Amazing Egypt- The Itinerary You Should Absolutely Do!
Egypt is an amazing place to visit, and we did the perfect itinerary! From the Pyramids of Giza to the banks of the Nile and shores of the Red Sea, Egypt has much to offer. Our tour spanned twelve nights and thirteen days and had something to offer everyone. The itinerary can easily be broken down to six nights at a minimum. If you want to do it quick, five nights is the minimum I’d suggest. We found a combination of three nights in Cairo, a three night river cruise from Aswan to Luxor and six nights to unwind at the Rixos Sharm El Sheikh was the perfect balance.
You can read about the Sharm El Sheikh portion of the trip in our post, “Beautiful Sharm El Sheikh – A Vacation From Your Egypt Vacation.”
General Information
Safety– The question I’ve been asked most since returning is whether Egypt is safe. ABSOLUTEY! After the Egyptian Revolt in 2011, tourism took a nosedive. Those issues are long in the past. I can also tell you I felt MUCH safer than in most major U.S. cities. Each of our hotels required us to scan our luggage before it could even enter the building. The security at the airports felt much tighter than U.S. TSA. Like anywhere else you may travel, just be aware of your surroundings. Watch for pickpockets in large crowds around tourist areas. Safety in Egypt said another way; I carry concealed in Atlanta but felt there would be no need for that if living in Egypt.
Visa Requirements– U.S. travelers do need a visa to enter Egypt unless going directly into Sharm El Sheikh. The cost is $25 and can be purchased online ahead or at the airport on arrival. I suggest purchasing ahead of your trip as we did.
Language– Egyptian Arabic is known as Colloquial Egyptian or simply Masri (also Masry).
Culture– Egypt is a conservative culture. Women should cover up to a certain extent. Our guide told my wife it was ok to wear shorts during our time in Luxor due to the temperatures, and she had no issues. Men can basically wear whatever, but I didn’t notice too many Egyptian men wearing shorts. The people are very friendly and welcoming to Americans.
Religion– Approx. 85% Islam (Sunni Muslim), Approx. 15% Coptic Orthodox (Christian).
Currency– Egyptian Pound (EGP). Some places like major hotels and Egyptian Airlines will take U.S. dollars. There are ATMs everywhere to get Egyptian money, so you can wait until you arrive. There’s also a currency exchange in the international baggage claim.
Tips
Tours/Guides/Etc.– We booked our tour through Egypt Tours Portal, one of the biggest operators in Egypt. Luckily, we got 2 great guides. Next time I’ll book directly with our guide, Hossam Rashwan, as he also runs his own business and contracts with the big operators. The guides are Egyptologists who have a master’s degree education and must be certified. Be sure your guide is a certified Egyptologist. It makes all the difference when learning the true history. Your guide will also handle purchasing tickets to all the sites as part of your fee.
Tipping– Egypt is a big tipping country. Always keep small bills like 10 EGP ($0.30) and 20 EGP ($0.65) for using the restroom and tipping for small things. For bigger services like handling luggage and your guide, keep 100 ($3) and 200 ($6) EGPs handy. For more on tipping in Egypt, click on this link that I found to be very helpful and accurate.
The Trip
Our itinerary had a little bit of everything, but we opted to skip Alexandria. I’ll tell you why later. We started in Cairo, then transitioned to a Nile River cruise from Aswan to Luxor and ended with some true relaxation in Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea.
Cairo Day 1 (Memphis, Saqqara, Giza)
We arrived in Cairo just after midnight. There are airlines that get in much earlier, but we were married to Delta and our connection into Cairo on Air France. From the Ramses Hilton in Cairo as our home base, we visited, Memphis, Saqqara and Giza. All these sites can be visited on the same day.
Memphis– The main attractions to see in the ancient capital city of Memphis (which is basically just ruins now) were the giant statue of Ramses II and the Alabaster Sphinx.
Saqqara– This ancient village contains the oldest complete stone building complex known in history, the Pyramid of Djoser, built during the Third Dynasty. Another sixteen Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in various states of preservation.
Giza– This is the highlight everyone comes to Cairo to see. It’s home to the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. This area can get very crowded, and your guide really makes his or her money by knowing how to avoid the crowds. You can also take a cool camel ride into the desert from her for a cost of about $12.
Cairo Day 2 (Egyptian Museum)
This day was all about visiting the Egyptian Museum which is where Tutankhamun’s jewels and solid gold mask are on display. There is so much to see in the museum that you could spend a full day. However, your guide earns their money by navigating you through and explaining the highlights. They leave you alone at the end of their guided tour to explore more on your own, and you link back up with them outside.
The other part of day 2 was spent checking out the local market. Be sure to note that there are 2 markets, one for locals and one for tourists. Our guide told us to never go to the locals market as it’s not safe for tourists. At the tourist market, he explained that it’s the one place where you do have to be very aware of pickpockets. This is also the best place to buy gold in Egypt as prices are excellent, and the gold is certified. They don’t do less than 18K gold in Egypt. They laugh at our American standard of 14K gold. LOL!
Nile River Cruise (Aswan to Luxor)
Aswan (Cruise Day 1)
The river cruises that start in Aswan usually begin with visiting the High Dam and Philae Temple, which was relocated to an island due to flooding. They amazingly moved the entire thing and put it back together like a giant puzzle! Just before lunch, we checked into our ship (The Alyssa) and got to relax a little bit before and after lunch. In the afternoon, you can opt for other tours such as driving 1.5 hrs. to see Abu Simbel or staying local and visiting the Nubian Village.
After lunch, we visited the Temple of Edfu. It was buried under centuries of sand and silt until the nineteenth century, when French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette rediscovered the site. The complex is one of the most well-preserved sites in Egypt today; its architecture is very much intact, and the building contains a wealth of legible inscriptions on its walls. It is dedicated to the falcon god, Horus.
We decided to visit the Nubian Village a little later in the day and learn about that very different culture of Egypt. The Nubians have their own language, culture and food that is very different from the rest of Egypt. If you get a chance, I highly recommend visiting as you will learn about a once very powerful kingdom in ancient history.
Temple of Kom Ombo (Cruise Day 2)
After dinner, the ship set sail for the Temple of Kom Ombo. It’s an unusual double temple in the town of Kom Ombo in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. Meanwhile, the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Horus, along with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands).
Luxor (Cruise Day 3)
The cruise left Edfu during lunch, and we got to spend the day relaxing on the upper deck while sailing up the Nile. It was such a scenic and relaxing experience. We arrived at Luxor late in the evening and started our tour of the West Bank of Luxor. We visited four sites on the west bank.
Valley of the Kings
The rulers of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt’s prosperous New Kingdom (c.1550–1069 BC) were buried in a desolate dry river valley across the river from the ancient city of Thebes (modern Luxor), hence its modern name of the Valley of the Kings. The pharaohs realized that pyramids were like putting up a giant “come rob my grave” sign. These tombs were never meant to be found…BUT they clearly were.
The only one of these tombs to be found completely in tact is that of Tutankhamun. It was never found, because it was hidden underneath the tomb of Ramses V and VI. His is also the smallest of all the tombs. His mummy is on display in the tomb.
Temple of Hatshepsut– The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut is a mortuary temple built during the reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Located opposite the city of Luxor, it’s a must-see site on the west bank. The architecture is stunning and very well preserved.
Deir el-Medina– This is an ancient Egyptian workmen’s village. The tombs here are well preserved with vivid color remaining after thousands of years. The site isn’t talked about as much, but our Egyptologist made a great call in taking us to see it. Do go if you have time!
Temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habu– This is considered the most well-preserved temple on the west bank. It’s a must-see during your stop in Luxor.
Cruise Day 3 (evening)
Luxor Museum– This museum is much easier to get through than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There is still plenty of history but nowhere near as overwhelming. If you have time, it’s worth stopping in…especially for the mummies. Some of them have never been unwrapped.
Luxor Temple– We did this as our Day 3 nightcap. Save this one for the nighttime as it’s beautiful when it’s lit up.
Luxor (Cruise Day 4)
Day 4 of the cruise was breakfast and then check-out albeit, there was still much site seeing to do, however. As a result, the ship will hold your bags for the day. You can even come back to the ship to lounge if you booked a later flight out of Luxor. We decided to do three more sites on our final day.
Temple of Dendera– The temple is dedicated to the goddess, Hathor. It’s one of the most well-preserved temples in all of Egypt. One of the highlights is the carving of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar with their son Caesarion.
Temple of Karnak– The Karnak temple complex at Luxor was developed more than 1,000 years ago between the Twelfth and Twentieth Dynasties. At its peak, it was the largest and most important religious complex in ancient Egypt. It is connected to the Temple of Luxor by the three-mile Sphinxes Avenue.
The back half of the trip
We ended our trip by flying from Luxor to Sharm El Sheikh (via Cairo on EgyptAir), a resort town on the Red Sea. We spent six nights in Sharm. Read our Blog, “Beautiful Sharm El Sheikh – A Vacation From Your Egypt Vacation.” For details on that part of our trip.
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