Most Western travelers need an Egypt e-visa or visa on arrival (about $25-30), both valid for 30 days. October-April is the most comfortable weather window, and a travel eSIM is worth setting up before you land for maps and ride-hailing.
Egypt delivers on the history in a way that's hard to overstate — standing at Giza or inside a Luxor tomb tends to land differently than the photos suggest.
October through April is the clear window: comfortable daytime temperatures for sightseeing, especially in Luxor and Aswan, where June-August routinely exceeds 100°F/38°C and makes extended outdoor time genuinely difficult.
A multi-day Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan is the classic way to see the temple sites without constant repacking. Domestic flights connect Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and the Red Sea resorts quickly; overnight trains are a slower, cheaper alternative between Cairo and Luxor.
Egypt remains one of the more affordable major destinations for the sights on offer. Budget travelers can manage on roughly $30-50/day; booking a multi-day Nile cruise directly rather than through a hotel concierge often saves real money.
Cairo works as a short arrival/departure base near the pyramids; Luxor and Aswan suit longer stays if temple-hopping is the priority, and the Red Sea resorts (Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh) work well for a beach-and-diving-focused trip.
Yes, most Western travelers need either an e-visa (about $25-30) or a visa on arrival (about $30), both valid for 30 days. Apply for the e-visa online in advance to skip the airport queue.
Travelers flying directly to Sharm El Sheikh or other Sinai resorts can get a free 15-day stamp, but it does not permit travel to Cairo, Luxor, or mainland Egypt — a full visa is required for that.
October through April is the most comfortable window, avoiding the intense heat of June through August, when Cairo and especially Luxor and Aswan regularly exceed 100°F/38°C.
Egypt remains one of the more affordable major destinations. Budget travelers can manage on roughly $30-50/day; a multi-day Nile cruise or guided tour pushes costs meaningfully higher but remains good value versus comparable trips elsewhere.
It's worth having one, especially for ride-hailing apps and maps in Cairo's dense traffic. Coverage is reliable in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and the Red Sea resort towns.