Things to Do in Egypt: 20 Best Attractions and Activities, From the Pyramids to the Red Sea

The best things to do in Egypt are seeing the pyramids of Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, exploring the temples and royal tombs of Luxor, cruising the Nile to Aswan, visiting Abu Simbel, snorkeling in the Red Sea and spending a night under the stars in the desert. Most first-time visitors fit the first five into 8 to 10 days and add the sea or the desert if they have more time.

Below are the 20 attractions and activities our guides recommend most, each with the time it takes, the best moment to do it and a practical tip, then a region-by-region overview, how to get around, and short lists for families, couples and travellers on a budget. We last checked the details on 5 November 2026.

1. See the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx

Time: half a day. Best: at opening time. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, built around 2560 BC, is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Go early, decide in advance whether you want to go inside one pyramid, and finish at the panoramic viewpoint for the photo of all three. Read whether you can go inside the Great Pyramids.

2. Visit the Grand Egyptian Museum

Time: 3 to 4 hours. Best: the first slot of the day. Opened officially on 1 November 2025, about 2 km from the pyramids, it shows the whole Tutankhamun treasure together for the first time. Tickets are sold online only; see our guide to the Grand Egyptian Museum ticket price.

3. Explore Karnak and Luxor Temple

Time: 3 hours for Karnak, 1 for Luxor Temple. Best: Karnak in the morning, Luxor Temple at dusk when it is lit. Karnak's hypostyle hall has 134 columns; the Avenue of Sphinxes, reopened in 2021, links the two temples. Our guide to what to do in Luxor gives a day-by-day plan.

4. Go down into the Valley of the Kings

Time: 2 to 3 hours. Best: at opening, before the heat. The general ticket covers a choice of tombs; Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramesses VI need extra tickets. Combine it with the temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Medinet Habu and the workers' village of Deir el-Medina on the same West Bank day. Our guide to the best tombs in the Valley of the Kings helps you choose.

5. Stand before Abu Simbel

Time: a full day from Aswan by road (about three and a half hours each way), or a half day by flight. Ramesses II's two rock temples, for himself and for Queen Nefertari, were moved in the 1960s, block by block, above the waters of Lake Nasser. On 22 February and 22 October the rising sun lights the statues in the sanctuary.

6. Walk through Saqqara and Dahshur

Time: a day with Memphis. The Step Pyramid of Djoser is older than Giza and the oldest large stone building in Egypt, and Saqqara has decorated tombs you can enter. At Dahshur you can go inside the Red Pyramid with few other visitors and see the Bent Pyramid. Memphis, the first capital, is a small open-air museum on the way.

7. Take the boat to Philae Temple

Time: 2 to 3 hours. The temple of Isis on its island near Aswan is one of the most beautiful sites in Egypt. See our guide to visiting Philae Temple.

8. Cruise from Luxor to Aswan

Time: 3 or 4 nights. The cruise stops at Edfu and Kom Ombo and turns transport, hotel and guided visits into one: your hotel moves with you. The deluxe-class Crown Empress is one ship on this route, with a 4-night program from Luxor and a 3-night program from Aswan. For a smaller, slower trip choose a dahabiya, a sailing boat with a few cabins, which takes four to five nights. Farouz El Nil, for example, sails a 5-night program from Luxor to Aswan.

9. Sail a felucca at sunset

Time: 1 hour. In Aswan, sail around Elephantine and Kitchener's Island at sunset, with the Aga Khan Mausoleum on the west bank; it is cheap, quiet and one of the most peaceful things you can do in Egypt. Agree the price per boat, not per person, before you leave.

10. Fly over Luxor in a hot air balloon

Time: about 45 minutes in the air, with a pickup around 4:30. Balloons take off at sunrise over the West Bank; flights depend on the wind and are sometimes cancelled at short notice.

11. Visit a Nubian village

Time: half a day by boat from Aswan. Colourful houses, Nubian food and music, and the Nubian Museum in town for the history behind them.

12. Get lost in Khan El Khalili and Islamic Cairo

Time: an afternoon and evening. Start at the Citadel of Salah El Din with the Mosque of Muhammad Ali or at Al-Azhar, walk Al-Muizz Street past its mosques and madrasas, and end with tea in the bazaar.

13. Eat like an Egyptian

Koshari for lunch, ful and ta'meya for breakfast, grilled fish in Alexandria, and fresh mango or sugarcane juice from the street stalls. A cooking class or a meal in a Nubian guesthouse shows a side of Egypt the monuments do not.

14. Visit Coptic Cairo

Time: 2 hours. The Hanging Church, the Church of St Sergius, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum sit together inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon.

15. Spend a day in Alexandria

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, about three hours from Cairo by road or train: the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site of the ancient lighthouse, and fish on the Corniche.

16. Snorkel or dive in the Red Sea

Warm, clear water all year. Beginners snorkel from the beach or on boat trips to the islands off Hurghada; certified divers come for the reefs of Ras Mohamed near Sharm El Sheikh and the wrecks of the northern Red Sea, such as the SS Thistlegorm. Dahab is the relaxed choice, and around Marsa Alam you can snorkel with turtles and, with luck, a dugong. Dive courses are run by local dive centres in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Dahab.

17. Camp in the White Desert

Time: 2 days from Cairo via Bahariya. Chalk formations shaped by the wind, the Black Desert and Crystal Mountain on the way, and a night under a sky full of stars. Our guide to the Western Desert covers the routes.

18. Climb Mount Sinai for sunrise

Time: a night climb of about three hours from St Catherine, usually starting around 2:00, then the monastery in the morning. Tradition places the giving of the Ten Commandments here, and St Catherine's is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world. Bring warm clothes: the summit is cold before dawn.

19. Float in the salt lakes of Siwa

Siwa, near the Libyan border, has salt lakes you float in, hot and cold springs, palm groves, the mud-brick ruins of Shali and the Temple of the Oracle that Alexander the Great consulted. Allow at least three nights.

20. Ride a camel or a quad bike in the desert

A short camel ride at the Giza pyramids from the official ride zones, or a sunset quad or jeep safari from Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada. Agree the price and the duration before you start.

When our guides are asked what not to miss, they name the same handful: standing in front of the Great Pyramid at opening time, the Tutankhamun galleries at the Grand Egyptian Museum, the hypostyle hall at Karnak, the painted tombs of the Valley of the Kings, arriving at Philae by boat and the first sight of Abu Simbel. The activities that stay with people are the slow ones: a felucca at sunset, a night in the White Desert, the sunrise from Mount Sinai or a balloon over Luxor. The Sound and Light shows at Giza, Karnak and Philae are about atmosphere more than history; one is enough.

We do not recommend self-drive car hire or microbuses for a first visit; a car with a local driver costs little more and saves a lot of stress.

• The Grand Egyptian Museum, with its Children's Museum.
• A camel ride at the pyramids and a felucca on the Nile.
• A Nile cruise: the boat is a moving base with a pool, and the temples come to you.
• Snorkeling from a shallow beach reef on the Red Sea, or a glass-bottom boat for children who do not snorkel yet.

More ideas in our guide to things to do in Egypt with kids.

• Sunset at the pyramids viewpoint or from a felucca in Aswan.
• A dahabiya cruise with only a handful of cabins.
• A sunrise balloon over Luxor.
• A few quiet days by the Red Sea in Marsa Alam or El Gouna.

• Walking Al-Muizz Street and the old gates of Islamic Cairo; the street itself is free.
• The Corniche in Alexandria and the public gardens of Al-Azhar Park in Cairo (small entry fee).
• Local ferries across the Nile in Luxor and Aswan, which cost very little.
• Street food: a full meal of koshari or ful costs a fraction of a restaurant meal.

• A Nile dinner cruise in Cairo: about two hours on a restaurant boat with dinner, music and a tanoura (whirling) dancer, with the city lights on both banks.
• The Sound and Light Show at the pyramids: about an hour of narration and lighting in front of the Sphinx; check the language of the evening before you book.
• Al-Muizz Street and Khan El Khalili: lit up and lively until late, especially in Ramadan.
• Luxor Temple after dark: open into the evening and lit, one of the most atmospheric visits in Egypt.
• A Nubian evening in Aswan: dinner and music in a Nubian village on the west bank.

• Go early: most sites open between 6:00 and 8:00; the first two hours are the coolest and quietest.
• Carry a card and some cash: tickets are paid by card at the main sites, the Grand Egyptian Museum is online only, and small notes are needed for tips and toilets.
• Extra tickets: special tombs and the interiors of pyramids cost extra; decide in advance which ones you want.
• Take a guide for the big archaeological sites; signs on site are limited.
• Keep your passport or a copy for student discounts and checkpoints.

The main tourist areas, Cairo and Giza, Luxor, Aswan, the Nile cruise route and the Red Sea resorts, are well policed and receive most of Egypt's visitors. The everyday issues are more practical than dangerous: persistent touts at the big sites, inflated prices for rides and souvenirs, chaotic traffic and the heat. A few habits make a big difference:

• Agree prices for camel rides, carriages, feluccas and taxis before you start, or use Uber and Careem in the cities.
• Politely ignore people who offer to "help" at the entrances of the sites; buy tickets only at the official offices.
• Drink bottled water, use sunscreen and plan the big sites for the morning.
• Check your government's travel advice before you go, as some remote border areas are off limits.
• Women travellers are more comfortable in loose clothes that cover shoulders and knees, especially in the old quarters and the villages of Upper Egypt.

October to April is the main season, with warm days and cool nights; December and January are the busiest and most expensive months. Summer is very hot in Luxor and Aswan but fine on the coast. Read the best months to visit Egypt for month-by-month weather.

• 5 days: Cairo and Giza plus Luxor by flight.
• 8 days: Cairo, a 3 or 4-night Nile cruise, Abu Simbel.
• 10 to 12 days: the above plus Alexandria or 3 to 4 days on the Red Sea.
• 14 days or more: add the Western Desert or Sinai.

Our Egypt tour packages combine these experiences with guides, hotels and domestic flights or the sleeper train included. For a sunrise over the temples, book the hot air balloon tour in Luxor, and for the desert, the White Desert camp.