Everyone flies in for the pyramids. Half of Egypt is underwater.
Which Giza half-day actually gets you inside a pyramid. What the Orange Bay boat costs once lunch is counted. Whether Luxor is a day trip from the coast or somewhere you sleep. Reviews of every tour you can book in Egypt.
The plateau, the Valley of the Kings, a cabin on the river, a boat off Hurghada.
An Egyptian fortnight hangs off four days. What each one costs, and what the travellers who took it say.
01The Giza morningPyramids & Great Sphinx Private Tour with Camel RideThe plateau before the coach park fills, a camel on the sand road, and the Sphinx seen from the causeway rather than the ticket gate.
02The Luxor dayLuxor Valley of the Kings & Tutankhamun Tomb TripTutankhamun’s tomb and the west bank, run as a long day from the Red Sea. The only drive worth giving up a beach morning for.
03The nights afloat4-Days Nile Cruise From Aswan To Luxor including Abu Simbel and Hot Air BalloonAswan to Luxor with a cabin and Abu Simbel folded in. The temples arrive at walking pace and you never repack.
04The Red Sea dayLuxury Cruise Trip to Orange Bay with LunchOut to Orange Bay with lunch served on board. The half of an Egyptian holiday nobody plans for until they are here.
Egypt splits in two: the river, and the Red Sea.
Cairo and Giza for the plateau, Luxor and Aswan for the temples, Hurghada and Sharm for the reefs. Most trips take some of each, and the flight between them is under an hour.
Along the Nile
On the Red Sea
Four thousand years of it, and you have a morning.
Giza is the one everybody books. Saqqara is where the idea of a pyramid was worked out, Dahshur is where they got it right, and the museums hold what came out of the tombs. Here is what each costs and what it takes out of your day.
The days more travellers book than anything else in Egypt.
Every Egyptian tour we have reviewed →Ranked by how many people actually take them, with what each one costs and what it gets you.
1
Luxor Valley of the Kings & Tutankhamun Tomb Trip
Review of the Hurghada to Luxor tour with Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, lunch, transport, and optional Tutankhamun tomb.
From · $76
Read our review →
2
Pyramids & Great Sphinx Private Tour with Camel Ride
from $48
3
Tour to Giza Pyramids and The Egyptian Museum
from $155
4
Cairo and Giza Highlights Full-Day Tour
from $76
5
Luxury Cruise Trip to Orange Bay with Lunch
from $53
6
Luxor Day Trip from Hurghada Small Group & Tutankhamun Tomb
from $95
7
3 Islands, Dolphins & Snorkel Yacht Trip w/ Lunch
from $47
8
Discover the Magic of Dolphin House
from $27
Egypt is a desert with two coastlines and a river through it.
Reefs you can reach by snorkel from a moored boat, dolphins at Sha’ab El Erg most mornings, and a river you can sleep on between Aswan and Luxor. More of this country is seen from a deck than from a coach.
What a day out in Egypt actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Egypt is cheap in a way that surprises people: most of the good days come in under the price of an airport transfer at home.
Half-days on the plateau, museum entries, quad tracks, and most of the Hurghada boats.
The long ones: Luxor from the coast, Abu Simbel, private guides and the balloon at dawn.
Multi-day Nile cruises, Cairo by plane, and the private days that carry a driver all week.
In Egypt the sun decides the timetable, not you.
From May the middle of the day is unusable in Luxor and Aswan, and the open sites carry no shade at all. So the country runs at both ends: balloons lift before first light, the plateau is best at opening, and the temples are floodlit again after dark. Book early or book late, and keep the afternoon for the hotel.
Four Egyptian bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this country can be arranged from a hotel desk the night before. These four run on baskets, convoy times, sailing dates and a daily headcount that has nothing to do with when your flight lands.
- 01Hot Air Balloon Ride in Luxor Egypt with Transfers IncludedBaskets are limited, they fly at first light only, and the whole fleet stands down when the wind is wrong. A spare morning is the real booking.
- 02Abu Simbel Temple Day Trip with Hotel PickupIt is three hours south of Aswan and the road runs on set departure times. Miss the morning and the next chance is tomorrow.
- 034-Days Nile Cruise From Aswan To Luxor including Abu Simbel and Hot Air BalloonBoats leave Aswan and Luxor on fixed days of the week, and cabins go by sailing date. The itinerary is chosen for you by whichever boat has room.
- 04Private ViP all-inclusive Giza Pyramids,Sphinx,Inside PyramidEntry to the chamber inside is capped for the day and sold in two batches, morning and afternoon. It sells out on the plateau, not online.
Three Egyptian nights that do not happen anywhere else.
Deserts and dive boats exist all round this sea. A pyramid lit from below, a bedroom that moves upstream while you sleep, and a chalk desert that looks like snow do not.
The Sound and Light Show
When the site closes the floodlights come up and the Sphinx narrates its own history across the plateau, in a script barely touched since the sixties. It is unapologetically old-fashioned and it is also the only time you will see the pyramids without a crowd in front of them. Karnak and Philae run their own versions, and Philae’s is the better one.
- 1Sound and Light Show at Giza Pyramids★★★★★★★★★★ 3.5 · 154 reviews
- 2Philae Temple Sound & Light Show with Entrance Fees★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 151 reviews
- 3Giza Pyramids Sound & Light Show At Night★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 74 reviews
The Nile Cruise
Boats work the stretch between Aswan and Luxor, tying up at Kom Ombo and Edfu on the way, so the temples arrive at the pace the river sets. You unpack once. Sailings run on set days in each direction, and going upstream from Luxor buys you an extra night for the same money.
- 14-Days Nile Cruise From Aswan To Luxor including Abu Simbel and Hot Air Balloon★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,142 reviews
- 24-Day 3-Night Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor including Abu Simbel, Air Balloon★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 612 reviews
- 34-Day Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor with Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 593 reviews
The White Desert
Chalk stacks stand out of the sand in shapes the wind has been carving since the sea left, and they turn the colour of bone under a full moon. Trips run out of Bahariya with a night camped among them, which is the point. There is no light out there and no phone signal either.
- 12-Day Bahariya Oasis Camp and Desert Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 616 reviews
- 2Private tour El Fayoum Oasis and Wadi Rayan waterfall from Cairo★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 449 reviews
- 3Siwa Oasis All inclusive 3 days Tour from Cairo or Giza★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 310 reviews
Hurghada books more days out than Cairo does.
It is the quiet fact of Egyptian travel: the resort coast sells more excursions than the capital. Reef islands an hour offshore, quad tracks into the eastern desert, and the long inland run to Luxor when the beach starts to repeat itself.
- 1Cairo and Giza Highlights Full-Day Tourfrom $76
- 2Luxury Cruise Trip to Orange Bay with Lunchfrom $53
- 33 Islands, Dolphins & Snorkel Yacht Trip w/ Lunchfrom $47
By place — river and coast
By kind of day — tomb, reef, dune or deck
Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, then the Red Sea: the order almost everyone takes.
The newest Egyptian tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Cairo City Tour Egyptian Museum , Coptic Cairo and Bazaar
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All inclusive Private 4-Day Tour around Giza.Cairo, Alexandria Luxor by flights
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Luxor Day Tour :Valley of Kings & queen & Hatshepsut & Habu city
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Pharaonic Village Half-Day Tour with Hotel Pickup
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Best of Luxor in 2 Days Hotel,Tours,Felucca,Camel&Balloon by Plane from Cairo
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Hurghada Desert Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Dinner by Jeep
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Giza pyramids Sphinx Sakkara and Memphis Private Day Tour
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(3-Nights Cruise From Aswan To Luxor & Balloon, Abu Simbel)
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Exclusive Orange Bay Island Luxury Yacht Experience – Hurghada
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Cairo Over day Pyramids & Egyptian Museum and Lunch – Hurghada
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Petra Sightseeing 1 Day Tour From Sharm El Sheikh
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