Middle Egypt
Abydos
Abydos sits roughly three hours' drive north of Luxor, and the Temple of Seti I there is widely reckoned to hold the finest relief carving to survive in Egypt.
Ancient sites
Egypt attractions: the ancient sites worth your time
What each of the main Egypt attractions is, how long to allow, and the practical detail that makes the difference between a good visit and a hot queue.
Egypt attractions worth your time
There are more ancient sites in Egypt than any trip can hold, and the honest work is deciding what to leave out. A first visit that tries to see everything ends up rushing the things worth slowing down for.
The pages below cover the major Egypt attractions one at a time: what each site is, what the standard ticket covers, what costs extra, how long to allow, and when the light and the crowds are on your side.
They also say when something is not worth it. Some famous sites need an hour rather than a morning, and one or two are better skipped entirely in favour of somewhere quieter down the road.
Aswan
Aswan High Dam
The Aswan High Dam is one of the largest engineering projects of the twentieth century and one of the least rewarding half-hours in a southern Egypt itinerary.
Dahshur · south of Cairo
Bent Pyramid
The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur is the one that visibly went wrong, and that is exactly why it is worth the drive south from Cairo.
Luxor · West Bank
Colossi of Memnon
The Colossi of Memnon are two seated stone statues of Amenhotep III beside the road on Luxor's West Bank, and almost every visitor sees them because they are unavoidable rather than because they planned to.
Cairo · Giza
Grand Egyptian Museum
The Grand Egyptian Museum stands on the desert edge at Giza, roughly two kilometres from the pyramids, and is billed as the largest museum in the world built around a single civilisation.
Cairo · Giza
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone lion with a human head, carved down into the bedrock at the edge of the Giza plateau, just north of Khafre's causeway.
Luxor · West Bank
Hatshepsut Temple
Hatshepsut Temple is the three-tiered mortuary temple cut into the cliffs at Deir el-Bahari, on the West Bank at Luxor.
Luxor · East Bank
Karnak Temple
Karnak Temple is the largest religious complex the ancient world built, and roughly 2,000 years of pharaohs added to it.
Cairo · Islamic Cairo
Khan El Khalili
Khan el-Khalili is the medieval trading quarter at the centre of Islamic Cairo, and it is both one of the city's best hours and one of its most oversold.
Luxor · East Bank
Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple sits in the middle of a working Egyptian town, a short walk from the corniche, and it is the one major pharaonic site you can reach on foot after dinner.
Cairo · Saqqara loop
Memphis Egypt
Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt, and there is almost nothing left of it to look at.
South Sinai
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai stands inland in the mountains of South Sinai, a long way from anything else on a normal Egypt itinerary.
Cairo · Giza
Pyramids of Giza
The Pyramids of Giza sit on a limestone plateau on the western edge of Cairo, roughly 4,500 years old, and the Great Pyramid remained the tallest building on earth for close to four thousand years.
Abu Simbel · Luxor · Cairo
Ramesses II
Ramesses II is the name you will hear most often on an Egypt trip.
Cairo · Memphis necropolis
Saqqara
Saqqara is the burial ground of ancient Memphis and the site of Djoser's Step Pyramid, generally regarded as the earliest large stone building in the world.
Luxor · West Bank
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings is a dry side valley on Luxor's west bank holding more than sixty rock-cut tombs, most of them New Kingdom pharaohs and their families.
Luxor · West Bank
Valley of the Queens
The Valley of the Queens sits in a dead-end bay of desert on the Luxor West Bank, across the ridge from the Valley of the Kings and a short drive south.
Cairo · Giza
Valley Temple Giza
The Valley Temple, Giza's best-preserved Old Kingdom building, is the granite hall you pass through on the way to the Sphinx.
Cairo · Mokattam
Cave Church Cairo
The Cave Church in Cairo is the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary and St Simon the Tanner.
Cairo · Islamic Cairo
Cairo Citadel
The Cairo Citadel is a medieval fortress on the Muqattam Hills, begun by Saladin in 1176.
Cairo · Tahrir Square
Cairo Museum
The Cairo Museum is the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, in Downtown Cairo.
Luxor · West Bank
Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu is the memorial temple of Ramesses III, on the west bank at Luxor.
Dahshur · south of Cairo
Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid stands at Dahshur in Egypt, about 40 km south of central Cairo by road.
Aswan · Ancient sites
Unfinished Obelisk
The Unfinished Obelisk is a giant obelisk still lying in an ancient quarry in Aswan.
Nile · Esna to Kom Ombo
Edfu Egypt
Edfu holds a title no other site in Egypt can claim: it is the most complete large temple left standing.
Nile · Luxor to Edfu
Esna Egypt
Esna temple is the one the cruise boats queue beside for hours and most passengers never set foot in.
Nile · Edfu to Aswan
Kom Ombo Egypt
Kom Ombo is the strangest temple on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, and the quickest to see.
Covered on the destination pages
Official sources
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
- Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ↗The ministry lists which tombs and temples currently open.
- UNESCO World Heritage: Egypt ↗The official listings, including the inscription reasons for each site.