Oh Egypt!! You are ancient but so contemporary to fall in love with!! Egypt was on our mind right from our early age, especially after watching the movie ‘Mummy’ several times. We always wondered if everything portrayed was true or not and so had to reach out!! the year end of 2019, we came up with Egypt Travel Itinerary for ourselves with being highly fascinated towards everything, especially with the idea of visualizing mummies, sphinx and ancient history. We both brainstormed from planning dos and don’ts which was an action game for 2 weeks. This Egypt Travel Blog would surely help you plan yours!!
Our itinerary was for 11 nights and 12 days. Overall throughout the stay we both experienced an amazing holiday which we will cherish for the rest of our life. Egypt provided us with all kind of memories starting from witnessing the gigantic pyramids to some amazing beaches. In simple words it was package deal for bit of everything and it is for everyone. Please ignore everyone’s opinion and go see it all by yourself which has one of seven wonders of the world.
If you are planning for a short vacation, you can definitely cover Egypt in 6 days & 7 nights. We would however suggest 4 extra nights for checking out the beach town of Hurghada on the Red Sea which is miles away from the city crowd and indulge yourselves at leisure and fun. Trust us you won’t regret it. Our word to you!!
Our Egypt Travel Itinerary
- 2 nights in Cairo + 1 overnight journey to Aswan
- 2 nights in Aswan
- 2 nights in Luxor
- 4 nights in Hurghada, Red Sea (It’s optional but we highly recommend)
Day 1st : Off course!! The Pyramids of Giza & Sphinx : Egypt Travel Blog
It was our first day in Cairo and we managed to reach The Pyramids of Giza by late afternoon(Entrance Fee : 200EGP). The whole master piece was right in front which we got a glimpse while approaching from a distance. It felt delusional. Every edge of it with horses around and mule carts seemed like a moving set as shown in some movies. The Sphinx and Pyramids were gigantic and we felt so tiny around it. It was just the right moment of true emotions for Riju & me, we held our hands and exclaimed “finally”!!
Later we ended the daylight with the Light and Sound show(300 EGP) itself in Giza and then headed back to the room after a local meal though the day was pretty tiring.
Day 2nd : Travelling back to ancient times : Egypt Travel Blog
- Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo
- Visit the artistic mosque you would not like to miss – The Mosque of Muhammad Ali
- Wander at one of the oldest open air flea market : Khan – El – Khalili
We started early in the morning pretty excited for the first sight of the real preserved mummies. The visit to the Cairo Museum(Entrance Fee 200EGP + Mummies Room 180EGP) should be in your bucket list and the memories will stay with you for life. It will take approx. 2 to 3 hours to check out every single corner which is home for more than 120,000 antique remains from across the civilization. But guys we actually don’t have enough words to write it down so we both would encourage you to make your way and see it by yourself for the best of experience one can explain.
Once we were done with the museum we approached towards the Mosque of Muhammad Ali(Entrance Fee 180EGP) which is just few kms away. Riju & me will recommend this place as it was one of the most decorative and gorgeous mosque inside out we ever witnessed. We detected that the huge interiors of the mosque was previously lit up with oil lamps which are now replaced with electric ones. We wondered how beautiful it must have been when it would have lit up in ancient times.
Moving on, in the evening we explored the oldest market in Cairo : Khan – El – Khalili. On entering it smelled amazing because of its wide spread of spices, perfumes etc. The market was exquisite which had souvenir shops to wonderfully decorated photogenic cafes serving hookah/shisha in every nook and corner(must try for once) and bit of everything that you all would need. We had one of the best evening sipping local tea accompanied with hookah and collected some stories for us!! Wish you all would relish the same.
Deciding on Day 3rd : A subway to Coptic Cairo : Egypt Travel Blog
We were pretty confused on the 3rd day for what we should do. After a bit of chitchat, our host recommended a place called the Coptic Cairo. The main attraction was to get a glimpse of the hanging church(No Entrance Fee). Please note the church is not actually hanging around anywhere. Please don’t go with expectations as the name suggests. To provide a brief idea, the church was built on the Southern gate of Roman Fortress which has mosaic paintings on the walls. Beside that the entire area also features many other old churches which holds many interesting stories which are also connected to a subway station, seemed pretty eye catchy to us. (We would recommend this place)
That night we bid goodbye to Cairo.
Day 4th : Crossing the railway tracks for Aswan’s hieroglyphs : Egypt Travel Blog
- Philae Temple
- Felucca Ride
We boarded the overnight train(80$ per head) from Cairo which was extremely comfortable and we reached Aswan by mid-morning. We already had our room booked in a Nubian village in Elephantine Island for which we had to cross the river Nile from a nearby dock by a local motor boat(5 EGP per person). It was humid outside and we badly needed to freshen up and have some food. It took us around 10mins on foot to reach our farm house, which also had a Nubian Museum within the boundary which attracted us the most and hence we booked the stay.
In Aswan the list of must dos without a thought:
- Philae Temple – The oldest of Hieroglyphs
- Felucca Boat Ride
- Day trip to Abu Simbel
We started around 2pm after a gut packed Nubian lunch and crossed the river(guys crossing the river time to time really made us excited!! We never sat on the benches but always stood by the entry of the boat). After we reached the dock of Philae(Ticket Price 180EGP, please note Philae Temple closes by 4pm) we managed to rent a boat(120EGP, please negotiate till your lungs give out).
The boat ride to Philae temple was mesmerizing. Perfect timing – 3hrs prior to sunset. Philae is an island on Lake Naseer, this is the oldest temple where Iris was worshiped. For the very first time in our travel we could actually witness the oldest hieroglyphs. The 360 degree view of the engraved syenite depicts that the Egyptians were true master of arts. The overview of the Philae temple surrounded by Lake Naseer and watching the orange sky sitting over a hieroglyphic piece of coarse grain stone was just the perfect time. We had spent the whole evening there and were the last of tourists coming out making the most of our money. Finally our boat rider had to call us back by our name which was embarrassing.
Later when back at Aswan we decided on getting a Felucca boat ride in the River Nile. We paid around 100 EGP for 90mins all for ourselves. For a brief idea, Felucca is a traditional sailing boat which is operated by manual wind directions and various strings attached to control its sail. To watch the entire city turning pink from orange to grey from the middle of Nile and the evening prayers echoing all over just felt magical in itself. Fortunately our Felucca sailor was very friendly and he entertained us by his local songs and stories. That dusk went perfect for the ‘WE’ lovebirds!!
Day 5th : Visit the twin temple – Abu Simbel : Egypt Travel Itinerary
Our host Fatma helped us arranging a shared micro bus for our return trip(27$ per head) to Abu Simbel(Entry Fee 240 EGP). We started at 4 in the morning, other co passengers joined us on the way. The joyride took about 3hrs from Aswan, which is close to the border of Sudan, without any midway stop. So literally we had to squeeze our bladder until we reached. The raise of sunlight in the early morning sparkled like gold on either side of the desert. We reached the temple by 8am. The ticket counter was already queued up by tourists. Managing our way to the main gate with some basic security checks didn’t take much time. Moving on had to walk for 10mins for the main site. It has twin complex in the area which was surrounded by waters. It was love and ‘WOW’ at first site. We could see a giant piece of ancient master piece. At the entrance of the temple you would find 4 colossal statues of seated Pharaohs amongst which one of them is not in its original shape. The Great Temple was built by King Ramses II and The Small Temple on the other side was built for Ramses’ favourite wife Nefertari. We were just amazed discerning the intricacy of handmade art we ever saw in our life. The temple had several rooms adjoining each other and each of them had different pattern of art and story which we off course didn’t understand much. We took about 100 pictures from all corners as Sun light was just perfect. We gazed through the place for 2hrs and boarded our micro bus back to Aswan.
For a bit of introduction, in the past the Abu Simbel was located in the West bank of Nile but due to massive flood caused by the filling of reservoir the whole temple was dismantled and relocated in 1968 on this deserted plateau. The fun part of the story is Abu Simbel is not the actual name of the temple. It was named after a boy ‘Abu’, who introduced the site to a Swiss explorer.
We got back by 1pm. We didn’t have much to do for the evening so we decided to take a stroll around the Aswan Old Souk(local market) around dusk.
We dozed of early as our body gave up!! Now we would head towards Luxor!!
Day 6th : Tag along to the heart of History in Luxor & the must Visit Karnak Temple(not visiting would be a sin) – Egypt Travel Blog
We boarded the early morning local train from Aswan(Ticket Price 30EGP per head) which took 3.5hrs to reach Luxor. We welcome you to the Valley of Kings!! The city of Luxor is separated by the river Nile which is split into East & West Bank. Our stay was on the Western side. We had to cross the river as we approached from East. The West Bank holds the treasure called ‘Valley of The Kings or valley of the dead’, which seemed very calm & quite in comparison to East which is called ‘The valley of livings’. The eastern side was more of city lights and also has the Karnak temple and other ancient remains.
At around 3pm we reached Karnak temple(Entry Ticket: 200EGP per head) riding a horse carriage(give it a try). The day we went was Monday and the place was packed with crowd to our surprise. We would recommend you to avoiding this place on Monday as most of the cruise ships remain docked. The entrance to the Karnak Temple appeared to be a movie set featuring chain of Sphinx on both sides of the aisle, which symbolize the gods Amun-ra, Mut & Khonsu. Once you enter, the temple has gigantic pillars also called the ‘Forest of Pillars’, which looked pretty identical & daunting. Riju & me wondered how the ancient artists managed to in script those humongous pillars with such perfection. It has the largest twin ‘Obelisks’ erected at middle of the temple. The temple also had world’s largest open air museum(included in the entrance ticket price). We managed to stay late and were amongst the last batch of tourist leaving. We were adamant to get some satisfying clicks.
Later with the sunset we walked around 3 kms along the concrete stretch of Nile enjoying the breeze and burning some calories!! You can also visit the Luxor museum if you wish though we avoided the same as we were of the conclusion that the Cairo museum had it all. We ended the day facing the Nile over a coffee break at one of many random cafes.
Day 7th : Entering the digs of treasure : Egypt Travel Itinerary
- Valley of The Kings &
- Glare the Luxor temple in moonlight
We reached Valley of The Kings by a local cab. The entry ticket costed us 160 EGP per head which includes access to any 3 tombs out of the 8 tombs open to public. You need to pay purchase additional tickets to view the tombs of Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramesses V & VI. We entered Valley of the Kings riding a tram which is free but you can also chose to walk but the sun might get really harsh during the day, so be prepared.
Out of the 8 tombs we chose to visit KV2 – Ramesses IV, KV 11 – Ramesses III and KV 6 – Ramesses IX. Those are the most attractive tombs and we would recommend those to you. To our knowledge, Valley of the Kings was the burial ground of the Pharaohs. It is said that the burial places are in the West bank of Nile where the Sun dies every day and the temples were built on the East bank where Sun rises. We later learned the Kings and the Queens never lived in Cairo instead Luxor was their home capital.
Note: Clicking photos are allowed inside for free so you can really get good hands at pictures.
There are 60+ discovered tombs but only few are open to public. Beside we purchased additional tickets for tomb of Ramesses V & VI(100 EGP), which was our favourite of all. The interior view was breath-taking – bright and colourful. Every passageway inside the tomb had its own unique pattern connecting multiple chambers and it’s impossible to spot any brick of the room without hieroglyphs inscriptions. Every single walls and ceilings of the tomb depicts the life cycle and possibly everything about the Pharaohs during their reins. The ancient Egyptians believed in after life so they were mummified and buried with all the valuables and fixes they used during while alive. They believed in carrying everything with them into the afterlife if they could make it through various test of characters, which ensures that they reached their destination. The tomb of Tutankhamun is one of the most famous and intact tomb which was discovered in recent times. The burial box and its treasures are now moved to the Museum of Cairo but his mummy still lies there in Valley of the Kings.
What we did in the moonlight on New Year’s eve:
We reached by 8pm as Luxor temple(160 EGP per head) is the only temple which remains open till 10pm. The guided tour bus had just left and we found the temple to ourselves. The surroundings of the temple at night felt refreshing on skin with the mild wind. From the entrance to the end the entire temple was illuminated with lights in the night sky. We soaked into the full moonlight. Though the pillars and structures are pretty similar to Karnak temple but here is something more to it because of the lights which made it more attractive and gorgeous.
The sky was clear and the weather got windy giving us the 31st vibe. We exclaimed “let’s celebrate’’. Coming out and after a short walk we made it to the local market which sparkled in the night and the entire city seemed busy in welcoming the New Year. We took the corner of a café overlooking the city lights and enjoyed our Hookah and some good food(temperature literally went down but we enjoyed in our own unique way). By mid-night the whole of town gathered on the Nile stretch cheering & lighting fireworks. It gave us cold shivers, we missed home!
We cheered ‘Happy New Year’ to the top of our tonsils!!
Red Sea in mind for 100 hrs(Day 8 – 11): Hurghada : Egypt Travel Itinerary
Red Sea….will amaze you with one of ‘The’ most beautiful diving experience across the world. It holds vibrant aqua life, turquoise water and colorful varieties of coral. For sure no one would want to miss any of those!!
The sad part was we had to cancel our dive at the end moment as Riju met with some accident and injured his knee. We were disappointed to the moon and never wish to come back. For best diving experience please visit here.
We booked GoBus from Luxor and drove approx. 4.5hrs to reach Hurghada with a midway stop. We almost reached at 8pm so there was nothing much to do for that night. Our host Mohammed was already there waiting for us in the bus stand and directed us to our stay and made sure everything was comfortable. The City Center mall was just opposite to our stay so brought our self some food and water ending the tiresome night.
The following day Riju woke up early and made some breakfast. Once he pulled the curtain we could see the Red Sea straight through from bed and we wondered why Red Sea is blue!!
We managed our way to Davinci beach. Wind blew towards its right direction, sun was just above, we had perfect light and windcheater on and blue-green water was what we just needed to see after a hell lot of traveling. Please note that the beaches in Hurghada are not freely accessible(charges around 20 -100EGP) but still you can negotiate a bit. Maybe it’s because to maintain hygiene.
Mohammed mentioned he owned a restaurant called the family fish, so we gave it a try. The sea food he made was really impressive. Post lunch we walked almost 4kms towards the Marina Hurghada and while approaching the azans reverberated across the city following the sheds of orange and grey sky. You can also visit the beautiful ‘El Mina’ mosque on the way to the Marina.
Marina Hurghada was really really happening offering wide isle of restaurants, bazaar and open air hookah cafes with a sea facing view. The 180 degree view completely sparkled in the evening and everyone had their best time strolling across. We stretched on one of the couches, dragged hookah beside tea, gazing the stars.
The other day was supposed to be long, we booked a day Yacht with Egyptous Travels. Basically it was whole day trip which had many things to offer in their itinerary. Do try this excursion, you all will have one best day!
We were picked up by cab at 8am and dropped us to the parked Yacht. Our first stop was Orange Bay or Giftun Island which took 2hrs to reach. The crystal clear turquoise water surrounding the island, white sand, bikini and sun – what else do you want!! We were parked there for all most 2hrs and were asked to spend time at leisure sun bathing. Back to the yacht we were offered lunch which was pretty decent and lot of varieties. We ate like wild bears as we were damn hungry. Tea and refreshments were served throughout our journey and that was a good part. Post lunch we sailed towards 2 different locations for Snorkeling(kits are provided by them though we always carry our own) which was absolutely a treat to our eyes with the view of colorful corals of Red Sea.
We now know why it’s called the Red Sea. A type of algae is found in the sea and when this blooms of algae dies they appear to turn the colour of the sea to a reddish brown. You can really enjoy the rich variety of the underwater ecosystem. It’s off course one of the memorable event for us amongst all the days.
We were back to the land around 4pm without doing much that evening. Yes now the last day awaits. We both were sad, counting time for airport.
The last day we hopped around various beaches, feeling the wind blow.
On the last day we boarded the GoBus and found ourselves back to the start(Cairo) after 6hrs of drive through the desert overlooking the Red Sea.
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We hope our blog excites you to pack your bags soon!!
