Destinations
Eight places, in the order a trip meets them, each with the nights it deserves. Our guides show the combinations that flow, so each day goes to the places themselves.
Follow the river
Cairo & GizaAlexandriaFayoumWestern DesertLuxorThe Red SeaNile & AswanAbu SimbelEgypt from orbit, 19 April 2017 · NASA Terra/MODIS · positions approximate
Where the Nile meets its delta
Where most first journeys begin: the pyramids and the Sphinx on the plateau, and the Grand Egyptian Museum at its foot.
North, on the Mediterranean
Alexander's city by the sea: catacombs, a Roman theatre and a fort on the site of the ancient lighthouse.
West of the river, two hours from Cairo
An oasis around a lake, with the waterfalls of Wadi El Rayan and the fossil whales of Wadi El Hitan.
Deep in the Western Desert
Chalk towers, black hills and a night under a sky with nothing in the way.
Upper Egypt, on the river
Temples on the east bank, and the royal tombs cut into the hills on the west.
East, across the mountains to the coast
Reefs, wrecks and real rest, a short flight from Cairo or a drive from Luxor.
The river between Luxor and Aswan
Slow the trip down: a cruise or a dahabiya, the island temple of Philae, and Nubian villages by boat.
South, on Lake Nasser
The temples of Ramses II and Nefertari, moved block by block above the rising lake in the 1960s.
On the Red Sea, two bases have a guide of their own: things to do in Hurghada and in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Kindest months are our judgement of a comfortable day of sightseeing, read from each place’s average daily high (or the nearest station’s) in the 1991–2020 climate normals published by NOAA. The best time to visit Egypt has every month in full.
Plan it
The planner puts them in order with the nights each needs, and marks the travel days.
KennyOMG, CC BY-SA 4.0; Hamerani, CC BY-SA 4.0; Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), CC BY 3.0; ASaber91, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ibrahim El-Mezayen, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ahmed Yousry Mahfouz, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display.
