Egypt first trip: Cairo and the Nile, Alexandria or the Red Sea?

Which route suits a first trip to Egypt: Cairo with the Nile, Alexandria or Sharm el-Sheikh? Nights, journey times and season for each, from our own itineraries.

The routes at a glance

Facts in the last column come from our package itineraries as read on 24 October 2026.

Cairo comes first

Every route starts here. Our itineraries put the Giza plateau early in the day, before the heat and the coaches arrive, with the panorama point behind the three pyramids and the Sphinx below. Add a museum visit, which our itineraries leave to be confirmed with your quote, and the old market of Khan el-Khalili. The city is large and the traffic is slow, so none of our routes asks anything of the first evening beyond arriving.

The Nile: temples and a river pace

Choose the Nile if temples are the reason you are going. Our seven-night route flies south to Luxor for Karnak and the Valley of the Kings, then follows the river by boat through Edfu and Kom Ombo to Aswan. Our itineraries note that sixty-three tombs are known in the Valley of the Kings and that three are open on the standard ticket. How to choose the boat, the direction and the length is a separate decision; our guide to choosing a Nile cruise covers it.

Abu Simbel: is the early start worth it?

Abu Simbel is near the Sudanese border, and it is the one sight in these routes that asks for a very early start. On our six-night route the drive from Aswan takes about three and a half hours each way, starting around four in the morning. The reward, according to our itineraries, is four colossi of Ramesses II at the entrance of a temple cut into the cliff, which was moved up the hill in the 1960s to save it from the rising lake. On the nine-night route it is its own day. If early starts rule out a day for you, choose the seven-night route without it.

Alexandria: a long day, not a base

Alexandria is on the Mediterranean, about 250 km from Cairo. Our four-night route visits it as a day trip: the catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, the Roman theatre and Pompey’s Pillar, then back. It is a change of scene from the desert sites, but it is a long day on the road, so we do not suggest it as a place to stay on a first trip.

Sharm el-Sheikh: a different holiday

Sharm el-Sheikh is a resort town on the Red Sea, and the days there are about water, not temples: a glass-bottomed boat over the reef, a quad-bike safari in the desert and a boat day to Ras Mohamed national park at the tip of Sinai. It suits travellers who want a beach after the pyramids. The cost is the road: about seven hours between Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh, which is why the 4-night route drives it once and ends in Cairo.

When to go

Egypt’s cities run to very different temperatures. Luxor is the hottest of the four from April to October, which is why our itineraries start sightseeing at first light. Winter nights in Luxor can be cold: the January average low there is 5.9 °C, so bring a layer for early starts. Alexandria is the wettest of the four in winter, with about 11 rain days in January on the same record, against fewer than one in Luxor.

Sample routes

• 4 nights, first look: Cairo with an Alexandria day trip.
• 5 nights, pyramids and a beach: Cairo, then Sharm el-Sheikh and back.
• 7 nights, temples: Cairo, then the Nile from Luxor to Aswan.
• 9 nights, the full classic: Cairo, Saqqara, the Nile and Abu Simbel.
• If you want the Nile and the Red Sea in one trip, we have not built a short route of that shape, so ask us.

Mistakes to avoid

• Treating Alexandria as a base on a four-night trip.
• Adding Abu Simbel without planning for a start around four in the morning.
• Planning a Sharm el-Sheikh beach stay in a trip that is mainly about temples, or the other way round.
• Assuming the Cairo museum visit is fixed. Ask which museum is included and how long the visit is.
• Booking flights into Cairo and out of Aswan or Luxor without checking the domestic leg.

Before you book

Visa rules and fees change; our guide to choosing a Nile cruise explains the entry process for Indian passport holders, and the official Egyptian visa portal has the current fees. As of 24 October 2026, Egypt does not appear on the Ministry of External Affairs’ travel-advisories list, and the Embassy of India in Cairo’s public advisories page shows no current travel-safety advisory (its latest entry is on medical admissions, February 2026). Check both on the day you travel.

Frequently asked questions