Your trip
Cairo & Gizathen Abu Simbelthen Nile & Aswanthen The Red Sea
11 nights · 12 days · On my own
Your itinerary
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Balanced draft
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The same interests with fewer full or active days. Your choices stay in place.
- Day 2 Historic Cairo on Foot: al-Mu'izz Street from Bab al-Futuh to Bab Zuwayla · Half day · about 4 hours
- Day 3 Royal Mummies and Old Cairo: The Museum of Egyptian Civilization and Coptic Cairo · Half day · about 5 hours
- Day 4 Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur: The First Pyramids · About 6 hours
- Day 6 Aswan Felucca to Elephantine and the Botanical Garden · About 2 hours
- Day 7 Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk and the High Dam · About 4.5 hours

Cairo & Giza
Days 1–4 · 4 nightsWhat to know about Cairo & Giza
- How long
- 3 nights recommended. Give Giza and the museum a full day together, then a second day for historic Cairo's mosques, churches and bazaar.
- What deserves priority
- Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum.
- Al-Mu'izz Street
The main street of the Fatimid court city, where for eight centuries anyone with power built to be seen.
Open 09:00–17:00 · checked 29 September 2026
- Ben Ezra Synagogue
The synagogue whose storeroom kept a medieval community's paperwork for centuries.
Open 09:00–16:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Cairo Citadel
A medieval fortress above the whole of Cairo, and the seat of Egypt's rulers for more than six centuries.
Open 08:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Dahshur
Where the Egyptians learned how to build a pyramid, by getting it wrong first.
Open 08:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Giza Plateau
Three generations of kings built here; the plateau asks who did the building, and how they lived.
Open 08:00–16:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Grand Egyptian Museum
A museum whose greatest collections belong to places you can see on the same day.
- Day 1Arrival in Cairo & GizaTime reserved for arrivalSee day
- Day 2Historic Cairo on FootSuggested · Half day · about 4 hoursThe street the Fatimid caliphs laid out as the spine of their new court city.See day
- Day 3Royal Mummies and Old CairoSuggested · Half day · about 5 hoursThe pharaohs built for eternity, and here, three thousand years later, they lie in a new museum on the edge of Old Cairo.See day
- Day 4Saqqara, Memphis and DahshurSuggested · About 6 hoursSee how pyramid building developed before Giza, on a day out from Cairo.See day

Nile & Aswan
Days 5–8 · 4 nightsWhat to know about Nile & Aswan
- How long
- 4–5 nights recommended. Temples by day and the river between them: choose a boat by its name and its hours ashore, and the Nile does the rest.
- What deserves priority
- A cruise or dahabiya, Philae and time in Aswan.
- Aswan High Dam
The monument that ended ancient Egypt's calendar.
- Edfu Temple
The temple of Horus, whose walls are a library turned outwards.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Elephantine
A granite island at the first cataract, where Egypt used to end.
Open 08:00–16:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Kom Ombo Temple
A temple built twice over, side by side, for the crocodile and the falcon.
Open 07:00–21:00 · checked 15 September 2026
- Lake Nasser
An archive of ancient Nubia that nobody can visit.
- Nubian Village
A living Nubian village on the west bank at Aswan, facing the island of Sehel.
- Day 5Travel to Nile & AswanFlight option: about 1½ hours by air. Allow extra time for airports and transfers.See day
- Day 6Aswan Felucca to Elephantine and the Botanical GardenSuggested · About 2 hoursA slow afternoon on the river at the first cataract, where Egypt used to end.See day
- Day 7Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk and the High DamSuggested · About 4.5 hoursThree stops that explain Aswan's great works, ancient and modern.See day
- Day 8Abu Simbel Day Trip from AswanSuggested · About 10 hoursThe long drive south is part of the point.See day

The Red Sea
Days 9–12 · 3 nightsWhat to know about The Red Sea
- How long
- 3–5 nights recommended. Base yourself in Hurghada or Sharm for the reefs. Cairo is a short flight away, and Luxor makes a fine overnight from Hurghada.
- What deserves priority
- Snorkelling, diving and genuine rest.





