Christmas in Egypt and New Year: Weather, Prices and What It Is Like

Is Egypt a good place to go at Christmas?

Yes, if your dates are fixed by school holidays. The weather is the best of the year, and it makes the difference between enjoying Luxor and enduring it. Accept the premium as the price of those dates. Spend the money on a smaller boat or a better guide, which buys more than a grander hotel. The one drawback is short days; see the planning section below.

If you are flexible, shift. February keeps almost all of January's temperature and misses the Christmas peak, and the sites are calmer. European half-term lifts prices for a week or two in mid-February, so book either side of it. The one version we would talk you out of is a short, expensive holiday-week trip. Five days at peak rates buys a rushed Cairo and one temple.

How warm is Egypt at Christmas?

This is the best weather Egypt gets. Typical daytime highs in Luxor are around 24C in December and 23C in January. Cairo is around 20C and 19C. Skies are clear and the air is dry, so walking around Karnak at midday is comfortable. In June the same ground touches roughly 40C.

The nights are the part people underestimate. Once the sun drops, Upper Egypt falls to single figures, and Aswan can drop to around 8C. A boat deck or a desert camp at 6am is cold, and desert nights in January can approach freezing. The sea at Hurghada is around 23C in December and 22C in January: swimmable, though a windy day makes it feel less inviting. Treat all these figures as approximations.

Rain is rare in Cairo and Upper Egypt. Cairo averages about 25mm in a whole year, with two or three wet days in a typical December. Luxor averages about 5mm a year and Aswan about 1mm, so rain is very unlikely to touch a temple day. Alexandria and the north coast are the exception, with a scattering of wet days through the winter. The rainfall figures are Egyptian Meteorological Authority averages for 1981 to 2010. The World Meteorological Organization publishes them; we checked them in October 2026.

How much more expensive is Christmas and New Year?

Expect a clear premium over shoulder-season rates on hotels, Nile boats and domestic flights. Domestic flights to Luxor and Aswan fill fast, because there are only so many seats and everyone wants the same three days. Ask for the same itinerary quoted on your dates and on a week in February, then compare the totals. The overnight sleeper train to Upper Egypt is the cheaper alternative to flying and saves a hotel night. It is basic, so treat it as a budget decision.

Ask whether your hotel or boat adds a gala dinner charge for 24, 25 or 31 December. Ask whether it is compulsory and whether it is in the quoted total. Several festive packages from Memphis Tours, the operator behind our trips, leave a gala dinner in Cairo out of the price. Ask whether yours includes one. These charges can appear late in a quote. Compare total prices, with every supplement included.

Solo travellers pay a single supplement on the accommodation. Ask for the single supplement in writing; on boats it can be large. Most Egyptian operators quote in dollars or euros, so ask which currency the contract is in and what the card surcharge is.

Which of our tours suit the holidays?

Three of our set itineraries suit the holidays. Each fixes the Nile cabin and the internal flights in advance, the two pieces that are hardest to find late. Prices are from-prices in US dollars per person, without international flights. Memphis Tours also sells separate festive packages. Its December 2026 departures run from 19 to 31 December. Our own 16 tours are priced for the holiday dates when you send your request, including any supplement.

Cairo, Aswan and a Nile Cruise runs 7 days, from US$1,890. You see Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then fly south to Aswan for three nights on the boat down to Luxor. It fits a single week away.

Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada runs 11 days, from US$2,560. That is four nights in Cairo, three on the boat and three on the Red Sea at Hurghada. The beach days come after the temple days.

Cairo, Luxor, a Nile Cruise and the White Desert runs 14 days, from US$3,815. That is six nights in Cairo, two in Luxor, four on the boat and one in the White Desert.

What do Egyptians call Christmas, and how do they mark it?

In Arabic it is Eid al-Milad al-Majid, the Glorious Feast of the Nativity. The Coptic Orthodox Church, which most Egyptian Christians belong to, marks the Nativity on 7 January. That has been the public holiday for Muslims and Christians alike since a decision in December 2002. 25 December is not a public holiday in Egypt. It is observed mainly in hotels, tourist areas and expatriate circles.

The build-up is a fast. Coptic Orthodox Christians keep a 43-day Nativity fast that ends on 7 January, with no meat, eggs or milk. On the evening of 6 January families go to church. The Christmas Eve mass ends at midnight with the church bells, and the fast is broken after it. Fatta is the dish most tied to the feast: bread, rice, garlic and meat in layers. Copts also bake kahk, the sugar-dusted biscuits Muslims make for Eid al-Fitr. Homes put up trees, people swap gifts, and Father Christmas is Baba Noel. In Cairo, Darb el-Barabra near Ataba is the best-known street for trees and decorations.

For a visitor, 7 January is the day that matters. Banks, government offices and many businesses close. 7 January 2027 falls on a Thursday. It is a paid public holiday under a standing Ministry of Labour decision. No official notice says sites close that day, and the antiquities ministry lists the Coptic Museum as open daily. Check timings for that day with your guide. The main Christmas Eve mass, led by the Coptic Pope, is held at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in the New Capital. In 2026 the President attended, so expect heavy security. Smaller churches in Coptic Cairo, inside the old Roman fort south of downtown, are easier to visit. Dress as you would for a mosque, and ask before photographing anything or anyone.

Coptic Cairo is worth a morning around the holiday. The old fort is Babylon, a Roman fortress, and its walls hold some of the oldest churches in Egypt. The Hanging Church takes its name from its position: it was built over the fortress gatehouse, between two towers. Close by stand the church of St Sergius, known locally as Abu Serga, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Egypt. Coptic tradition holds that the Holy Family sheltered in the cave beneath St Sergius. The Coptic Museum holds the largest collection of Coptic artefacts in the world, according to the antiquities ministry. The ministry lists the churches and the synagogue as open daily from 9am to 4pm. Go in the morning. These are working churches, services fill them, and the lanes are quieter early on. Around 7 January, services can affect access, so allow some slack. Our Coptic Cairo guide, linked below, covers each building.

Sources: Egypt's State Information Service on how Egypt marks Christmas. The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of London on the Nativity fast. Both checked October 2026.

What does 25 December actually look like on the ground?

In 2026, 25 December falls on a Friday, Egypt's weekly day off. Banks and government offices are shut, and many shops in older areas close around the midday prayer and reopen in the afternoon. Sites, hotels and restaurants run as usual. Cairo malls put up decorations, tourist areas play the expected music, and that is broadly the extent of it.

Hotels and boats are different. Many hotels put up a tree and decorations. Travellers who came to escape Christmas tend to be delighted. Travellers who came to have one somewhere warm are often flat by the second course.

What is New Year's Eve like in Egypt?

Quieter than people imagine. Egypt has no big public countdown. Most of the celebrating happens inside hotels and on boats, where drink is served. Ask whether yours holds a New Year's Eve dinner, whether it is compulsory and what it costs. Public drunkenness is badly received, and New Year's Eve does not change that. If a big night out is the point of the trip, Egypt is the wrong choice. If you want the temples in good weather and a decent dinner, it works.

How busy are the sites, and how do you plan around short days?

Busy, though unevenly. The Giza plateau and the Valley of the Kings are fullest between about 9am and noon, when the coaches and cruise groups arrive together. By mid-afternoon much of the crowd has gone, but so has the light. Midwinter has the least daylight of the year, and sites close in the late afternoon. So front-load the day. Be at the gate when a site opens and take the second site straight afterwards. Keep the late afternoon for a museum, a market or the boat deck.

Plan Luxor mornings with that in mind. A balloon flight, the West Bank and a long lunch do not all fit into one morning. A balloon morning realistically holds two sites. Three tombs plus one paid extra at the Valley of the Kings takes about two and a half hours on its own. The Valley of the Queens closes in the late afternoon, with hours that move by season. Luxor Temple is the exception: it stays open into the evening and is lit after dark. That makes it a good use of the hour after sunset. In Cairo, the Coptic churches close at 4pm. Confirm each day's hours locally, because they change with the season.

At the Valley of the Kings, the general ticket covers three tombs of your choice from those open that day. The famous separately ticketed tombs draw the longest queues at the worst hour. Walk into two quieter tombs at opening; otherwise you queue for the famous tombs at eleven. Your guide will know which tombs are open, because the rotation changes.

The river gets crowded too. In high season boats moor two, three and sometimes four abreast. A river view becomes a view into another boat's lounge, and you cross strangers' reception areas to get ashore at Edfu and Kom Ombo. It is part of a peak-season cruise, so expect it.

Where should you spend the holiday: Cairo, the Nile, or the Red Sea?

The usual shape is Cairo first, then the Nile between Luxor and Aswan. Add the Red Sea if the trip runs to a fortnight. Cairo is at its most pleasant in midwinter. Islamic Cairo, the Khan el-Khalili and al-Muizz street are all on foot in the open, and in December that is a pleasure.

Upper Egypt is where the premium is heaviest, and the weather pays it back most obviously. It is also where a good guide makes the most difference. Do the temples before the beach. Temple days mean early mornings and long hours, and nobody wants that after a week of doing nothing.

Hurghada is roughly four hours by road from Luxor. The coast is windy in winter, which suits kitesurfers and windsurfers.

The sea at Hurghada is around 23C in December: swimmable, and on the cool side. The coast is also the cheaper end of the trip. Resort nights on the Red Sea are among the cheapest accommodation in the country. Once the sightseeing is over, there is no guide or transport to pay for. So three or four beach days usually add much less than the same days on the Nile. The transfer is often the larger part of that cost.

Is a Nile cruise good over Christmas and New Year?

For most people, yes. A boat is transport and hotel in one. That solves the two hardest parts of a holiday-week trip: beds in Luxor and Aswan when everything is full, and the moving between temples. Deck time in December is pleasant.

Cabins over Christmas and New Year sell out first and hold their price hardest, so fix this before anything else. The standard is three nights downstream from Aswan, or four against the current from Luxor. Boats call mainly at Edfu and Kom Ombo, and pass through the lock at Esna. Waits at the lock can hold a boat up, so allow for them.

A dahabiya is the quieter version: a small sailing boat with a handful of cabins that moors where the large boats cannot. It costs more, moves more slowly and fills earliest of all over the holidays. It suits people who want space and quiet. It is a poor fit for teenagers or anyone who wants the most sites per day.

Does Christmas in Egypt work with children?

Yes, and the weather is on your side. Midwinter is the one window where a child can walk Karnak in the middle of the day without it becoming a fight. Roughly five to twelve is the easiest age range. Children that age remember a site and are taken with painted tombs and animal-headed gods.

Keep the cruise to three or four nights, and add nights on land at either end. Our 4-day cruise from Aswan to Luxor, from US$840 per person, is that length, with domestic flights booked separately. Set expectations about mummies before you go. Almost all of the royal mummies are in Cairo, at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. In the Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun's mummy remains in his tomb, on a separate ticket.

Ask the operator in writing, and early, about pools in use in December, connecting cabins or triples, deck railings and child life jackets. The rooms that suit families go first.

Is the Western Desert a good idea in the holiday weeks?

It is the one part of Egypt where the cold is the point. Trips from Cairo run via Bahariya oasis to the Black and White Deserts. Our 14-day tour spends one night in the White Desert, at a camp or, if the camp is full, a hotel in Farafra. Midwinter gives the clearest skies of the year. It works best partway through a longer stay, or for people who have already done the temples.

Bring a real sleeping bag. Camp facilities are basic; ask the operator what the camp provides. Government travel advice for the far west changes, so check the current UK FCDO and US State Department pages before you commit.

How far ahead should you book?

Book the boat as early as you can. The small dahabiyas and the better cruise boats fill first, and domestic flights follow the same pattern. Then book the internal flights, then Cairo, which has far more hotel rooms than the Nile has cabins. Read the deposit and cancellation terms before you pay, because the boats you lose by waiting do not come back. Memphis Tours treats Christmas, New Year and Easter as a special period. Its terms set a stricter cancellation scale for those dates. Cancelling 61 days or more before arrival costs 25% of the price, and the charge reaches 100% inside 14 days. Its festive packages also ask for a 50% deposit, double its usual 25%. Ask which terms apply to your tour.

In summer, booking late saves money. Over Christmas the opposite holds: what remains late is what nobody else wanted, and it is usually worse and no cheaper. That is why we often suggest February to people who ask late about the holidays.

What should you pack for a Christmas trip?

Pack for two climates. The midday sun is still strong enough to burn, so bring a brimmed hat, sunglasses and sun cream. There is no shade at Giza and very little at Karnak. Loose long cotton or linen is cooler in direct sun than shorts.

Then pack for the cold half, which is where people get caught out. Bring a proper fleece or light down layer, long trousers, socks and closed shoes with some grip. A large scarf covers your hair for a mosque or a church and doubles as a layer on a cold deck. If the Luxor balloon is on your list, you will stand in a field before dawn, and in December that is cold. Egypt uses the round two-pin European plug, so bring adapters.

A few small practicalities. Egypt runs on 220V, so travellers from the US should check their chargers handle the voltage. Bring two adapters, because hotel rooms rarely have enough sockets. Pack a power bank too. On long days out your phone is your camera, map and torch, with nowhere to charge it. Cash machines hand out large notes, so break them early and keep the small ones for tips. There is no shade worth the name at Abu Simbel, so the hat and sun cream matter most there. Mornings on deck are as cold as the evenings, so keep the fleece within reach before breakfast.

What else changes over the holiday period?

7 January is the only public holiday in the window. What closes that day is set out in the culture section above. Ramadan moves about eleven days earlier each year. It stays out of the Christmas window until early 2030, when it starts to overlap 7 January. Check the dates against your own if you are planning further ahead.

Budget for baksheesh, because it is part of how people in tourism are paid. Allow roughly US$10 to 15 per person per day for your guide and about US$5 a day for the driver. On a cruise, add US$5 to 10 per person per night for the crew box. Carry small notes. Our tipping guide has the full breakdown by role.