The gift of Pharaohs
Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada are the prominent places to visit in Egypt
Getting in
We had combined Jordan trip with Egypt, so came in from Amman through Egypt air. It was a 1.5 hour flight with a small sandwich as a meal. It was on time and comfortable
We flew to Luxor after landing in Cairo. Immigration process was at Cairo, ran smooth. We were not asked for any guarantee letter from travel agent. We had heard this might be asked in other airports like Sphinx international airport
We took domestic flights between Cairo- Luxor and Aswan- Cairo. Aswan- Cairo leg was a flight dominated by transfer passengers. There were only 3 passenger groups getting out at Cairo. Egypt air did not load my bag at Aswan and it was delivered the next day at the hotel. They are not responsive in helping with any claims. Thankfully I used my mom’s clothes to get by the day. Ensure you have clothes for a couple of day in your handbag
Visa
We opted for e-visa issued online here. Fee was 25 USD for single entry visa plus charges from card company if any. During form filling process, there was a pop up that said a guarantee letter is required from an authorized travel agent if you chose “Single”/”Family” option (You need a letter from the host if you choose “Group” option). Most travel agents don’t issue this letter without booking tours with them. We wanted to be on the safer side and ended up booking some day tours with Emo tours, who helped us arrange for the letter. The letter was never checked at any of the immigration points
Currency: Egyptian Pound (LE)
We used our zero fee credit card to withdraw from ATMs. Luxor airport ATM charges a 200 LE fee. Cards are accepted at all entrance fee collection points (cash is not accepted). Uber, Careem have card payment option, while Indrive only offers cash payment option. My 5k LE initial withdrawal was sufficient to cover petty expenses. Some ATMs offer currency exchange for USD, EUR, but somehow never worked for me. Machines accept only crisp notes without folds or marks, and I assumed this might be the reason for rejecting my USD notes. The notes looked new to me and had no problem frankly. I will suggest trying out different ATMs if this happens to you too
Places to visit in Egypt
- Cairo
- Pyramids of Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur
- Bahariya Oasis
- Alexandria
- Luxor
- Around Luxor: Temples of Nile towards Aswan and Balloons
- Aswan and Abu Simbel
Travel within cities
We used a combination of Careem, inDrive and Uber. Uber operates only in large cities like Cairo. In drive offers option to negotiate which I think is highly liked by drivers. We liked inDrive since availability was always there, and it allowed translation of chat with drivers. Careem has this bargaining option in a few cities only and not translation option making it difficult to communicate with drivers
Travel between cities
We took day tours from Emo tours across places. We were happy with the service and responsiveness. Not all drivers spoke English, but we could manage without problems. They are reasonably priced if you don’t want customization. We tried adding a place on the way or airport drops which resulted in 2-3x pricing that we were not ok with, so we stuck to what was mentioned on the website
- Cairo Islamic and Coptic day tour: This does not include Egyptian museum, so we went on our own after the tour ended at 2:30 PM
- Hot air balloon ride in Luxor west bank
Ask for a discount if you are doing multiple or long trips with them
Food
Koshari, the national dish of Egypt is vegetarian. It is made of rice, pasta, tomato sauce, fried onions. You can find many other vegetarian dishes like soups, salads, foul. Just ask what the ingredients are before eating!
Entry tickets
Can be bought online to skip the queues. This has the information about latest entry fees as well. Use “Other Nationality” option while booking to avoid issues
Frequently asked questions
Which is better: Nile cruise vs visit on road
It is a personal choice, as both options have trade offs. We ended up going by road since travel time between Luxor and Aswan is actually only 3-4 hours if going directly. 4 day cruise dock at the city each day, so didn’t find a point. We had been on Lakshadweep cruise earlier, so the cruise experience was not what we were looking for
Benefits of Nile cruise
1. Transport, food, accommodation, itinerary is all planned for you. The itinerary for 4 day cruise is pretty standard across companies
2. Provides a good experience if you have not been on a cruise before
3. Need not checkout of your hotel everyday
Benefits of road trip
1. Flexibility on places to cover. We wanted to visit temples at Esna, Dendera, Abydos which was either not covered or covered in a 7 day cruise which was too long
2. Gives you a chance to explore Aswan, Luxor better since you stay on land, and have more time when not waiting for your group
3. Cruises end up docking at a place all at the same time. We had an option to change our start time to avoid some crowd, although not fully
4. Costs are much lower on land with hotels starting at $50 per person per night, while decent cruise ended up at $150 per person per night excluding tips. This difference was large for us, might not be much for people from western countries
If you end up choosing a cruise, I highly recommend staying at day extra at Luxor to cover Dendera temple, Madinet Habu in Luxor. Ensure Abu Simbel is included in the itinerary
How do I be conscious about/manage tipping?
Typical requests to be careful about if you want to minimize Baksheesh
At some point, accept the custom wholeheartedly to not feel bad about it. Meanwhile, you can try the following
- Carry your own toilet roll. You will be handed 2 sheets of tissues outside toilets in expectation for a tip
- Don’t oblige to temple or tomb guards explaining something or opening a closed gate unless you have really researched about the place and want it to be opened. They simply close off any space and ask for money to open it. They need not necessarily be the most beautiful room in the temple, it can just be an empty room
- Taking your photos while you are trying to take a selfie
- Helping load your bags into vehicle on road or airport or hotel. You might find random strangers who are not hotel employees lend you a hand to ask for tip
- Housekeeping staff asking for evening service
How much does it cost
We spent around $1900 per person
- Flights: $1000; We combined our Egypt tour with Jordan; Includes domestic flights in India to get to Delhi and Cairo- Luxor, Aswan- Cairo flights
- Hotel: $350 ($30-50 per night)
- Food: $50 (We carry our own food/ shop at supermarkets)
- Tours/ transport: $350
- Entry fee: $100
- Visa: $25
- Insurance: $20