Egypt is a place that people want to visit for years even decades. It has a lot of history the Nile River running through the desert and a culture that has been around for over 5,000 years. This makes traveling in Egypt an unique experience that you can't find anywhere else.
When American travelers come to Egypt they often have ideas about what they'll see from documentaries and history classes. Pyramids, the Sphinx, hieroglyphics and mummies.. What they find is more amazing and more human than they expected. The monuments are real and extraordinary. The country around them is also worth exploring: Cairo streets, boats sailing on the Nile at sunset the quiet of the Western Desert the underwater world of the Red Sea coral reefs and the relaxed atmosphere of Luxors East Bank at night.
Egypt has had some problems with tourism in the 15 years and some American travelers are worried about safety.. The truth is that the main tourist areas. Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea coast and the Sinai. Have good tourist infrastructure and a visible security presence. The US State Department says to exercise increased caution when traveling to Egypt, which's the same level of caution they advise for France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
What Egypt offers is a depth of history and a landscape that no other country can match.
Here is what to see and how to see it.
Cairo. The City That Never Stops
Cairo is one of the cities in Africa and the Middle East with around 22 million people in the greater metropolitan area. It can take a day or two to get used to how dense and noisy it's. The traffic is really something. The call to prayer from hundreds of minarets at dawn is one of the moving sounds you can hear while traveling. The street food is great and affordable. History is everywhere. Can't be ignored.
The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square has been the place for ancient Egyptian artifacts since 1902. It has over 170,000 objects, which's so many that it has never been fully cataloged. The Tutankhamun galleries have all the things from the boy kings tomb: the death mask, the coffins, the canopic chest, furniture, chariots and jewelry. The mask alone is worth visiting Cairo for.
The Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza plateau started opening in 2023. It is the archaeological museum in the world and has the complete Tutankhamun collection along with thousands of other artifacts. The building itself is amazing.
Islamic Cairo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Has a lot of medieval Islamic architecture. The Khan el-Khalili bazaar has been operating since the century and is a maze of covered alleys selling spices, lanterns, papyrus, textiles and more.
The Citadel of Saladin was built in 1176. Served as the seat of Egyptian government until 1874. The Mosque of Muhammad Ali inside the citadel has a dramatic interior.
Coptic Cairo has been a place of worship since at least the 4th century. The Hanging Church is built above two towers. The Coptic Museum door has a great collection of Coptic Christian art.
Cairos food scene is great for trying street food. Koshari is a dish made with rice, lentils, macaroni, tomato sauce and fried onions. Ful medames is an Egyptian breakfast.
Getting there: Cairo International Airport has connections from New York JFK on EgyptAir and connecting flights through European hubs on most major carriers.
Recommended time: 3–4 days.
The Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
The Giza plateau is 12 kilometers southwest of Cairo. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was the structure in the world for 3,800 years. It was built around 2560 BC using around 2.3 million stone blocks.
The Pyramid of Khafre appears taller because its built on ground. The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three.
The Great Sphinx is 73 meters long and 20 meters high carved from a limestone outcrop.
Practical notes for Giza: Book tickets in advance online. Arrive at opening time. The plateau is large and the walking distances between monuments are substantial.
The Solar Boat Museum has one of the worlds intact wooden vessels.
Sound and Light Show, at Giza operates nightly. Provides a theatrical overview of the sites history.
Recommended time: day including both museums half day if combining with Cairo sights.
Luxor. The Worlds Open-Air Museum
Luxor sits 700 kilometers south of Cairo on the east bank of the Nile River. It was built on and around the ancient city of Thebes. Thebes was the capital of the New Kingdom of Egypt from 1550 to 1070 BC. This era produced pharaohs like Tutankhamun, Ramesses II, Hatshepsut and Akhenaten.
The city has monuments, including temples, tombs and administrative complexes from 500 years of ancient Egypt at its peak. These monuments are unmatched else on earth.
The city naturally divides into the East Bank, which's the city of the living and the West Bank, which is the city of the dead. This division follows the Egyptian belief that the land of the dead lay in the direction of the setting sun.
### East Bank
* The Luxor Temple is directly in the city center. It is a New Kingdom complex built by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II. The temple has an avenue of sphinxes that originally connected it to Karnak, three kilometers north.
* At night the temple is dramatically lit when the crowds thin. The stones take on a warm golden quality.
* The Abu el-Haggag Mosque was built inside the temples court during the medieval period. The mosque was left in place as a document of the sites history.
* The Karnak Temple Complex is the religious site ever built. It is an accumulation of temples, pylons, obelisks and sanctuaries constructed by pharaohs over 2,000 years. The complex covers 100 hectares.
* The Great Hypostyle Hall contains 134 sandstone columns. The largest columns are 21 meters tall and 3.5 meters in diameter. Walking through it feels like being inside a stone forest.
### West Bank
* The Valley of the Kings is a limestone canyon. New Kingdom pharaohs were buried in rock-cut tombs between 1539 and 1075 BC. Far 63 tombs have been discovered. They range from unfinished chambers to the vast multi-chambered tomb of Seti I, which is over 100 meters deep.
* The standard entrance ticket covers three tombs chosen on the day. Additional tickets cover tombs like KV62, which is Tutankhamuns tomb. It contains his body still in situ.
* Hatshepsuts Mortuary Temple, also known as Deir el-Bahari is one of Egypts most architecturally sophisticated structures. It was built for the pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 22 years as king around 1473 BC.
* The Colossi of Memnon are two 18-meter seated statues of Amenhotep III. They flank the entrance to his vanished mortuary temple and stand in an agricultural field.
* Hot air balloon flights over the West Bank at dawn are one of the travel experiences in Egypt. You rise above the Valley of the Kings as the sun comes up over the Eastern Desert. The Nile River catches the light below.
### Getting There
You can fly from Cairo to Luxor, which takes one hour. Alternatively you can take the sleeper train from Cairo.
### Recommended Time
The recommended time to spend in Luxor is 3–4 days minimum. To cover everything properly 5–6 days are recommended.
## Aswan. The Nile at Its Beautiful
Aswan is 220 kilometers south of Luxor. It is the southernmost point most travelers reach before Sudan. The city sits at the First Cataract of the Nile River.
The Philae Temple, also known as the Temple of Isis is on an island in the Nile River. It was physically relocated during the 1960s and 70s to its island, Agilkia.
The Nubian Museum is one of Egypts museums. It covers the history and culture of Nubia the region now largely submerged under Lake Nasser.
The Aswan High Dam, also known as Sadd el-Ali was completed in 1970. It created Lake Nasser, one of the worlds reservoirs.
Felucca sailing on the Nile River between Aswans islands is the relaxed way to spend an afternoon in Egypt.
### Getting There
You can fly from Cairo to Aswan, which takes 1.5 hours. Alternatively you can take the train from Luxor, which takes 3 hours.
### Recommended Time
The recommended time to spend in Aswan is 2–3 days. For Abu Simbel one day is recommended.
## A Nile Cruise. Moving Between Monuments
A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan or Aswan and Luxor is one of the travel experiences in the world. The river journey of 200 kilometers connects the major monuments of Upper Egypt.
Standard cruise itineraries run 4 or 7 nights. The shorter itinerary covers the stops like Esna Lock, Edfu Temple Kom Ombo and the monuments in Luxor and Aswan.
The Temple of Horus at Edfu is the preserved temple in Egypt. It was built between 237 and 57 BC in the Ptolemaic period.
The Temple of Kom Ombo sits directly on the Nile bank. It is dedicated simultaneously to two gods, Sobek and Haroeris.
Cruise ship quality varies enormously across the price spectrum. Budget cruises are functional while mid-range and upper-range ships are comfortable and well-organized.
### Recommended Time
The recommended time for a Nile cruise is 4–7 nights.
## The Red Sea Coast. Hurghada and Dahab
Egypts Red Sea coast is one of the worlds premier diving and snorkeling destinations. The coral reefs here are among the biodiverse in the world. The visibility, in the water is consistently extraordinary. For travelers who want to combine ancient history with a beach component the Red Sea is the obvious choice.
Hurghada on the coast is a top Red Sea resort.
* Its got hotels and dive shops for European tourists.
* The town isn't very interesting. Its good for diving.
Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula is different.
* It was a Bedouin fishing village.
* Now it's an backpacker spot with a relaxed atmosphere.
* The Blue Hole, a 300-meter- submarine sinkhole is nearby.
The Ras Mohammed National Park at Sinais tip has great reef diving.
* You can take day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh by boat or road.
Sharm el-Sheikh at Sinais tip is a diving base.
* It's close to Ras Mohammed and Tiran Island reefs.
Getting
* Hurghada International Airport and Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport have connections from Cairo and Europe.
* Dahab is reached by bus or taxi from Sharm.
Recommended time:
* 4–7 days for diving
* 2–3 days for a beach addition to a Cairo/Luxor trip
Alexandria. The Mediterranean City
Alexandria is on the Mediterranean coast 225 kilometers northwest of Cairo.
* It's a city of 5 million people that feels different from the rest of Egypt.
* It's cooler and more connected to the sea.
This was the city of Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and the worlds greatest library.
* Almost nothing of Alexandria survives above ground.
What does survive:
* The Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa. A century AD Roman funerary complex.
* The Bibliotheca Alexandrina. A library built in 2002.
The Corniche. Alexandrias waterfront promenade. Runs for 20 kilometers.
* It's where the citys social life concentrates, in the evenings.
Getting there:
* 2.5 hours from Cairo by train
* 3 hours by bus
Recommended time:
* 1–2 days
The White Desert and Siwa Oasis
The Egyptian desert west of the Nile has landscapes.
* The White Desert national park 400 kilometers southwest of Cairo has chalk rock formations.
Camping overnight in the White Desert is a wilderness experience.
* Organized tours from Cairo or Bahariya typically run 2–3 days.
Siwa Oasis in the northwest corner of Egypt is remote.
* It's an eight-hour drive from Cairo through the desert.
Siwa has its Berber culture, language and architecture.
* The ruins of the Temple of the Oracle and the Temple of Amun are nearby.
Getting there:
* White Desert: 4WD tour from Cairo or Bahariya
* Siwa: 8–10 hours by bus from Cairo or private vehicle
Recommended time:
* 2–3 days for the White Desert
* 3–4 days for Siwa
Practical Notes for Travelers
Getting to Egypt:
* Cairo International Airport is the hub.
* EgyptAir flies direct from New York JFK.
Visa:
* American travelers require a visa for Egypt.
* An e-visa is available online for $25.
Currency:
* Egyptian Pound (EGP).
* US dollars are widely accepted.
Tipping:
* Tipping is integral to service culture.
* Carry bills (Egyptian pounds and US dollars).
Getting around:
* Domestic flights connect Cairo to Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
* The overnight sleeper train, between Cairo and Luxor/Aswan is comfortable.
Language:
* Arabic is the language.
* English is widely spoken in tourist areas.
Safety:
* Follow US State Department advisories.
* Avoid the North Sinai region.
Health: * Drink water only. This is very important.
Travelers diarrhea is common. Bring medication from home if you can.
The sun at these latitudes is very strong. Apply high-SPF sunscreen often. Wear a hat at outdoor sites.
The heat in summer from June to August is very extreme. Temperatures in Luxor often exceed 45°C.
Plan activities for early morning and late afternoon.
Best time to visit:
October to April is the time to visit. The temperatures are cooler the humidity is lower. It is more comfortable to visit outdoor sites.
December and January are the peak months with European visitors. Book your accommodation and tours in advance.
March and April are months to visit as the desert has beautiful spring wildflowers and the temperatures are pleasant before the summer heat starts.
Ramadan, which takes place at dates every year based on the Islamic calendar brings changes to restaurant hours and a different atmosphere in cities. It is an idea to research the dates before booking.
The Honest Summary
Egypt needs preparation than most places Americans visit and it gives more in return.
The history is the attraction. The pyramids at Giza, the Valley of the Kings the temples of Karnak and Abu Simbel.
It lives up to every expectation.
The country beyond the monuments is also worth experiencing.
Take a ride on a felucca in Aswan. Watch the sunset, over the Nile.
Visit the White Desert at 3am. See the Milky Way.
Experience the chaos and generosity of Cairo.
Go fifteen meters down. See the Red Sea reef.
Visit the salt lake and freshwater springs of Siwa five hours from the border.
Egypt is a country that stays with travelers in a way that comfortable more predictable destinations don't.
The history of Egypt. Five thousand years of civilization. Changes the way you think about time and human achievement.
Egypt is worth the effort of getting.