Keys to a successful independent trip to Egypt

I first went to Egypt in the 80s.

My first discoveries of Egypt date back to the early 1980s. At the time, I accompanied groups on organized trips for Nouvelles Frontières, a French Tour Operator. This was quite daring for a young man of less than twenty who had previously only traveled with his parents! Learning to manage human relations within groups with so little experience was a great life lesson.

I went back a few times in the 2000s and in April 2024, when I took a trip that took us first to Cairo for a more in-depth visit, then to the hidden oasis of Siwa, Alexandria, and finally Sinai.

My tips for visiting Egypt for the first time

For Europeans, Egypt is often one of the first country you think of when you travel. That’s no surprise, as it’s a relatively inexpensive destination, and its Pharaonic era is the stuff of dreams.

The paradise of organized tours with a highly standardized itinerary

The range of tour operators available is considerable. Yet, the tours offered in Egypt are almost identical, unchanged since the 1980s.

It starts with a visit to Cairo’s major tourist sites, including the Giza pyramids, the Egyptian Museum, and the Khan el Khalili souk, not forgetting a visit to a papyrus factory and a perfume store.

Tour groups then fly to Aswan to discover the Philae temple and the impressive Lake Nasser dam. An optional excursion by plane or bus takes in the famous Abu Simbel temples, saved from the rising waters of the dam.

The trip concludes with a two-day cruise from Aswan to Luxor and a visit to the many extraordinary Pharaonic sites on the West Bank.

The choice is mainly based on the level of comfort and accompaniment. From the most luxurious with, for example, accommodation at the iconic Old Cataract in Aswan, to the most basic with a cruise on a slightly dilapidated boat and tours for groups of 30 to 40 people.

Travel agencies are quick to suggest a seaside extension of a few days in Hurghada at a large, all-inclusive resort on the Red Sea.

Package tours to Egypt are often too dense and tiring. I’ve looked at an offer from a well-known European tour operator to prove the point.

An Organized Tour Unveiled: Why I Don’t Recommend It!

I chose this trip, from a French tour operator, because it was slightly more original than the usual offer. It includes Abu Simbel, an optional extra, and Alexandria. The offer seems very attractive on the internet and consists of a funny wordplay: “Nile Cruise Nowhere else!”

But let’s take a closer look at the details of this trip, which I believe raises questions about its relevance and could mislead the customer.

If only because of the name of the trip: “Nile Cruise Nowhere else!” given that it only lasts a day and a half and not four days, although you will sleep four nights on board your boat.

Day 1: Paris – Luxor
Departure by plane at times unknown at the time of booking. These times could be uncomfortable, so it’s best to be prepared, as it’s not you who will choose, but the tour operator.

Day 2: Luxor – Valley of the Kings – Edfu
You have an express morning visit to the Valley of the Kings, with a very condensed program. There is no time to visit the city of Luxor, which is frustrating! In the afternoon, you set sail for Edfu.

Day 3: Edfou – Kom Ombo – Aswan
Discover the temples of Edfou and Kom Ombo, followed by a sail to Aswan. Only a day and a half of cruising to enjoy the Nile. 🙁

Day 4: Aswan and Philae
Full day in Aswan with an excursion to the temple of Philae. This is the only day when the pace seems a little more relaxed.

Day 5: Aswan – Abu Simbel – Cairo
Excursion to Abu Simbel with a particularly strenuous bus journey (approx. 2 x 4-hour drive). Return to Aswan for a same-day flight to Cairo. Exhaustion Guaranteed! Be sure to read the detailed program carefully, as the map gives the false impression that you’ll fly directly from Abu Simbel to Cairo!

On arrival, you are promised 3 nights in Cairo. Not true! You’ll stay in a three-star hotel by European standards (five-star by local standards means nothing) 14 km from the Pyramids of Giza and 30 km from Al-Tharir Square. What’s more, the tour operator reserves the right to offer you a hotel of equivalent comfort without guaranteeing you the promised Pyramids Golf Resort! The hotel offers a swimming pool, but it’s pointless as you won’t have time to go there.

Day 6: Cairo – Alexandria – Cairo
Excursion to Alexandria and back by bus (approx. 2 x 3 hours). The express program includes visits to the Greco-Roman Museum, the Library, and the Corniche before setting off again. Is it fun to drive so far and barely see Alexandria? No!

Day 7: Cairo – Giza and city tour
The morning is devoted to the pyramids of Giza. On the same day, the afternoon includes an inevitably brief visit to the Egyptian Museum and the Khan el-Khalili souk—just half a day to explore a city as rich and complex as Cairo. What a shame!

Day 8: Cairo – Paris
Return by plane at times still unknown at the time of booking. Note that many airlines schedule departures in the middle of the night. But you’ll find out only after you’ve purchased whether this is the case!

Once back home, plan for at least two days of rest to recover from the exhaustion of your trip! It’s guaranteed, as with such a packed schedule, that your nights will be very short.

Finally, the tour operator promises an Egyptologist lecturer will accompany you. In reality, you’ll most likely have a tour guide who is certainly competent but not an actual Egyptologist. Egyptologists are specialized researchers focused on the in-depth study of ancient Egypt, often in academic or archaeological contexts. And I bet that, despite the packed schedule, your guide will take you to visit a few souvenir shops—after all, a commission on your purchases awaits them!

I wouldn’t recommend spending 2000 EUR per person on such a frustrating trip. You can make a much better trip on your own.

A first organized trip that’s still very popular

Yet, although these tours are ultra-standardized and overly dense, most who choose them return happy, thanks to the fabulous images of ancient Egypt and the magical setting of the banks of the Nile.

Organizing your trip yourself is easy, and I highly recommend it. You can set the pace of your visits and choose the quality and, above all, the location of your accommodation. You’ll come back even more enchanted, and it’ll be the trip that suits you!

My advice: do the same trip, but independentlyand at your own pace !

Egypt’s tourism infrastructure is highly developed, and there’s no problem making your own hotel or transport reservations these days.

Tourism in Egypt is highly sensitive to current events, such as the Gulf War or the October 7, 2023, attack. This is the best time to go when everyone else cancels their reservations. I have fond memories of my trip to Egypt after September 11, 2001—discovering the Valley of the Kings with no one around was simply magical! However, stay vigilant and research critically before setting off.

Winter is the peak tourist season. If you can stand the heat well, opting for summer to benefit from fewer crowds may be worthwhile.

Read up on the history of Pharaonic Egypt before you go. You’ll get more out of your visits with a minimum cultural background knowledge. It will also save you from having to rely on a guide. Their speeches are often too dense and mechanical, and you quickly forget what they say. I believe it’s better to listen to your intuition, take the time to observe, and admire the wonders in front of you, even if you don’t know all the historical context. However, this is my opinion; other travelers will insist you hire a guide.

Where to go for the first time in Egypt?

I suggest structuring your journey into three main stops: Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan. Ideally, you should plan to spend at least two full weeks in Egypt.

To help you choose your hotels, restaurants, and places to visit, I recommend one guide: The Lonely Planet

Cairo: the bustling megalopolis

As most flights land in Cairo, you’ll likely start in the Egyptian capital.

I recommend staying for three to five days. Don’t plan any visits on your first day; you’ll need time to recover from the journey and get acquainted with the city. Organized tours too often hit the ground running to ‘optimize’ your time. In my opinion, it’s better to see fewer things but in a more meaningful and immersive way.

Choose accommodation either in the city center in the Wasat al-Balad district for easy access or in Zamalek on the banks of the Nile if you prefer quiet. You’ll find a wide choice of hotels and apartments at all prices on the Internet.

There are two ways to visit the pyramids:

• Take a round trip during the day from the center of Cairo, about twenty kilometers away, and accessible by cab in less than an hour. I recommend this, as I like to stay in one place for several days.
• Spend the night in Giza enjoying the site when it opens and watching the sunset. If you choose this option, be careful about your choice of hotel, as the city itself is of no interest. Ideally, if you can afford it, you should stay in an exceptional location at the Marriott Mena House Hotel.

Another question: should you visit Cairo at the beginning or the end of your trip? Personally, I prefer to start with the capital and then see the quieter parts of Egypt. Others find the shock of arriving from Europe too violent and think it’s better to acclimate to the Egyptian effervescence elsewhere in the country before facing the exhausting energy of the megalopolis. The choice is yours!

Finally, you can look for inspiration in my article How to take the time to explore Cairo in five days?

Getting to Aswan by night train

Traveling by night train from Cairo to Aswan is more exciting than flying. Admittedly, the sleeper cars I knew when they were brand new in 1981 have aged a lot, but the charm remains intact if you accept a certain amount of discomfort. You’ll sleep in absolute beds, but the railway track isn’t always in perfect condition, and there’s a lot of movement.

The private company Abela operates three trains daily, leaving Cairo from the new Bashtil station between 7 and 9 pm and arriving between 8:30 and 11 am the following day. Exact timetables can be found on Abelatrains.com, where booking a single (130 USD) or double compartment (90 USD per person) is possible. Dinner and breakfast are included.

Aswan: the charming Nubian city

Aswan is, above all, an atmosphere. The Nile is peaceful. The city is relaxing, especially when you arrive from Cairo. It doesn’t have the archaeological wealth of Luxor, but you feel at home here. A felucca ride at sunset is a delightful experience. Having a drink at the Old Cataract, the palace that served as the setting for Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, is another memorable highlight.

Aswan’s atmosphere is more African, as we are in the Nubian country.

Nearby, the temple of Philae is well worth a visit. 280 km further south are the famous Abu Simbel temples. They were moved when the giant Lake Nasser was filled with water. The site is grandiose, but it’s a long way by road. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first trip to Egypt unless you’ve got the time.

Aswan deserves at least two or three days to appreciate the destination fully.

Aswan to Luxor: cruise or not?

The great classic is a cruise from Aswan to Luxor. I’ve done this several times in the past by boat and by felucca. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for several reasons.

The first is that the cruises are sold for four days, but the trip between Aswan and Luxor takes only a day and a half. The rest of the time is spent docked on departure and arrival. I think it would be much better to stay in a more comfortable hotel!

Secondly, there are so many boats on the Nile that there’s a good chance that the panoramic view of the river promised by tour operators will turn into a nice close-up… of the hull of the boat next door! Indeed, these ships often dock in single file in three or four rows, transforming the quay into a veritable floating parking lot.

As the boats operate simultaneously, visits to Edfu, Esna, and Kom Ombo are made in large groups, detracting from the charm of the sites.

If you choose the felucca option, you’ll depend on wind and current. As you’ll be right on the water, you won’t be able to see anything of the landscape. The crossing may seem long, very long…

My only excellent memory is my cruise in the autumn of 2001 after the Twin Towers bombing. Our boat was practically the only one on the river, but it was a very exceptional situation.

I’d therefore advise you to take the train from Aswan to Luxor or hire a car with a driver to visit the sites between the two cities, which are magnificent.

Luxor: in the time of the pharaohs

Luxor is a must on any first trip to Egypt. It boasts an incredible concentration of temples and tombs from the Pharaonic era. The Temple of Karnak and the Valley of the Kings are splendid sites that are unique worldwide.

The downside is that tourism has become the city’s big industry. More than anywhere else in the country, we have to deal with numerous groups of tourists, touts, and sticky salesmen.

Getting up early, even very early, is the best way to enjoy the sites. Luxor deserves three to five days to get the most out of it.

Making choices!

The main pitfall of a trip to Egypt is trying to visit too many sites in one trip, as with package tours. Not only can this be exhausting, it can also be frustrating, as you won’t have time to really enjoy the sights. It’s important to make choices!

For example, I recommend concentrating on Cairo and Luxor alone if you have only eight days. Another option is to plan an itinerary around Luxor and Aswan.

When traveling, I believe it’s essential to set aside time to do nothing. These breaks allow you to rest, or to wander around and discover your holiday destination in a different, often more authentic way.

Return to Egypt for new discoveries!

After your first trip to Egypt, you’ll likely want to return. I highly recommend it!

The first benefit is that you’ll already be familiar with the country and its way of life, enabling you to travel more relaxed.

The second benefit is returning to places you’ve already visited and enjoyed. For example, I enjoyed seeing the Egyptian Museum in Cairo repeatedly.

The third benefit is being more adventurous and visiting less-visited places without feeling frustrated that you haven’t seen the “ten things not to miss in Egypt”!

Finally, Egypt offers more than just the Pyramids of Giza and Luxor. On our last trip in 2024, we chose to :

• Spend more time in Cairo to better understand the city
• Visiting friends in the Siwa oasis, a truly exceptional isolated spot
• Discover the Mediterranean coast and Alexandria, little visited by Western tourists
• Relaxing in the Sinai in Dahab, a slightly hippy town far from the all-inclusive resorts that abound along the Red Sea.

I tell the story of our trip in three articles that I hope will inspire you:

• How to take the time to explore Cairo in five days?
• En route to the little-known Siwa oasis in the Libyan desert
• Egypt by the Sea: Marsa Matruh, Alexandria, and Sinai

If you’re looking for other sources of inspiration, I recommend reading two blogs. They’re in French, but you can use Google Translate to understand the general meaning:

Mi-fugue et mi-raison are a young couple of bloggers who take the time to visit or live in countries, staying for several weeks or even months.

mifuguemiraison.com

Laurent loves Egypt, and his stays are out of the ordinary.

onechai.fr

Now, it’s up to you to design your second trip to Egypt!

Interesting reading for a better understanding of Egypt

Egypt is an excellent inspiration for literature. Before, during, and after my trip, I read several books that complemented my observations, and I recommend them to you. But my reading list is far from complete. Explore other books, and don’t hesitate to share your discoveries in the comments!

Reading is also a way of extending the journey experience with viewpoints other than one’s own.

Birds of Passage by Robert Solé

This novel tells the story of a Christian Syrian family that settles in Cairo and makes a fortune manufacturing the tarboosh, a traditional headwear symbolizing respectability and social status. The family saga spans the entire 20th century, allowing readers to follow the decline of colonial influence and the rise of Egyptian nationalism, culminating in Nasser’s regime, which marked a definitive turning point.

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa el Aswany

I enjoyed this book, which takes place around a building built in colonial times in the center of Cairo. Through various characters, it paints a gallery of portraits of Egyptians representative of their time at the end of the 20th century. Among them are Zaki Bey, a fallen aristocrat, nostalgic for the Egypt of yesteryear; Taha el Shazli, the concierge’s son, who, after being prevented from becoming a policeman, becomes radicalized; and Hatem Rashid, an influential homosexual journalist, living a hidden relationship with a young soldier. This novel is a beautiful fresco of Egyptian society and its contradictions.

Beyond the pyramids by Douglas Kennedy

Douglas Kennedy, then a promising young writer, traveled to Egypt in the early 80s. In this book, he recounts his journey, where he visited Siwa, Alexandria, and Cairo, as we did. I found reading this account fascinating and compared it with what we visited 45 years later.