Middle East & AfricaOriginal Research

Egypt

Pyramids, pharaohs & the Nile

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Comparisons1

SafetyReconsider Travel

— Overview

Why we keep coming back.

Egypt is synonymous with ancient wonders. The Pyramids of Giza and the temples of Luxor draw history lovers while the Red Sea coast lures divers year-round.

Live · right now

23° / 73°F

mainly clear in Cairo

Feels 22° · 45% humidity · wind 4 km/h

Next 3 days

Wed, May 13

36° / 18°

Thu, May 14

39° / 22°

Fri, May 15

35° / 22°

Next holiday · Egypt

ثورة 30 يونيو

Thu, Jul 2, 2026

In 51 days · June 30 Revolution

Also coming up

Thu, Jul 23عيد ثورة 23 يوليو72d
Tue, Oct 6عيد القوات المسلحة147d
Thu, Jan 7عيد الميلاد المجيد240d
Mon, Jan 25عيد الثورة 25 يناير258d
Sun, Apr 25عيد تحرير سيناء348d

🇪🇬 Fast facts

Capital: Cairo
Language: Arabic
Population: 107.3M
Currency: Egyptian pound (£)
Timezone: UTC+02:00
Calling code: +20
Drives on: Right

Best time to visit · based on 10-year climate

Go in Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec

Source: Open-Meteo ERA5 (Cairo)

JAN

14.2°

6mm

FEB

15.3°

6mm

MAR

18.6°

9mm

APR

22.6°

2mm

MAY

26.8°

0mm

JUN

29.7°

0mm

JUL

31.1°

0mm

AUG

30.8°

0mm

SEP

28.8°

0mm

OCT

25°

3mm

NOV

20.7°

2mm

DEC

16.3°

6mm

IdealGoodDoableTough

Hotel pricing · Cairo, Egypt

$85

median / night

Low $85 · mid-market 3–4★ · updated Apr 22, 2026

See live rates →

Jet-lag prep · flying to Cairo

How bad will the jet lag be?

Severity from three major hubs. Full plan — bedtime shifts, light, melatonin — in the tool.

Open planner →

From New York (JFK)

Moderate5.5/ 10

~7 days to recover · heading eastbound

From London (LHR)

Minimal1.6/ 10

~2 days to recover · heading eastbound

From Singapore (SIN)

Mild3.6/ 10

~5 days to recover · heading westbound

— Regions

Where to go in Egypt

Cairo & Giza

Pyramids of Giza and the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM, fully open since 2025), Coptic Cairo, Khan el-Khalili bazaar, Old Cairo's Islamic monuments. Three days minimum; book the Pyramids first thing in the morning.

Luxor & Karnak

Karnak and Luxor temples, Valley of the Kings (Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI, Seti I), Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, the Colossi of Memnon. Two nights — base on the East Bank, ferry to West Bank tombs at dawn.

Aswan & Abu Simbel

Felucca cruises on the Nile, Philae temple, Nubian villages, and the colossal rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel (worth the 4am bus or the short flight from Aswan). Two nights.

Nile Cruises (Luxor → Aswan)

The classic 4-night dahabiya or cruise route hits Edfu, Esna, and Kom Ombo temples between the two cities — quieter dahabiya boats beat the big floating hotels every time.

Red Sea Coast (Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh, Marsa Alam)

World-class diving year-round — coral, reef sharks, dugongs at Marsa Alam. Sharm closer to Sinai sites; Hurghada cheaper. Avoid the package-resort strip and base further south.

— When to go

The seasonality call

Period	Verdict
Oct–Apr	Peak season — comfortable temperatures (Cairo 18–25°C), Luxor pleasant, Red Sea perfect. Book ahead Christmas and Easter.
May–Sep	Hot to brutal — Luxor and Aswan 40°C+ daily; Cairo manageable; Red Sea coast tolerable thanks to breezes; cheaper rates.

— Entry & visa

Visa requirements

US, UK, Canadian, Australian and most EU passport holders need a tourist visa — easiest path is the e-visa via visa2egypt.gov.eg ($25, 30-day validity, up to 3 months) before flight. Visa-on-arrival ($25) also available at Cairo. Six-month passport validity.

— Budget

What you'll spend

Shoestring: $30–55/day — budget hotels, koshary and ful for meals, second-class trains, taxi (Uber works in Cairo).
Mid-range: $110–180/day — boutique Cairo hotels, dahabiya nights, Egyptologist guides at the temples, internal flights.
Luxury: $600+/day — Four Seasons Cairo, Old Cataract Aswan, private dahabiya, Sunrise hot-air balloon over Luxor.

Pound depreciation has kept Egypt remarkably cheap for foreigners. Tipping (baksheesh) is expected everywhere — budget 10–15% on top of meals and small notes for site staff and drivers.

— Getting around

Transport on the ground

Domestic flights (EgyptAir, Air Cairo) are essential — Cairo–Luxor 1h, Cairo–Aswan 1h30. The overnight Watania Sleeping Train Cairo–Luxor is a classic ($100). Use Uber in Cairo; ride Talgo trains or Uber within Luxor and Aswan. Hire a private driver-guide for the Pyramids and Saqqara day trips.

Edited by

Noa Katz

Contributing Writer · Tel Aviv, Israel

Noa Katz covers the Levant and North Africa for destination.com — Jordan, Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. A former correspondent for Haaretz in Amman and Beirut, she reported on the hospitality sector through five years of regional turbulence and writes with particular care about when and how a destination is actually ready for visitors.

Levant
North Africa
Responsible reporting
Archaeology

Egypt hub last reviewed May 1, 2026

— From the journal

Egypt guides

All 1 stories →

Food & Drink

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8 min read

— Head to head

Pair it with.

Morocco

Egypt

— Safety advisory

Current level 3 · Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel to Egypt due to terrorism. The Sinai Peninsula (excluding Sharm el-Sheikh) is particularly dangerous.

Read the full briefing →

— The scorecard

How Egypt scores.

Our editorial team rates every destination 1–10 across 10 travel dimensions, calibrated against the full catalogue. Strongest on culture & history and value for money; weakest on nightlife.

Value for money

9/10

Food scene

7/10

Beaches

8/10

Culture & history

10/10

Ease of travel

5/10

Nature & landscapes

8/10

Nightlife

5/10

Family-friendly

6/10

Adventure

8/10

Luxury options

7/10

Compare Egypt with another destination →

Editorial itineraries

Day-by-day plans for Egypt

10 days

10 Days in Egypt: Cairo, the Nile, and the Red Sea

A 10-day Egypt itinerary — three nights in Cairo, a 4-night Nile cruise Luxor to Aswan, and three nights at a Red Sea resort for decompression.

— How we report this hub

What you read here, and where it came from.

On-the-ground reporting. Every section of this Egypt guide is sourced from destination.com editors who have reported from the country in person, in many cases more than once. We don't pivot from press releases.
No paid placement. Hotels, restaurants and operators named here are recommended on editorial merit. When we earn an affiliate commission on a booking link, we say so on the page — it never affects what we recommend or in what order.
Data we use. Visa rules, prices and seasonality call-outs cite official government sources, our editor's most recent in-country reporting, or the operator's published rate (in that order). Numbers age — see the verified date below for the last review.
Corrections. Send corrections directly to our editors; we publicly log every correction we make.

Reviewed by Noa Katz✓ Last verified May 1, 2026

— Plan the tripAffiliate · We may earn

Book Egypt in one place.

Hotels, flights and packages via our booking partner — Expedia Group. Live pricing, free cancellation on most.

Hotels

Live rates across Egypt

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Loading destination guide

Where to go in Egypt

Cairo & Giza

Luxor & Karnak

Aswan & Abu Simbel

Felucca cruises on the Nile, Philae temple, Nubian villages, and the colossal rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel (worth the 4am bus or the short flight from Aswan). Two nights.

Nile Cruises (Luxor → Aswan)

The classic 4-night dahabiya or cruise route hits Edfu, Esna, and Kom Ombo temples between the two cities — quieter dahabiya boats beat the big floating hotels every time.

Red Sea Coast (Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh, Marsa Alam)

World-class diving year-round — coral, reef sharks, dugongs at Marsa Alam. Sharm closer to Sinai sites; Hurghada cheaper. Avoid the package-resort strip and base further south.

Period

Verdict

Oct–Apr

Peak season — comfortable temperatures (Cairo 18–25°C), Luxor pleasant, Red Sea perfect. Book ahead Christmas and Easter.

May–Sep

Hot to brutal — Luxor and Aswan 40°C+ daily; Cairo manageable; Red Sea coast tolerable thanks to breezes; cheaper rates.

What you'll spend

Shoestring

$30–55/day — budget hotels, koshary and ful for meals, second-class trains, taxi (Uber works in Cairo).

Mid-range

$110–180/day — boutique Cairo hotels, dahabiya nights, Egyptologist guides at the temples, internal flights.

Luxury

$600+/day — Four Seasons Cairo, Old Cataract Aswan, private dahabiya, Sunrise hot-air balloon over Luxor.

Pound depreciation has kept Egypt remarkably cheap for foreigners. Tipping (baksheesh) is expected everywhere — budget 10–15% on top of meals and small notes for site staff and drivers.

Transport on the ground

What you read here, and where it came from.

On-the-ground reporting. Every section of this Egypt guide is sourced from destination.com editors who have reported from the country in person, in many cases more than once. We don't pivot from press releases.

No paid placement. Hotels, restaurants and operators named here are recommended on editorial merit. When we earn an affiliate commission on a booking link, we say so on the page — it never affects what we recommend or in what order.

Data we use. Visa rules, prices and seasonality call-outs cite official government sources, our editor's most recent in-country reporting, or the operator's published rate (in that order). Numbers age — see the verified date below for the last review.

Corrections. Send corrections directly to our editors; we publicly log every correction we make.

Reviewed by Noa Katz✓ Last verified May 1, 2026