separate fee: they are narrow, hot passages with nothing decorated inside, so anyone claustrophobic can skip them without regret. Go early, take plenty of water, and agree the price of any camel ride in full before you get on.
The Grand Egyptian Museum→
It opened to the public in November 2025, two kilometres from the pyramids, and completely changed a visit to Egypt: it is the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilisation, with a glass façade inspired by the geometry of the pyramids. Most importantly, it holds the Tutankhamun collection, for the first time complete and in one place: more than five thousand pieces, including the gold mask. Beware out-of-date guides that still send you to the old museum on Tahrir Square for that collection.
The Valley of the Kings→
On the west bank at Luxor, the necropolis where the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried over five hundred years, the tombs cut inside the mountain to hide them from robbers. Several are covered by the general ticket and others are paid separately, among them Tutankhamun's, where his mummy still lies. What astonishes is not the scale but the colour: the hieroglyphs and painted scenes keep their original pigment after three thousand years.
The temples of Karnak and Luxor→
Karnak is the largest religious complex ever built: it went up over two thousand years and its hypostyle hall has a hundred and thirty-four columns twenty metres high that leave you speechless. Luxor temple, three kilometres away, was linked to Karnak by a three-kilometre avenue of sphinxes that has been restored and can be walked in full. Luxor at night, lit up, is a different visit again and both are worth it.
A Nile cruise→
Between Luxor and Aswan, three or four nights sailing and stopping at the temples on the bank: Edfu, the best preserved in Egypt, and Kom Ombo, with its double sanctuary. It is the classic way to do the south and avoids hotels and transfers. The calmer and lovelier alternative is a dahabiya, a small sailing boat with few cabins that moves at another pace and reaches places the big ships cannot.
Abu Simbel→
The two temples Ramesses II had cut into the rock, with four twenty-metre colossi on the façade. Their modern history is almost as incredible as the ancient one: in the 1960s, when the Aswan dam was going to leave them under water, they were cut into blocks and moved piece by piece sixty metres higher. Twice a year the sun reaches the back of the sanctuary and lights the statues, a calculation made three thousand two hundred years ago.
Aswan and Nubia→
The calmest and loveliest city on the Nile, with islands, white-sailed feluccas at dusk and a Nubian atmosphere unlike the rest of the country. The temple of Philae, also rescued from the water and moved to another island, is visited by boat. The Nubian villages of brightly painted houses, across the river, are where you breathe after the pace of Cairo and Luxor.
Memphis and Saqqara→
Before Giza, the origin of everything was here: Saqqara has the step pyramid of Djoser, the oldest cut-stone structure in the world, and it is where the Egyptians were learning to build pyramids. Nearby are those of Dahshur — the Bent and the Red — which show the earlier attempts, with far fewer people than Giza. It is the excursion that gives chronological sense to everything else.
Diving in the Red Sea
One of the best diving and snorkelling destinations in the world, with living coral reefs, enormous visibility and warm water all year. Dahab is the quiet, backpacker option, with the famous Blue Hole; Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada are the resort hubs, with access to Ras Mohammed national park and wrecks like the Thistlegorm. It is the perfect counterpoint after a week of temples.
Islamic and Coptic Cairo→
Beyond the pharaohs, Cairo has a thousand years of Islamic history: Saladin's citadel with the alabaster mosque, the mosques and madrasas of the old city, and the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, running since the fourteenth century. The Coptic quarter holds Christian churches from the early centuries and the Ben Ezra synagogue. It is the part of Egypt most people skip by heading straight for the pyramids.
Alexandria→
The city Alexander the Great founded, which became the intellectual capital of the ancient Mediterranean. Almost nothing remains of its legendary lighthouse and library, but there is the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, the Roman amphitheatre and a Mediterranean corniche with a faded, European air unlike anywhere else in the country.
The Siwa oasis and the desert→
Eight hundred kilometres from Cairo, almost on the Libyan border, an oasis with its own Berber language and identity, palm groves, springs and the mud fortress of Shali. This is where the oracle Alexander the Great consulted stood. Around it, the Great Sand Sea, with enormous dunes and salt lakes. It is a long trip away from the classic circuit, for anyone with time who wants to see the Egypt that does not appear in the brochures.
📅 When to go: climate and best time
October to April is the season, without argument, and within it the best months are November, December, February and March: pleasant temperatures for walking among temples, cool nights and steady sun. December and January are the busiest and most expensive, with the holidays pushing cruise and hotel prices up; they are also the months when it gets genuinely cold at night in the desert and at Aswan, which surprises people who arrive expecting heat.
From May to September the heat in Luxor and Aswan is extreme: it comfortably passes forty degrees and visiting the Valley of the Kings at midday stops being a pleasure and becomes a physical test. The flip side is far fewer people and considerably lower prices, so anyone who tolerates heat and organises visits for first thing in the morning can take advantage of it. The Red Sea works all year. One thing to check before booking: during Ramadan the country's hours and rhythm change, and the dates shift every year.
🍽️ What to eat
Egyptian cooking is built on pulses, bread and vegetables, tasty and very cheap. Koshari is the national dish: rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, tomato sauce and crisp fried onion on top, all in one bowl, eaten at places that make nothing else. Ful medames, a broad bean stew eaten for breakfast with bread, and ta'ameya — Egyptian falafel, made with broad beans rather than chickpeas — are the everyday breakfast. Add molokhia, a thick green soup, and baladi bread, which accompanies absolutely everything.
To drink, strong sweet black tea — shai — is constant, and karkadé, the red hibiscus infusion drunk cold in the south, is the most refreshing thing there is. Turkish-style coffee is ordered by specifying how much sugar. Alcohol exists but is expensive and restricted, more available in hotels and tourist areas than on the street. Two practical warnings: do not drink tap water, not even to brush your teeth in some areas, and be careful with raw salads, ice and unpeeled fruit for the first few days.
🛟 Safety and health
Egypt looks after tourists carefully — there is a police presence and checkpoints in the areas of interest — and violent crime against visitors is very infrequent. What there is, in quantity, is commercial hassle and petty scams: fake guides who offer to accompany you and then demand a sum, people telling you a site is closed to steer you elsewhere, camel handlers who agree one price to get on and another to get off, taxis with no meter. The response is a polite no and not stopping. Women travelling alone frequently report verbal and physical harassment in crowded areas: it helps a great deal to dress covered, move with purpose and avoid empty places. As for regions, northern Sinai is restricted and is not a tourist destination; Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab and the rest of the country operate normally.
The most common health issue is traveller's diarrhoea, prevented with the basics: bottled water always, no ice for the first few days, eating where there is a high turnover of people, and avoiding raw food and unpeeled fruit. Ask in advance about recommended vaccinations — generally hepatitis A and typhoid for this kind of trip — and take travel insurance, because the good care is private and paid for. The sun is very strong all year: hat, sunscreen and plenty of water, above all in the Valley of the Kings, where there is no shade. Emergencies: 122 police, 123 ambulance, and there is a dedicated tourist police force.
💰 How much it costs
Egypt is cheap: local food costs very little, internal transport is economical and even good-category accommodation sits well below what it would cost in Europe. The costs that weigh are the entries to the archaeological sites, which add up fast because every temple and every tomb is paid for separately, the Nile cruise and the domestic flights. Haggling is part of the system in the souks and with taxis, but not at museums, official sites, supermarkets or restaurants with a menu.
There is one category almost nobody budgets for and should: baksheesh, the tip. Here it is neither optional nor exceptional, it is part of how the everyday economy works: you give it to the person who shows you a corner, who watches your shoes at a mosque, who opens a door, who minds the bathroom. The practical approach is to carry plenty of small notes kept separate from the rest of your money, and to decide in advance how much you give so you do not have to negotiate each time. Added up over a trip, baksheesh is a real budget line.
🤝 Culture and practical tips
Egypt is a Muslim and conservative country, and dressing modestly is what most helps make the trip comfortable: shoulders and knees covered for everyone, and for women loose clothing, with a scarf to hand for entering mosques. There is no need to cover your hair in the street. The five calls to prayer mark the day and Friday is the main day. During Ramadan, eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight is avoided out of respect, although foreigners are tolerated.
The hospitality is genuine and very strong: it is normal for someone to offer you tea with no ulterior motive, though the commercial version of that also exists and over a few days you learn to tell them apart. You eat and greet with the right hand. Do not photograph people without permission, and women least of all. One more thing worth knowing: photographing military installations, bridges and some official buildings is prohibited, and at several museums and tombs you must pay a separate camera permit. Finally, patience is the most useful tool on the trip: the pace is different, and getting angry speeds up absolutely nothing.
📜 History of Egypt
Few places on the planet carry a history as long and as unbroken as Egypt's: more than five thousand years, beginning when a king from the south, Narmer, united the Two Lands on the banks of the Nile and founded what is often considered humanity's first nation-state. That vast arc holds the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, the great pharaohs —Khufu, Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Ramesses II—, the Greek Egypt of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra, the Roman province that fed an empire, the cradle of Coptic Christian monasticism, the Arab conquest that Islamised the country and made it a centre of the Muslim world, the splendour of the Fatimids and Mamluks in Cairo, four centuries of Ottoman rule, Napoleon's expedition that made it possible to decipher hieroglyphs with the Rosetta Stone, the modernising dream of Muhammad Ali, the Suez Canal and the British occupation, and finally independence, Nasser's revolution and contemporary Arab Egypt.
Egypt is at once an open-air museum and a living country of more than a hundred million people packed into the narrow green strip of the Nile and its delta. Travelling through it —the Egyptian Museum and the new Grand Museum next to Giza, the colossal temples of Luxor and Karnak, the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel rescued from the waters, Mediterranean Alexandria, the reefs of the Red Sea, Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, the Berber oasis of Siwa— means moving through all those overlapping layers. This is the story of how they took shape, without euphemisms or legends turned into certainties: pharaonic glory and the colonial plunder of its heritage, the grandeur of its dynasties and the conquests that subjugated it, the country that invented monumental writing and the one that today debates its place in the Arab and African world.
Read the full history of Egypt →❓ FAQs about Egypt
Do I need a visa for Egypt?
Yes. Egypt requires a visa of practically everyone and publishes no list of exempt countries. The official, documented route is the e-Visa from the Ministry of the Interior, and only at visa2egypt.gov.eg: USD 30 for a single entry and USD 65 for multiple entries, non-refundable. You must start the application at least 7 days before you travel, and when it comes through you download it and PRINT it, because the printout is what you show at the port of entry. Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months from your arrival date and have a free page. There is also a visa on arrival at Egyptian airports, which the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities prices at USD 25 for a single entry valid one month and USD 60 for multiple entries over six months, and since 1 September 2026 all Egyptian airports stopped issuing the sticker and moved to an electronic QR code obtained at visaonarrival.gov.eg or its app. One honest caveat: Egypt does not publish a closed list of nationalities eligible for the visa on arrival, so we cannot guarantee from an official source that you will be given one at the desk — the safe, documented route is the e-Visa. On entry you may also be asked for your itinerary and hotel booking. And a useful detail: Egypt is not in the Schengen area, so these days do not count against that allowance. Verified with the Egyptian authorities in September 2026.
Is Egypt safe to travel in?
Yes, for the usual tourist circuit. The country protects tourism heavily — there is a tourist police force, checkpoints and escorts on some roads — and violent crime against visitors is rare. What you will meet is constant commercial hassle and small scams, which are wearing but not dangerous. Northern Sinai is restricted and is not a tourist destination; the rest of the country, including Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab, operates normally. Women travelling alone commonly report verbal harassment, so it is worth going prepared and dressing modestly.
Is the Nile cruise worth doing?
Yes, and it is one of the few times the most touristy option is also the most practical. Between Luxor and Aswan it saves you transfers and hotel changes, and the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo sit right on the bank. The standard is three or four nights. If you want something quieter and do not mind paying more, a dahabiya — a small sailing boat with few cabins — moves at another pace and stops where the big ships cannot go. Check carefully what the package includes, because site entries are usually extra.
Where is the Tutankhamun collection now?
At the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, two kilometres from the pyramids, which opened to the public in November 2025. The whole collection is there together for the first time: more than five thousand pieces, including the gold mask. This matters because a great many guides and videos still send you to the old Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, which still operates with other collections but no longer holds the Tutankhamun treasure.
When is the best time to go?
October to April, and within that November, February and March are the best: pleasant weather for walking among temples and without the holiday price peak. From May to September the heat in Luxor and Aswan is extreme, above forty degrees, though there are far fewer people and prices drop considerably. The Red Sea works all year. Check the dates of Ramadan, which shift every year and change the country's hours and rhythm.
How do tips work?
Baksheesh is part of daily life and should be budgeted for rather than resented. It is given for small services all the time: to whoever shows you something, watches your shoes at a mosque, minds the bathroom, helps with your suitcase. The practical approach is to carry plenty of small notes separate from the rest of your money and to have decided in advance how much you give, so you are not negotiating each time. In restaurants, add around ten per cent.
How many days do I need?
Eight days covers the classic circuit without rushing: Cairo with Giza, the Grand Museum and Saqqara, and the south with Luxor and Aswan, ideally by cruise. Ten to twelve days lets you add Abu Simbel at a calm pace and a few days on the Red Sea. Two weeks is enough to add Alexandria or the Siwa oasis. The domestic flights between Cairo and Luxor or Aswan are cheap and save many hours on the road or the train.
Do I need a guide?
For the archaeological sites, an Egyptologist guide changes the experience considerably: without someone to explain, the temples become similar-looking stones and the wall scenes say nothing. It also handles the commercial hassle for you, which drops sharply when you are accompanied. Hire through an agency with references rather than at the gate, and agree beforehand what is and is not included, especially where entry tickets are involved.
Explore Egypt by region
Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
📍
Cairo and the north
5 destinations⛰️
The Nile Valley: Luxor and Aswan
6 destinations📍
The Red Sea and Sinai
4 destinations📍
The desert and the oases
1 destinationsWhere the data on Egypt comes from
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
