Egypt

Egypt is home to the most impressive historical sites on earth: the Great Pyramids of Giza, the temples of Luxor, the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, and standing among them is absolutely unforgettable. Unfortunately, it's also a very challenging country to travel, despite how many tourists go there every year. Be prepared for a chaotic, developing country with security issues and people constantly looking to take advantage of tourists.

For first timers, I highly recommend following the classic route down the Nile starting with Cairo and the Giza pyramids to Luxor, a river cruise on to Aswan and finally all the way down to Abu Simbel near the border with Sudan. This whole route takes roughly 10 to 14 days to complete.

• Getting around
• Uber — only available in major cities like Alexandria and Cairo. Use it wherever you can as regular taxis (especially from the airport) will charge an exorbitant tourist tax, so make sure to haggle hard with taxi drivers where Uber isn't available
• Between cities — cheap domestic flights are offered by EgyptAir and Air Cairo (the budget airline. You can also take an overnight sleeper trains between Cairo, Luxor and Aswan
• I highly recommend taking a multi-day Nile Cruise to visit the sites between Luxor and Aswan. They are affordable and you will be able to explore all the major sites. I'll discuss this in more detail later on in this article.
• Guides — book a tour or private guide for the ancient historical sites. There aren't placards explaining the archeological sites so having a guide is necessary to learning the history and intricacies behind each site.
• Additionally, going alone leaves you swamped by persistent unofficial "guides" and scammers. However, guides are not always your friend. I've had tour guides hand me off to scammers and there are often stops at tourist traps selling fake souvenirs and perfumes
• Money — the official currency is the Egyptian Pound (EGP); Egypt is a cash-based society so carry plenty of cash and expect to pay for everything in cash. Traveling in Egypt is extremely affordable, meals were on average ~$5 - 7 and 4 star hotels ~$40 a night
• Food — Egyptian food is quite similar to the food you'll find elsewhere in the Middle East. However, they have an array of unique dishes: koshari (the national dish of rice, pasta, lentils and fried onion), ful medames (a fava bean dip served with pita) and taameya (Egyptian falafel), kebab and lots of sweet mint tea. Meals were extremely filling and cheap, often costing less than $6 at local restaurants
• Language — the Egyptian dialect of Arabic is the primary language spoken here. English is commonly spoken by those who work in the tourism industry. However, I encountered a significant language barrier as many Egyptians don't speak any English. It is helpful to learn a few phrases of Arabic
• Safety — to be perfectly honest, I did not feel safe in Egypt, even as a well-seasoned traveler. I encountered many aggressive and sketchy situations with locals looking to take advantage of tourists. Here were some issues I experienced:
• Bribes — I was asked for bribes twice while in the airport. My first experience in Egypt was being asked for a bribe by the immigration officer in the Cairo Airport who stamped my passport (with the security cameras and in front of everyone else in line). After pretending to not understand him for 5 minutes and holding up the line of impatient travelers, he finally let me off the hook. I also dealt with this when flying out of the country with a baggage handler in the same airport
• Baksheesh(a "gift") — tipping is expected everywhere which is standard for tourism in developing countries. However, street vendors or even random men on the street will follow you for 15 minutes harassing you for a few dollars. I tipped a guy and he reached into my wallet and grabbed a bigger bill immediately after. They are quite relentless and sometimes out right aggressive so don't be hesitant to be assertive in rejecting their requests
• Heavy Police Presence — Egypt deals with a strong threat of terrorism. There was a heavy police presence. On some longer drives, we were stopped every 15 minutes and our car was swept for bombs underneath
• Harassment towards women — female travelers should be aware that harassment from men is a widespread and well-documented issue in Egypt. Traveling with a female friend, I witnessed this firsthand: Egyptian men would frequently make unsolicited comments toward her and even ask to take photos with her, which was disorienting even if ultimately harmless. This can range more broadly from persistent staring and unwanted comments to being followed and touched in crowded areas. I would not recommend Egypt for solo female travelers from what I have seen
• Egyptians are known to have a strong culture of hospitality. However, many people see foreigners as walking ATMs and unfortunately it can ruin your experience. I strongly believe you can have a great experience here and don't want to discourage you from visiting, but I write about these issues in detail so you can be prepared for the potential challenges
• Egypt is a developing country that is still recovering from conflicts in the Arab Spring just over a decade ago. The country struggles with deep inequality and poverty so expect unpaved roads, stray animals, litter and a heavy police presence. It's a real developing-world experience, but the ancient sites are worth every bit of it

Cairo is the 7th largest city in the world with over 25 million people living in the greater Cairo area. It is a sprawling, chaotic megacity with traffic unlike anywhere else I've seen in the world. On its western edge sits the Great Pyramids of Giza: the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World. It is very impressive in person and should be on everyone's bucket-list if it isn't already

I would recommend spending 2 to 3 days in Cairo. Spend your first day exploring the city center of Cairo and the next couple days in Giza visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and the many ancient sites like the Great Sphinx driving distance from the city.

• Cairo— most of the sites below are all located in the same area walking distance from each other so you can visit all of them in one day
• Tahrir Square — the symbolic heart of modern Cairo and the site of the 2011 Arab Spring revolution, where hundreds of thousands of Egyptians gathered for 18 days until President Mubarak resigned. A Ramses II obelisk now stands at the center of the huge roundabout. The site feels tense to visit today since it is heavily monitored by police, given it's association with prior Arab Spring revolution
• The Egyptian Museum in Cairo — sitting directly on the edge of Tahrir Square's is the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. When I visited in 2023, it had the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in the world. It still worth visiting for the sheer volume of artifacts. However, the best pieces have moved to the newly built Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza
• Islamic Cairo — a vast medieval quarter that has barely changed over the centuries. Here you'll find narrow winding alleyways lined with crumbling Mamluk palaces, Ottoman mosques and ancient minarets. The most historically dense and overwhelming part of the city
• Khan el-Khalili is one of the oldest bazaars in the world, a labyrinth of alleyways selling spices, textiles, gold and souvenirs
• A short walk away is the Citadel of Saladin, a medieval fortress built in 1176 that dominates the Cairo skyline, and inside it the Mosque of Muhammad Ali (not dedicated the boxer) with a stunning alabaster interior and sweeping views over the city
• Coptic Cairo — a completely different side of the city and a fascinating counterpoint to Islamic Cairo. This ancient walled quarter predates the founding of Cairo itself and was home to Egypt's Christian community long before Islam arrived
• Within a small neighborhood, you'll find five ancient Coptic churches including the famous Hanging Church built into the gate of a Roman fortress, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum. The area is small so about 2–3 hours is enough to see the main sites
• Giza — located right on the other side of the Nile river from Cairo, Giza is home to the Pyramids of Giza and many other iconic historical sites. I would recommend basing yourself here during your stay unless you plan to explore Cairo in depth
• Giza Necropolis — most of the historical sites in Giza are all centered on the Giza plateau. You can buy a single ticket for entry, making it easy to explore the the whole area in a single day. Hire a guide to explain the engineering and history and go early morning to beat the crowds and the heat
• Great Pyramid of Giza — dating back 4,500 years, the Great Pyramid of Giza is only ancient wonder of the world still standing and one of the most extraordinary things you will ever see in person. No photo prepares you for the scale, each stone block is the size of a small car and the base stretches for 230 meters on each side. Walk the perimeter to let the size sink in, then enter through the low narrow tunnel that leads to the internal burial chamber
• The Great Pyramid held the title as the tallest man-made structure on earth for 3,800 years until it was surpassed by the Lincoln Cathedral in England surpassed it in 1311 AD
• The Pyramid of Khafre — the second largest and still has a cap of its original polished white limestone casing stones at the very top, a reminder that all three pyramids were once entirely smooth and gleaming white rather than the rough stepped stone you see today
• The Pyramid of Menkaure — the smallest of the three pyramids but has the most intact mortuary temple complex beside it
• The Great Sphinx — carved from a single limestone outcrop directly beside the Khafre pyramid, the Sphinx is 73 meters long and Up close it is much larger than photos suggest. It is believed to have originally had a painted face and a royal headdress now mostly eroded away
• Panoramic View of the Giza Pyramids — seeing all three pyramids aligned from the classic viewpoint in the desert to the southwest is one of the most iconic photos in the world. Camel rides also are available in this area. Despite being touristy, riding a camel with the pyramids as a backdrop is a genuinely unforgettable moment
• Grand Egyptian Museum — the largest archaeological museum in the world, opened in 2023 right beside the Pyramids of Giza. Built specifically to house Egypt's greatest treasures, including the complete collection of Tutankhamun's tomb artifacts displayed together for the first time in history. It wasn't open yet when I was in Egypt, but it looks very impressive
• Budget at least half a day and treat it as an essential companion to the Giza plateau. Most of the artifacts have been removed from the original archaeological sites so visiting museums are essential for seeing the golden artifacts and mummies!
• Saqqara & Memphis (day trip) — about 30 minutes south of Cairo and easily taken as a day trip. Well worth it for anyone who wants to go deeper into Egyptian history beyond the Giza plateau. I took this tour to visit the Great Pyramids, Saqqara and Memphis all in one day
• The Step Pyramid of Djoser (the world's first pyramid, 2600 BC) and the ancient capital of Memphis, with its colossal statues of Ramesses II and an alabaster sphinx

• Saqqara is the vast ancient burial ground where the Step Pyramid of Djoser stands which the world's first pyramid, built around 2600 BC and predating the Great Pyramid by over a century. It is surrounded by a massive funerary complex of courtyards and chapels that is far less crowded than Giza and gives a genuine sense of discovery

• Located just a few kilometers further is Memphis which was the ancient capital of Egypt for over a thousand years. The open-air Mit Rahina Museum there houses a colossal, 36 foot tall limestone statue of Ramesses II and a large alabaster sphinx that are worth a visit

• Nine Pyramids View Hotel (Giza) — an affordable hotel located in Giza, very close to the pyramids complete with a cafe and roof with a view of the Great Pyramid of Giza. You can even get a room with a view of the pyramids for as little as ~$40 per night

After the madness of Cairo, move on to the more relaxing Luxor located 316 miles south on the Nile River. Luxor is the world's greatest open-air museum: home to the ancient city of Thebes, split by the Nile into the temples of the living on the East Bank and the royal tombs of the dead on the West. The density of monuments here is staggering and was one of my favorite stops in Egypt.

I would recommending 2 to 3 days in Luxor to see all the sights. I would highly recommend taking a 3-night cruise down the Nile between Luxor and Aswan. The cruises are affordable (roughly ~$600 all inclusive), organize all the logistics for you and visit all the key archaeological sites in southern Egypt.

• Luxor Temple — located in right in the center of Luxor next to the riverbank is one of the sites in Egypt with the most fascinating history. It is literally layered with history. The courtyard is covered with massive ancient Egyptian pillars towering over you at 52 feet (16 meters) tall. At the end of the walkway is Abu Haggag Mosque, below it is an old Roman church and at the bottom is the ancient Egyptian Luxor Temple all stacked right on top of the original foundation
• Avenue of Sphinxes — at the entrance is a 1.7mi (2.7km ) ceremonial road known in ancient Egypt as "The Path of the Gods." Over 1,000 sphinx statues line both sides of the avenue, some with human heads representing pharaohs as divine protectors, others with ram heads symbolizing the god Amun-Ra. The avenue was buried under sand and housing for centuries and only 650 of the original 1,350 sphinxes have been unearthed, with excavations still ongoing
• The Valley of the Kings — the burial ground of the New Kingdom pharaohs and one of the most impressive sites in Egypt. The area is massive with temples and there more than sixty tombs have been found here, with only a handful open to visitors. Each tomb is located unground and you'll walk through a passage wall with walls covered in colored hieroglyphics on both sides. The painted ceilings and carved walls are so vivid it's hard to believe they're thousands of years old
• A standard ticket can be purchased at the entrance for 750 EGP or ~$15 USD and covers three tombs. The tomb of Ramesses VI has some of the most intact painted ceilings and Tutankhamun's tomb is a separate ticket
• Sunrise Hot-air Balloon — take off at first light and drift over the Valley of the Kings, the West Bank temples and tombs as the sun rises over the desert. The size of the monuments is so impressive that you can see them in all the way up from the hot air balloon. One of the most extraordinary mornings of the whole trip
• Karnak Temple — the largest religious complex ever built. You first enter down an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes into the Hypostyle Hall, a forest of 134 giant hieroglyph-covered columns, with a massive standing obelisk still in place. Spend roughly 2 hours here to cover the place
• Temple of Hatshepsut — a vast terraced mortuary temple built into the cliff face for Egypt's female pharaoh. The is an gigantic ramp leading into the temple. The nearby Colossi of Memnon is also worth a quick visit with two giant seated statues of Amenhotep III

• Pyramisa Hotel Luxor — a nice hotel located on the banks of the Nile. It was a good price ~$60 for a room with a view of the river

Aswan is the laid-back southern gateway on a beautiful stretch of the Nile: the base for a felucca sail, the island temple of Philae and the epic monuments of Abu Simbel near the Sudanese border. One of the reasons to take the multi-day cruise is to stop by the sites in Edfu and Kom Ombo, both situated on the banks of the Nile between Luxor and Aswan.

In this section, I'll cover all the attractions located South of Luxor from Edfu to Kom Ombo to Aswan and all the way to the south in Abu Simbel.

• Temple of Horus at Edfu — the best-preserved ancient temple in Egypt and the one that gives you the clearest sense of what these places actually looked like when they were active. Built over 180 years between 237 and 57 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty, it was buried under centuries of sand and silt after pagan worship was banned. The hieroglyphs covering every surface are legible enough to read over 2,000 years later
• Kom Ombo — one of Egypt's most unusual temples, built simultaneously for two gods with completely opposing associations: Horus the falcon god of the sky on one side and Sobek the crocodile god of the Nile on the other. The temple is architecturally symmetrical, with two of everything (two sanctuaries, two hypostyle halls, two entrances), divided right down the middle. We experienced sunset here and it was incredible

• One of the walls is covered in a set of hieroglyphs that archaeologists believe depicts surgical instruments including scalpels, forceps, bone saws and dental tools, suggesting the temple may have doubled as a center for medicine. The small museum next door contains dozens of mummified crocodiles excavated from the site

• Philae Temple (near Aswan) — a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis on a small island in the Nile near Aswan, reached by a short boat ride. The temple was completely dismantled block by block in the 1970s and reassembled on higher ground to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Go in the evening for the sound and light show when the entire complex is lit up in color
• Abu Simbel — you can reach Abu Simbel by a 3-hour drive (or short flight) south all the way to the border with Sudan. The complex is home to two temples carved into a cliff by Ramesses II, fronted by four 20-meter seated statues of the pharaoh, with a smaller temple to his queen Nefertari beside it. I visited it last and Abu Simbel was one of my favorite sites in Egypt. It is absolutely worth the trip to the far south of the country

• Obelisk Nile Hotel Aswan — a great, affordable four star hotel located right on the Nile river. There was a great restaurant in-house with a wonderful view of the boats sailing past during sunset

The highlight of my time in Egypt was the Nile cruise: three nights on the river between Luxor and Aswan, sailing past the temples, palm groves and villages that have lined its banks for thousands of years. It's the easiest and most scenic way to string together the great sites of the south: the boat handles all the logistics while you wake up somewhere new each morning.

I did the standard four-day, three-night route from Luxor down to Aswan. Almost every boat runs the same itinerary and stops at the same temples, so the price mostly comes down to the boat itself. The version I booked cost ~$600 all inclusive. The quarters on the boat were rundown with water leaking from the ceiling so I'd recommend booking a higher tier one. However, I met some incredible people and the itinerary was perfect. Here's how the days broke down:

• Day 1 — Karnak, Luxor Temple & boarding the cruise — I met a local guide for Luxor's East Bank. The first stop was Karnak Temple is the largest religious complex ever built with an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. Then over to Luxor Temple, where layers of history stack right on top of each other, with a working mosque and an old Roman church built into the ancient Egyptian stone
• Around midday I boarded my Nile cruise boat, which would be home for the next three nights. The cabins were a bit run down, but the common areas of the boat were great. Most boats have a sundeck, a small pool, and a communal dining room. The food was 6/10, but there was a lot of variety between meals
• Day 2 — Balloon at dawn & the Valley of the Kings — we woke up at 4am, took a short felucca across the Nile in the dark, and then up in a hot-air balloon over the West Bank as the sun broke over the desert and lit up the temples and tombs below. Easily one of the best mornings of the whole trip. Back on the ground we saw the Colossi of Memnon and the cliff-carved Temple of Hatshepsut.
• The day was spent in the Valley of the Kings where we visited a few of the tombs which had impressive painted ceilings and carved walls. That afternoon the boat pushed off and sailed south toward Edfu.
• Day 3 — Edfu & Kom Ombo — we took a horse-drawn buggy from the dock to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best-preserved temple in Egypt, only fully dug out of the sand in the 1800s and still crisp enough to show you exactly how these places once looked. Then a long, lazy sail up the river to Kom Ombo. The last stop was the temple of Kom Ombo which was one of my favorite stops to explore. We watched the sunset from here over the Nile river
• Day 4 — Abu Simbel & Aswan — the earliest start of them all, we took a 3AM van south through the desert to Abu Simbel, right near the Sudanese border on the shore of Lake Nasser. There were four enormous seated statues of Ramesses II guard the entrance, with the smaller temple to his queen Nefertari beside it. The scale in person is staggering
• The cruise heads back to Aswan at night, I ended the day with a felucca sail on the calmest, prettiest stretch of the Nile I'd seen, right at sunset. The cruise disembarks here the next morning, leaving you well placed to explore Aswan or fly onward to your next destination

The Nile circuit is the classic trip and perfect for the first visit. Egypt has plenty more to explore including:

• The Red Sea coast — world-class diving and snorkeling along the Red Sea which is one of the world's most vibrant and thriving marine ecosystems. The laid-back Dahab is the backpacker favorite and the freediving capital of the world (with the famous Blue Hole). There are also bigger resort towns of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, popular with European holiday makers
• Alexandria — the Mediterranean city with loads of Greek and Roman history. It was famously home to Library of Alexandria in Egypt, known to be the greatest repository of knowledge in the classical world. However, it was destroyed over the centuries. You can now visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina which has a distinctly modern feel
• The White Desert — home to surreal wind-carved chalk formations. You can camp among under the stars, out in the Western Desert. It is remote so independent travel is not allowed and a tour is required
• Mount Sinai — the biblical mountain located on the Sinai Peninsula. Take pre-dawn hike to the summit for sunrise, above the ancient St. Catherine's Monastery