An 8 Day Travel Guide to Egypt

Egypt was an incredible experience, especially from a historical and cultural perspective. Visiting for the first time solidified that they ancient Egyptians were undoubtedly the creators of civilization. Covering 3 cities in Egypt in 8 days is feasible, arguably you could fit 4 cities depending on how quickly you want to move.

If you prefer video content, check out my Instagram story highlights for a video recap, and see this blog post of what to know before visiting Egypt.

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CAIRO, EGYPT

Put lightly, the hustle and bustle of Cairo is A LOT. I highly recommend not spending more than 24 hours in Cairo, or 48 if necessary. The constant traffic, commotion, and hustling of tourist is overwhelming; see the main attractions and move on!

Luxury Hotels in Cairo

Some hotels in Cairo could be hit or miss. For example, on Booking.com, The Pyramids Valley Hotel, categorized as a hotel with incredible views of the pyramids was categorized as a hotel, but as soon as I got there realized it was much more like a hostel and lacked cleanliness. I quickly left. The cleanliness of Sofitel Cairo was also questionable.

To avoid a potential headache, I highly recommend biting the bullet and booking only a 5-star hotel like: Marriott Mena House, The St. Regis Almasa Hotel, The St. Regis Cairo, Four Seasons, and The Nile Ritz-Carlton.

Things to Do in Cairo

Obviously, the top attractions in Cairo are the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx. While visiting these sites, it’s common to do camel rides. However, this can become stressful, which is why I highly recommend getting a tour guide to dodge the stress and hassle of navigating the pyramids. Going alone runs the risk of constant harassment, scamming, and an overall unpleasant experience. Also, an experienced tour guide will bring you to the best picture locations around the pyramids. Lastly, don’t choose to ride a camel from the entrance all the way to the top near the pyramids. It will be uncomfortable! Instead ask your guide to ride a horse carriage and then switch to a camel for an hour once at the top.

Other things to do in Cairo:

Egyptian Museum – the brand-new museum is opening sometime in 2023 which will be 20x better than the current museum.
The Civilization Museum is incredible and houses dozens of mummies
ATV in the desert
Mohamed Ali alabaster mosque – make sure to dress respectfully!
Cairo Nile River dinner cruise + show
Sound + light show at the pyramids
Shop amid the Maze of Khan el-Khalili – it is difficult to find an uber out of this maze, so walk to the nearest hotel and call an uber from there!

Restaurants in Cairo

Egypt is falafel heaven. Seriously, have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner wherever you can find it! The local cuisine of Egypt is amazing, and I highly recommend eating as much of it as you can. A must try is Koshare, a local dish, at Koshary Abou Tarek.

Other restaurants to dine at:

Restaurants in the Sofitel
El-khan Restaurant
Le Pacha 1901
Pier 88
139 Pavilion at the Mariott Mena House

LUXOR, EGYPT

Rather than do a typical cruise down the Nile to explore Luxor and Aswan, I opted to do a quick day trip solely to Luxor. I departed Cairo at 7 AM for a 45-minute flight to Luxor, and left Luxor at 7 PM. This was more than enough time to hit most of the historic sites in Luxor. I had an incredible guide, Abrahim, who I recommend and wouldn’t return to Luxor without contacting him. He has a degree is tourism and Egyptian history, and comes from a family of archeologists, thus he is a wealth of knowledge. He took care of planning our breakfast and lunch (at an delicious restaurant called Africa).

Things to Do in Luxor:

Valley of the Kings – absolutely incredible! There are 66 tombs to visit. A general admission ticket covers 3 tombs. You must pay extra to see additional tombs, most notably King Tut, The Golden King’s tomb, and the only tomb in which they left the mummy inside.
Valley of the Queens – unfortunately we didn’t visit this valley. Queen Nefertari’s tomb is the most well preserved (and expensive to see). After Googling the tomb, I instantly regretted not adding it to the day’s itinerary.
Temple of Karnak – this temple was fascinating and to not be missed.
Luxor Temple – this was interesting to see the evolution of religion throughout the centries, but I would’ve preferred to visit the Valley of the Queens.
Temple of Deir al-Bahri (Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple) – another fascinating temple, mainly due to the history of Queen Hatshepsut, she was a bad ass!

HURGHADA, EGYPT

There is nothing to do in Hurghada besides enjoy the beach and relax! Hurghada, a resort town, is a great way to unwind and end a holiday in Egypt. I stayed at the Steigenberger Resort Ras Romas, a 5-star and recently built resort (only 1.5 years old). The resort was beautiful, clean, and the staff were very kind and hospitable.