How many days in Egypt do you need?

The honest answer is ten days. That covers Cairo properly, a four-night Nile cruise, and enough slack that one delayed flight does not wreck the trip. Everything shorter involves a real trade-off, and everything longer is about adding the Red Sea rather than more temples.

Seven days: Cairo and a short cruise

A week works if you fly into Cairo, give it two nights, then fly south for a three-night cruise. It is tight. You will see Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and Philae, and you will feel slightly rushed at each.

What gets cut: Abu Simbel, Saqqara, and any time at all sitting still.

Ten days: the sweet spot

Two nights Cairo, a four-night cruise, two nights in Aswan and a buffer day. This is the version most people should book. It adds Abu Simbel, lets you see the museum without watching the clock, and leaves an evening in Aswan doing nothing on a felucca.

Fourteen days: add the Red Sea

Two weeks is not twice as many temples — six days of ruins is already plenty. The fourteen-day shape is the classic sites followed by seven nights on the coast at Hurghada or Marsa Alam, flying home from there.

This is a very common shape of Egypt trip in Germany and Italy, and with children it is the only version that really works.

Where the extra days actually go

People assume more days means more sites. Mostly it means more slack. A ten-day trip and a seven-day trip visit a similar list; the difference is that the longer one survives a delayed internal flight without losing the Valley of the Kings.

The other thing extra days buy is mornings. On a tight schedule every day starts early, because the heat forces it and the timetable allows nothing else. Add three days and two of those mornings become yours.

How many days in Egypt is too few?

Do Cairo only, and do it well. Giza, Saqqara, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Islamic Cairo fill four days comfortably. Trying to add the Nile in five days means two internal flights and a lot of airports.