Egypt is the first international country I traveled to outside of Europe. This trip truly was so special to me. I have dreamed of visiting the pyramids my entire life and to finally accomplish this goal was such a blessing. Europe started becoming too easy to me, almost like a second home. My trip to Egypt really pushed me out of my comfort zone. The culture is so different from any other culture I have come across and it was special to learn all about it. I quickly realized how little these people have but how happy they were and that really opened my eyes to enjoy all the little things in life and to live in the moment. I hope this guide helps you to understand what to expect when traveling to this destination! Enjoy!
Day 1: Cairo
Before getting started, I want to point out that Cairo is crazy. Don’t think for a second that you will be able to rent a car – do yourself a favor and hire drivers. Every single car has dents and scratches because traffic lights and driving lines on the road don’t matter in Cairo – it’s a free for all. You will see anything from cars to tuk-tuks to 5 people riding on one single bike. Walking across the street? More like bolting across and praying no one will hit you. It’s wild! And just a fun fact for everyone – my foot got run over by a car my second day in Cairo. Thankfully, there was no damage done because imagine having to spend an entire trip with a broken foot? I had booked almost everything in advance but I also booked a lot of tours last minute while I was there. Any hotel or Airbnb that you stay in will provide you with car services to/from the airport and guided tours. These “tours” are usually just a driver and someone who can speak your language that can give you the rundown of the sights you’re seeing and will stay with you the entire time. Since it is just you and the tour guide, you are able to change anything you want in the tour you booked including pick up/drop off times, sights, etc. One other important thing to know is to bring Egyptian Pound with you. These tours I booked through the hotel/airbnbs don’t include entry fees and those almost always need to be paid for in cash. You will also need cash for tipping. Tipping is huge in Egypt. Anything anyone does for you, a tip will be expected. We typically tipped 1 USD and went on our way as that is a lot to them. I found before going to Egypt I really didn’t know what to expect because I couldn’t find much information on it so now that I have gone I hope I can give you all my knowledge and help you plan your trip. My one other tip is to be very respectful of their culture. Make sure, especially in Cairo, to dress appropriately and cover up as much as possible. Since I am blonde, I stood out and was stared at constantly no matter what I wore but it is nice to just be mindful of this. The local children especially made me feel like I was a celebrity. They constantly asked to take pictures with me and it was really funny, so be ready to take tons of pictures!
–Pyramids of Giza – Yes, I wanted to start off this trip with a bang and I went straight to the pyramids. Walking up to the pyramids I nearly tripped and fell on my face because I couldn’t believe I was here. The sight is truly surreal. I got to go inside one of the Pyramids and climb to the top to see a tomb. Inside, it is so hot and you have to climb wooden ladders and duck into some pretty narrow areas to get to the top. I think you can skip going inside but it was fun in my opinion and I met someone inside that did the entire climb with me.
–Riding a Camel to the Pyramids – This is what I was most excited to do. Getting on and off a camel is pretty scary though, they rock all the way back and then all the way forward to stand up and sit down so be prepared to hold on tight. I want to say we were on the camels for about 30 minutes so it felt pretty quick and I wish we could have done this longer but still, such a cool experience.
–The Sphinx – We went to see the Sphinx next and this was so cool! You get to see it up close and with all the pyramids in the background!
–Koshary Abou Tarek – We stopped here for lunch to try this Egyptian type pasta. It’s a mix of pasta, chickpeas, lentils, rice with a tomato sauce. It was sooo good and so filling. Make sure you try all the Egyptian cuisine!
–Shopping – To end the tour we got to go to some amazing local shops and got the absolute best items to bring home. I want to remind you not to forget to negotiate when buying anything. We paid significantly less than the original amounts anyone was asking for. As Egyptian workers know you are a tourist, they will upcharge you so don’t be afraid to talk them down – I promise they won’t say no. We started at a bazaar where I bought a real gold necklace known as a cartouche. The cartouche has the letters of my name carved in hieroglyphics. This was the most amount of money I spent on this entire trip but it was worth every penny. Next we went to a papyrus shop where we bought beautiful pictures that are painted on papyrus paper. They wanted us to pay $100 for one picture and we ended up paying $25 for one picture. We then went into an Egyptian cotton store and Megan bought scarves as gifts to bring back to her family. The only shop we didn’t buy from was the oils shop. I kind of wish I had now but it wasn’t really something I wanted to have to bring back with me.
Below is the link for the tour I did from above!
https://static.tacdn.com/AttractionProductReview-g294202-d11462734-Private_Half_Day_Trip_to_Giza_Pyramids_with_Camel_Riding-Giza_Giza_Governorate.html?m=19905
–Khan el Khalili – This is an outside shopping area but in my opinion I would skip this. There are so many people in your face trying to sell you something and they won’t take no as an answer and they will continue to try. I found one guy out of a million that didn’t try to sell me anything so I bought a few souvenirs from him. We came here alone and I feel like unless you are with a guide, don’t bother coming here.
–Abou El Sid – We ended our day here at this restaurant and wow. Today was my first time trying egyptian food and it was better than I had expected. We got grape leaves, falafel, tahini sauce, pita bread and meatballs that came with sauce to put over rice. Because of the culture, many people don’t drink but you are able to drink at this restaurant.
The Sphinx
Day 2: Cairo
I booked this tour last minute through the hotel I was staying at. We needed to be back early so we arranged our drop off time for early afternoon. As I stated earlier, don’t forget to have EGP with you for all entries!
–The Egyptian Museum – We started our second day here at the Egyptian Museum. I won’t lie, I am not a museum person at all but this was actually really good. You will learn a lot about Egyptian history here and see a lot of cool artifacts. The best part of this museum is getting to see real mummies.
–The Citadel & Muhammed Ali Mosque – The views from the Citadel are amazing. You can see the city of Cairo and I’m not kidding, it looks fake. The mosque was stunning. On the outside, it is so peaceful. Inside has become touristy so there were a lot of people inside but it was still so pretty. You aren’t allowed to wear shoes inside the mosques so be prepared to walk barefoot. My guide and I sat inside the mosque in silence for a few minutes and then got to talking about the differences in our cultures and it was truly a great moment.
–Sunset Cruise down the Nile River – We got picked up around 3PM and since there was no wind we rode a felucca that uses a motor. This felucca ride was so amazing especially watching the sunset over Cairo. We listened to Egyptian music, danced and made a new friend.
–Cairo Tower After the Nile River sunset cruise, we went to the Cairo Tower for dinner. As soon as you get here, make sure you buy tickets at the entrance, even if you do have a reservation for dinner. This is a revolving restaurant so you get to see 360 views of Cairo. I thought the food here was just ok as I felt this was definitely more of a tourist spot. Once we were done eating we went to the top where it is all open and you are outside. We got to overlook the entire city in Cairos tallest building.
Citadel/Mosque of Muhammed Ali
Day 3: Luxor
We flew from Cairo city to Luxor. I fell in love with Luxor as soon as I walked into my airbnb. Luxor is so relaxing, peaceful and beautiful. I am going to share the link to this airbnb as I felt this was the best airbnb experience I’ve had thus far. If you find yourself in Luxor, do yourself a favor and book your stay here. You will be treated like royalty and feel well taken care of. Everything was already set up for us and all of tours were booked through this airbnb. We came to Luxor to enjoy the many temples it has to offer. As we were driving around we noticed the Colossi of Memnon and were told that this was newly discovered and things are still being dug up and found to this day. Also I want to thank our guide and now friend Saber for showing us around Luxor. You are truly one of a kind.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6611811?source_impression_id=p3_1590609915_3ZasQH0MK53iO8fb&guests=1&adults=1
–Valley of the Kings – This was the first stop of our day 1 temple tour. This place is so cool. You are surrounded by mountains and there are several openings where many pharaohs are buried. They chose to bury them here because the area is so secluded. You are able to go inside these crypts and the ceilings and walls are lined with hieroglyphics. It was so amazing to see so much of the color still intact. It seems as if being in a cooler temperature keeps the color from fading away into nothing.
-Hatshepsut Temple – I’m just going to say this now, that each temple we went to was just a little better than the last. This temple was similar to Valley of the Kings where you are surrounded by mountains with the temple right in the middle. It was so beautiful and peaceful inside. There is a slight ramp to walk up/down to this temple (that I rolled and almost broke my ankle – round 2) but the ramp makes it so special getting to see it close and from afar.
–Sugarcane Juice – Don’t forget to stop and get some sugarcane juice at least once while you are in Egypt. It is so good! I miss drinking this every day.
–Imhotep Alabaster Factory – We stopped at this shop where they make alabaster which is a type of rock that they use to make many different things. They showed us how they hand craft the stone into different pieces and they also let us try crafting the alabaster ourselves! This shop was really fun and their pieces were beautiful!
–Habu Temple – This was our last stop of the day and it did not disappoint. Since we got here later on in the day, it was super quiet with barely anyone around. We could not believe how big this temple was. The structure and detail was nothing short of amazing. I feel this temple is underrated and should have way more praise.
–Airbnb – Our airbnb had an amazing view from the roof overlooking the Nile River. For each meal, we would head up to the rooftop where we had a private chef that made the most amazing egyptian food I have ever had. He literally made us a ten course meal each time. I especially loved the fresh pressed lemon and mango juice he would make me every morning. These meals were so memorable and probably the best I have had while traveling.
Valley of the Kings
Habu Temple
Day 4: Luxor
-Hot Air Balloon Ride – We woke up between 3AM-4AM to start our day on a hot air balloon. This was my first time ever going on one so I had no idea what expect. The basket has several smaller compartments and each fits 2-4 people so there is really not much room to move around. The ride was really smooth and easy and it was awesome getting to see all the air balloons around us. We got to watch the sunrise over Luxor and this was a beautiful and amazing experience.
– Karnak Temple – This temple I felt had a few different sections to it. The one that stood out the most to me was the section that had giant pillars with hieroglyphics all along them. They stand so tall and it’s so hard to imagine humans building these by hand.
-Luxor Temple – This was the last temple we came to see in Luxor. As soon as you get here, there are giant statues of pharaohs and they are so amazing. They stand so tall and the intricate details that still hold on the faces was so insane to me. This temple isn’t huge but I really enjoyed walking around this one and looking at all the small detail.
-Nile River Felucca Ride– I decided last minute to book another cruise down the Nile River. Luxor is just so different from Cairo. It’s more relaxed from the hustle in Cairo City. This cruise had such a different vibe and I really appreciated it. What they call their “whiskey of Egypt” is actually just tea so we drank tea and cruised along. It was windy so we got to experience a true felucca ride with the sails. During our ride, we got to hear the entire city of Luxor break out into prayer. The echos of prayer was truly so magical.
Luxor Temple
Day 5: El Gouna
We hired a driver to bring us from Luxor to El Gouna. It was a pretty long drive and it probably would have just been easier to fly. We decided to come to El Gouna to experience the Red Sea. El Gouna is a resort area and there are a lot of small areas within that are great to go to. There are tuk-tuks that can take you from point A to B in no time.
-Beach – We got to El Gouna mid afternoon so we decided to head down to the beach to relax for a while. We stayed in a resort so we were able to sit in chairs right along the water for some good relaxation time after our long drive.
–Malu’s Deli – We came here for dinner and we got really good smoothies and pizza. This was our first time having anything but Egyptian food but we figured we would switch it up for at least that one meal.
-Moods Restaurant & Beach – We came to this restaurant for some drinks and shisha right on the water. Smoking shisha is really big in Egypt and I wish I had done it more throughout my trip. We stayed here until the sunset and it was really pretty!
Day 6: El Gouna
Our original plan was to take a boat to Mahmya Island this day. Our trip got cancelled because we didn’t give the company our room number. With El Gouna being a resort area and having higher security, they needed this info to be able to pick us up. We were unaware of that and their email went straight to junk mail so I had to opt for another plan.
-Speed Boat to Orange Bay – I pretty much was willing to do whatever it took to get to any part of Giftun Island. There are a few different parts of this island which include Mahmya, Orange Bay and Paradise. Mahmya is more private while Paradise is more populated with visitors. Orange Bay was a good in between and pretty much the only option I had. I decided to do this trip solo so a driver came to pick me up and I was on my way to Hurghada where I got on a speed boat over to Orange Bay. I literally had to hold on for life because I 100% would have fallen off if I didn’t. The island is AMAZING and the water is crystal clear blue. I sat in a bean bag chair all day soaking up the sun. The island is small and there is not a ton to do but you have the option to snorkel. I decided to take this day to relax, read a book and sip on some mango juice. This trip was so worth it to me and I was so happy I was able to make it happen last minute.
–MazaGouna – When I returned to El Gouna, we got dinner here along with more shisha. We got grape leaves, chicken shawarma, tahini, and tzatziki. The service here was really good! If you come to this restaurant take a walk around the area. There are many different shops, bars and restaurants. It’s a small area but there is plenty to do!
Day 7: Cairo
We flew back to Cairo for one last night since we would be flying home from here. We decided to stay in Giza this time. On our way to our hotel there were so many camels riding by us on the streets here. Our hotel had one of the best views of the pyramids and we got to watch the sunset over the pyramids. It was an amazing moment and way to end our trip.
–Sound and Light Show – We only got to see this because we watched from our hotel. If this is something you are thinking about doing then I would stay in a hotel where you have a view of the pyramids. We were glad we didn’t spend the money to see this but it was cool seeing the pyramids lit up at night.
Other Suggestions
My only other suggestion for this trip would be to go to Aswan. If we had an extra few days we would have went but I had read so many other blogs about how it’s really out of the way and hard to get to. Despite the long travel to Aswan, I have heard this temple is one of the best in Egypt so it may be worth going to if you have that extra time!
Blonde Broads Abroad 