10 Best Places to Visit in Egypt: Top Attractions and the Best Cities for Your Trip

The 10 best places to visit in Egypt are the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Karnak Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Philae Temple, Abu Simbel, a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, Alexandria, the Red Sea and the Western Desert (Siwa or the White Desert). The first six are within the classic Cairo, Luxor and Aswan route, which is why most first trips follow it.

Below we explain each place, then the best cities to base yourself in, the best places for families and for a beach finish, and how to fit them into 7, 10 or 14 days.

The only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is still Egypt's number one sight. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built around 4,500 years ago from about 2.3 million stone blocks, with the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure beside it and the Sphinx below. Arrive at opening, walk or ride to the panoramic viewpoint, and decide in advance whether you want to go inside a pyramid: the passages are narrow and steep. Our article on going inside the Great Pyramid explains the tickets. Combine Giza with Saqqara and its Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest pyramid in Egypt, for a full day.

About 2 km from the pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum opened to the public in November 2025 and shows the whole Tutankhamun collection together for the first time, along with the colossal statue of Ramesses II in the atrium, the grand staircase and Khufu's solar boat. Tickets are sold online only. At the time of writing a foreign adult ticket is EGP 1,830; see our Grand Egyptian Museum ticket price guide for every category and the opening hours. Allow at least three hours.

Karnak is the largest temple complex of ancient Egypt, built and extended over some 2,000 years. Its Great Hypostyle Hall has 134 columns in 16 rows; the 12 central columns are 21 metres high. Visit in the early morning or late afternoon, and come back for the sound and light show if you have an evening free.

On the West Bank of Luxor, the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried in rock-cut tombs with painted walls that still look fresh. More than 60 tombs are known, including Tutankhamun's, found by Howard Carter on 4 November 1922. The standard ticket includes a selection of three open tombs; Tutankhamun and Seti I need separate tickets. Our guide to the best tombs to visit in the Valley of the Kings helps you choose. Start early: the valley is hot by 11am. Pair it with Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon.

The Temple of Isis at Philae stands on an island in the Nile, reached by a short motorboat ride. It was moved stone by stone to Agilkia Island between 1972 and 1980 to save it from the waters of the dams. Visit in the morning, or come back for the evening sound and light show. In Aswan, add a felucca sail around Elephantine Island, the Unfinished Obelisk, the High Dam and a Nubian village on the West Bank.

Ramesses II carved two temples into the cliff at Abu Simbel around 1264 BC, one for himself and one for Queen Nefertari. In the 1960s an international campaign led by UNESCO cut them into blocks and moved them to higher ground, completed in 1968, before Lake Nasser rose. Twice a year, on 22 February and 22 October, the rising sun reaches the statues in the inner sanctuary. The site opens 6:00 to 17:00 and, at the time of writing, foreign adults pay EGP 750 (EGP 1,200 on the two sun festival days). It is about three and a half hours by road from Aswan, or a short flight. See our facts about Abu Simbel.

A 3 or 4-night cruise is the easiest way to see Upper Egypt: your cabin travels with you, and the ship stops at Edfu, with the best-preserved temple in Egypt, and Kom Ombo, the double temple of Sobek and Horus, on the way. Four nights from Luxor gives you time for both banks of Luxor; three nights from Aswan is shorter. Small sailing dahabiyas are the quieter, more exclusive option.

Founded by Alexander the Great, Alexandria is Egypt's Mediterranean city. Visit the Qaitbay Citadel on the site of the ancient Lighthouse, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Roman amphitheatre at Kom el-Dikka, the catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa and Pompey's Pillar, then eat fish on the Corniche. It is about three hours from Cairo, so most visitors come on a day trip; our guide to what to see in one day in Alexandria has a route.

Egypt's Red Sea coast has some of the most accessible coral reefs in the world, with warm water all year. Each resort suits a different traveller:

• Hurghada: large resorts, easy boat trips to the Giftun islands, a one-hour flight from Cairo. Good for families.
• Sharm El Sheikh: Ras Mohamed National Park and the Tiran reefs; strong for snorkelling and diving.
• Dahab: a small, relaxed town with shore diving at the Blue Hole and the Canyon.
• Marsa Alam: quieter, with dugongs and turtles at some bays.

From Sharm or Dahab you can also climb Mount Sinai (2,285 m) before dawn and visit Saint Catherine's Monastery. Our guide to things to do in the Sinai Peninsula covers that side.

The Western Desert is Egypt at its most remote. Siwa, near the Libyan border, has salt lakes you can float in, palm groves, the mud-brick fortress of Shali and the Oracle Temple of Amun, which Alexander the Great consulted. The White Desert, near Farafra, has chalk formations shaped by the wind and is best seen on an overnight camping trip from Bahariya. Read our Siwa Oasis travel tips and our guide to the Western Desert of Egypt. Both need at least two extra days, so they suit a second trip or a 14-day plan.

Cairo deserves at least one day of its own after Giza. These are the places our guides put first:

Islamic Cairo

The medieval city around Al-Muizz li-Din Allah Street is the largest concentration of Islamic monuments in the world, listed by UNESCO as Historic Cairo. Walk Al-Muizz from Bab al-Futuh to the Qalawun complex and the Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda, then finish in the lanes of Khan El Khalili and its old coffee houses. Above the city, the Citadel of Salah El Din holds the Ottoman-style Mosque of Muhammad Ali, with views across Cairo on a clear day, and below it stand the Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai mosques, side by side.

Coptic Cairo

In Old Cairo, inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon, you can visit the Hanging Church, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, built over the cave where tradition says the Holy Family sheltered, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum. Everything is within a few minutes' walk, so two hours is enough.

Museums and the Nile

The old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square still holds a huge collection, including the treasures of Tanis and Yuya and Tjuyu, and is calmer now that Tutankhamun has moved to Giza. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat shows the royal mummies. In the evening, a felucca ride or a walk along the Nile Corniche in Zamalek or Garden City is the best way to see the city slow down.

Luxor is often called the world's largest open-air museum, and two days are the minimum. On the East Bank, Luxor Temple is at its best after dark, when it is lit, and the Avenue of Sphinxes now links it with Karnak again. The small Luxor Museum is one of the best-presented in Egypt. On the West Bank, add Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, the Colossi of Memnon, the Valley of the Queens with the tomb of Nefertari (separate ticket), Medinet Habu and the workers' village at Deir el-Medina. A sunrise hot-air balloon ride over the West Bank is the most popular extra.

• Saqqara and Dahshur: the Step Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid, with far fewer people than Giza.
• Fayoum: Wadi El Rayan's lakes and waterfalls and the fossil whales of Wadi El Hitan, a UNESCO site, as a day trip from Cairo.
• Abu Simbel Sun Festival: on 22 February and 22 October.

If you think in bases rather than sights, these are the cities to stay in:

What is the nicest city in Egypt?

For most of our guests it is Aswan: the Nile is at its widest and greenest there, the pace is slow, and the Nubian villages and granite islands make it feel different from the rest of Egypt. Luxor is the most impressive for monuments, and Cairo the most exciting, but Aswan is the one people say they would come back to.

• The Giza Pyramids with a short camel or horse ride (agree the price first).
• The Grand Egyptian Museum, which has a children's museum.
• A Nile cruise, where the pool and the short daily visits keep children happy.
• The Pharaonic Village in Giza, where costumed actors show daily life in ancient Egypt from a boat.
• Hurghada for calm beaches and glass-bottom boats.

The best months for sightseeing are October to April; in summer, start at sunrise and spend the afternoons by the pool or on the Red Sea.

Our classic Egypt tours cover the Pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Luxor and Aswan with a private Egyptologist, with the domestic flights or sleeper train included in the price. To add a beach finish, see the 11 days classic Egypt with a Nile cruise and the Red Sea, or browse our Egypt tour packages.