Is vegetarian food easy to find in Egypt?

Easier than people expect, because several Egyptian staples are vegetarian by default. Koshari, the national dish, is rice, lentils and pasta under fried onion and tomato sauce. Ful medames is stewed fava beans, usually breakfast. Taameya is the Egyptian falafel, made with fava rather than chickpea. Add baba ganoush, tahini, salads and fresh bread and you eat well. The limitation is variety rather than availability, and cruise boat buffets are more meat-centred than the streets. Flag Jain requirements at booking, since onion and garlic are everywhere.

How does tipping work in Egypt?

Tipping, or baksheesh, runs through daily life and it is the single thing travellers find most tiring if they are unprepared. Small amounts are expected by drivers, guides, hotel staff, boat crew and washroom attendants, and often by people who have performed a service you did not request, such as pointing out something obvious or taking your photograph. The answer is not to refuse everything but to arrive with a large supply of small Egyptian notes and to decide in advance what you will tip for. Agree prices before a camel ride, a taxi or a photograph, every time.

Is Abu Simbel worth the trip from Aswan?

Yes, and most people who go call it the best thing in Egypt. The two temples were carved into a cliff for Ramses II, and in the 1960s the entire complex was cut into blocks and moved uphill to escape the rising waters of Lake Nasser, which is its own extraordinary story. It is around three hours by road from Aswan, usually leaving before dawn in a convoy, or a short flight. Either way it is a long day for roughly two hours on site, and it is still worth doing. Twice a year the sunrise aligns down the inner corridor to light the statues at the back.

Should I add the Red Sea to an Egypt trip?

Only if you have the days to spare, and it changes the character of the holiday from touring to resting. Hurghada is the easiest, an hour's flight from Cairo with plenty of resorts and dive schools. Marsa Alam further south has better reefs and fewer crowds. Sharm El Sheikh in Sinai reaches Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran, which rank among the world's better dive sites, and Dahab nearby is the cheaper, quieter version. Three nights is the minimum for the transfer to make sense. On a ten day trip, adding the coast usually means cutting the Nile short, which is the wrong trade on a first visit.

Is Egypt good for families with children?

It can be excellent, with planning. Pyramids, mummies and temples hold children's attention in a way few destinations manage, and a Nile cruise suits families well because unpacking happens once and there is space to move around. The constraints are heat, which rules out the summer months entirely with young children, long transfer days, and the intensity of selling at the major sites, which small children find overwhelming. A private guide rather than a group tour makes a large difference, both for pacing and for keeping the touts at a distance.

Egypt Travel Guide & Tourism (2026)

Egypt Travel Packages

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9 Nights / 10 Days

10-Day Egypt Explorer: Pyramids, Nile Cruise, Luxor & Red Sea

Cairo(3N) → Hurghada(2N) → Nile Valley(3N) → Cairo(1N)

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₹118,000/person

7 Nights / 8 Days

Egypt Tour Package - 8 Days 7 Nights

Cairo(2N) → Hurghada(2N) → Aswan(3N)

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₹103,000/person

7 Nights / 8 Days

Best Of Egypt Tour - 7 Nights 8 Days

Cairo(2N) → Hurghada(2N) → Aswan(3N)

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₹104,000/person

7 Nights / 8 Days

Jewels of Egypt Tour Package with Flights Included

Cairo(2N) → Nile Valley(3N) → Hurghada(2N)

₹139,999/person

7 Nights / 8 Days

7 Nights Egypt: Cairo Nile Cruise Hurghada Tour

Cairo(2N) → Nile River Cruise(3N) → Hurghada(2N)

₹85,000/person

7 Nights / 8 Days

Wonders of Egypt Tour Package

Cairo(3N) → Nile Valley(3N) → Luxor(1N)

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Egypt Travel Essentials

Region: Mediterranean Region , Middle East

Ideal Duration: 7 to 10 days, or 2 weeks for a slower trip

Currency: Egyptian Pound (EGP)

Best Time: October to April (Winter/Spring)

Accommodation Cost (per night in USD): Dorm bed: $5-15
Budget: $20-40
Mid-range: $50-100
Luxury: $120 and above

Budget for Food & Drinks (per day in USD): Budget: $10-20
Mid-range: $30-50

Visa Policy for Indians: E-visa or Visa on Arrival

Visa Policy for Other Nationals: E-visa or Visa on Arrival for many nationalities

Getting In Egypt: Cairo International Airport (CAI), Hurghada International Airport (HRG), Sharm El Sheikh International Airport (SSH) Read More

Getting Around Egypt: Trains, domestic flights, taxis, Uber, and Nile River cruises Read More

Tourist Places to Visit In Egypt

Cairo

Luxor

Sharm El Sheikh

Hurghada

Aswan

Alexandria

All Tourist Places In Egypt

Must Know Before You Travel to Egypt

e-Visa before you fly: Indians apply online for a 30 day tourist e-Visa ahead of travel. Use the official Egyptian government portal rather than the many lookalike agents, and allow at least a week.
The heat decides the season: Luxor and Aswan regularly pass 45 degrees from May to September, and the temples offer no shade. October to April is the window, and it is not a preference.
Carry small notes: tipping, or baksheesh, runs through everything, including services you did not ask for. A supply of small Egyptian notes is the difference between this being charming and exhausting.
Ramadan and the weekend: the Egyptian weekend is Friday and Saturday, and during Ramadan hours shift and many places close in daylight. Check dates before you fix an itinerary.

Egypt Tourism

Egypt offers the oldest sights you can travel to, by about four thousand years. The pyramids at Giza sit on the edge of a city of twenty million, the Nile still carries boats between temples that were ancient when Rome was founded, and the Red Sea has reefs good enough to justify a holiday on their own. Most itineraries run Cairo, then a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, with the coast added if there are days to spare. Go between October and April, because the heat for the rest of the year is punishing.

Egypt exists because of one river. Almost the entire population lives on a thin green ribbon along the Nile, with desert on either side, and every ancient site you have heard of sits within sight of the water. That is why an Egyptian holiday has such a simple shape: Cairo at the delta end, Luxor and Aswan upstream, and the river itself as the link between them. Ten days covers all of it without rushing, and seven still makes a complete trip.

Cairo is a city of more than twenty million, and the pyramids at Giza sit on its western edge rather than out in the desert. The Great Pyramid was built around four and a half thousand years ago, and the Grand Egyptian Museum alongside now holds the complete Tutankhamun collection. Upstream is the temple country: Karnak at Luxor is the largest religious complex ever built, the Valley of the Kings holds the royal tombs, and Abu Simbel further south was carved into a cliff for Ramses II, then cut into blocks and moved uphill in the 1960s to escape a rising lake. A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan links most of it and doubles as your hotel, and the Red Sea coast adds world-class diving if you have the days. Timing is not a preference here. Luxor and Aswan regularly pass 45 degrees between May and September and the temples have no shade, so October to April is the season.

Best time to visit Egypt

October to April is the best time to visit Egypt. Everything else is a heat question, because rain is not a factor anywhere: Cairo gets a handful of showers in a whole year, and Luxor sometimes gets none at all. Egypt is two different climates. Cairo and the Delta are mild in winter, about 19°C by d... (Read More)

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Read More on Egypt Travel

What ten days in Egypt looks like

Ten days is the comfortable length and the shape barely varies. Three nights in Cairo for Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Saqqara and the bazaar. Then fly to Luxor and join a Nile cruise for three or four nights, which carries you past Edfu and Kom Ombo to Aswan and takes the logistics off your hands entirely. Two nights in Aswan for Philae and the day trip to Abu Simbel. That leaves two or three nights for the Red Sea if you want them. Seven days means Cairo and a short cruise only, which is still a complete trip. What does not work is trying to drive between the sites: the distances are long and the cruise exists for a reason.

The Nile cruise, and why it is the spine of the trip

The cruise is the part that surprises people, because it is not a sightseeing extra, it is the spine of the trip. Three or four nights between Luxor and Aswan gives you Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu and Kom Ombo, and it is simultaneously your transport, your hotel and your restaurant, which removes almost all the friction from the middle of an Egypt holiday. Boats run in both directions; Luxor to Aswan is the more common. The difference between a good boat and a cheap one is significant, and it shows in the cabins and the food rather than the itinerary, which is essentially fixed. Dahabiyas, the smaller sailing boats, carry a dozen guests instead of a hundred and are worth the premium if you can find one.

Giza: what to expect, and the bit nobody warns you about

Two things about Giza are rarely said plainly. The first is that it is not in the desert, it is on the edge of Cairo, and the city comes right up to the fence, which is startling the first time you see it and does nothing to diminish the pyramids themselves. The second is the pressure: camel handlers, guides, photographers and sellers work the site persistently, and travellers who did not expect it leave rattled. Go early, hire a licensed guide in advance so you have someone alongside you, agree every price before anything happens, and say no clearly rather than politely. The Grand Egyptian Museum next door now holds the Tutankhamun collection and deserves half a day of its own.

Luxor and Aswan: the temples worth the heat

Luxor is the densest concentration of ancient building anywhere on earth, and it is split by the river. The east bank has Karnak, which is vast enough to need two hours on its own, and Luxor Temple, best seen lit after dark. The west bank has the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's terraced temple and the Colossi of Memnon. Tickets to the Valley cover three tombs, with Tutankhamun's and Seti's charged separately, and going at opening time is the difference between an experience and a queue. Aswan upstream is gentler: Philae temple on its island, felucca boats at sunset, and the Nubian villages. Abu Simbel is three hours south by road or a short flight, and it is the single most impressive thing in the country.

Adding the Red Sea, and whether it is worth it

The Red Sea is a completely different holiday bolted onto the end of a history trip, and whether to add it comes down to days. Hurghada is the easiest to reach and the most developed, with resorts and dive schools and an hour's flight from Cairo. Marsa Alam further south has better reefs and fewer people. Sharm El Sheikh in Sinai has Ras Mohammed national park and the Straits of Tiran, which are among the better dive sites in the world, and Dahab nearby is the quiet, cheap, backpacker version. Three nights is the minimum to make the transfer worth it. If you have ten days total, adding the coast means cutting the Nile short, and that is usually the wrong trade on a first visit.

Egypt for Indian travellers: food, heat and the pace

Egypt is an easier trip for Indian travellers than most first-timers expect. The food overlaps more than it differs: koshari is rice, lentils and pasta with fried onion and tomato sauce, ful medames is a breakfast of stewed beans, and taameya, the Egyptian falafel, is made from fava beans. All three are vegetarian and everywhere. The heat will feel familiar to anyone from a North Indian summer, though Luxor in July still exceeds it. What catches people out is the pace: sites open early and shut in the afternoon heat, Cairo traffic destroys schedules, and the tipping economy is constant. Plan fewer things per day than you think you can manage.

Practical things worth knowing before you go

Practical things worth knowing before you go. Start early: sites open around six or seven and the difference between arriving then and arriving at ten is the difference between a temple and a crowd, and between warm and unbearable. Carry cash in small notes, because card acceptance is patchy outside hotels. Cover shoulders and knees at mosques and Coptic churches, and women should carry a scarf. At Luxor, tickets to the Valley of the Kings cover three tombs, with Tutankhamun's and Seti's sold separately, so decide before you reach the counter. And agree a price before you get on a camel, into a taxi, or let anyone take your photograph.

FAQs on Egypt

Do Indians need a visa for Egypt?

Yes. Indian passport holders apply online for a tourist e-Visa, normally granted for a 30 day stay, before travelling. Apply through the official Egyptian government e-Visa portal rather than one of the many agent sites that charge a markup for the same form. Allow at least a week. Travellers holding a valid residence permit from a GCC country may have a visa-on-arrival option, but the online route is the reliable one for everyone else. Confirm current requirements before booking.

When is the best time to visit Egypt?

October to April, and this is less a preference than a constraint. Luxor and Aswan regularly exceed 45 degrees between May and September, and the temples have no shade, so a summer trip means seeing everything before nine in the morning. December and January are the coolest and busiest, with Christmas and New Year carrying a real premium. October, November, March and April are the sweet spot, warm without being punishing and noticeably cheaper. The Red Sea coast stays comfortable for longer at both ends.

How many days do I need in Egypt?

Ten days covers Cairo, a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, and Abu Simbel without rushing any of it. Seven works for Cairo plus a shorter cruise, which is still a complete trip. Add three nights if you want the Red Sea, and do not try to fit the coast into ten days by shortening the Nile leg, because the cruise is the part people remember. Cairo alone deserves three nights, since Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Saqqara cannot be done in one day.

How do I get to Egypt from India?

Cairo (CAI) is reached from India either on the occasional direct service from Delhi or Mumbai, which airlines have operated on and off, or far more commonly on a connection through Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat or Istanbul, putting the total journey at around nine to twelve hours. Check current direct schedules at the time of booking rather than assuming. Domestic flights from Cairo to Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada take about an hour and are how most itineraries move between regions.

What does an Egypt trip cost from India?

A ten day trip is commonly quoted between 1.1 and 2.2 lakh rupees per person including flights, which makes Egypt one of the better value long-haul destinations from India. Costs on the ground are low; what moves the total is the standard of the Nile boat, since the gap between a basic cruiser and a good one is wide, and whether you add a Red Sea leg with its extra internal flight. Budget separately for tipping, which is constant, and for entry tickets at Luxor, where several tombs are charged individually.

Is a Nile cruise worth it?

It is the best part of most Egypt trips, and it is not really optional. Between Luxor and Aswan the cruise is your transport, hotel and restaurant at once, and it stops at Edfu and Kom Ombo, which are awkward to reach any other way. Three or four nights is standard and the itineraries are essentially identical across operators, so what you are choosing is the boat rather than the route. The difference between a budget cruiser and a good one shows in cabins and food. Dahabiyas, small sailing boats carrying a dozen guests, are a considerable step up if the dates work.

Is Egypt safe for Indian travellers?

For the standard tourist route, yes. Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and the Red Sea resorts see very large numbers of visitors and the tourism corridor is heavily policed. The problems travellers actually report are not violent crime but persistent touts, aggressive selling around Giza, and overcharging, all of which are handled by agreeing prices in advance and saying no firmly. Women travellers generally report more street harassment than in Southeast Asia and dress modestly outside resorts. Some border regions, particularly parts of Sinai away from the resorts, carry travel advisories, so check yours before booking.

Egypt Travel Guide