How many days in Egypt do you need?

Ten days is the answer for most first trips. 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. Everything longer is about adding a second region, such as the Red Sea or the Western Desert.

Below is the short answer for every length from five days to three weeks. Each length has its own itinerary page on this site, with two or three routes set out day by day.

How many days in Egypt: the short answer by length

5 days: one region only. Cairo in depth, Cairo plus Luxor with one internal flight, or a Nile cruise on its own. No room for Cairo and a cruise together.

6 days: Cairo and Luxor by air, or Cairo with a short cruise and almost no slack.

7 days: Cairo and a short Nile cruise. The classic route works, but only just.

8 to 9 days: Cairo and a full four-night cruise between Luxor and Aswan, without the rush.

10 days: the classic route plus Abu Simbel and two nights in Aswan. The best length for most first trips.

11 to 13 days: the classic route plus one addition, either the Red Sea or the Western Desert.

14 to 16 days: the classic route at a slow pace, or with a week on the Red Sea.

18 to 21 days: the whole country, or Egypt combined with Jordan or Greece.

First, subtract the travel days

The number on the booking is larger than the number of days you spend sightseeing. A long-haul flight usually lands in Cairo on day one and leaves on the last day. From Europe, those two days go mostly to airports and transfers.

So a seven-day trip is really five useful days. A ten-day trip is about eight. Plan the sightseeing around the useful days and the trip holds together. Plan it around the booked days and you spend the difference in departure halls.

Five or six days: pick one region

Five days on the ground is one region done well or two done badly. The famous sites sit at opposite ends of a long country, and every move between them costs time.

Cairo and a Nile cruise do not fit together in five days. The shortest boats run three nights, and the flights at each end eat almost everything else. A five-day trip can be the cruise on its own: our 4-day Aswan to Luxor cruise and 5-day Luxor to Aswan cruise both fit, with no Cairo. To combine Cairo and the river you need seven days, and eight to be comfortable.

With Cairo in the plan, that leaves two five-day routes. Route one is Cairo plus the temples of Luxor, with one internal flight and a faster pace. Route two stays in Cairo and goes deep. Our 5 days in Egypt itinerary sets out both day by day.

Six days opens a second option: Cairo with a short cruise. It squeezes Cairo into a single day and leaves no slack. For most first-timers, Cairo and Luxor by air is the stronger six-day trip. The 6 days in Egypt itinerary compares the two.

Seven days: Cairo and a short cruise

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

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

There are two other ways to spend a week. You can drop the boat and stay on land in Cairo and Luxor, which gives Luxor its early mornings and lit evenings. Or you can do Cairo, a day and a half in Luxor, then the Red Sea. Hurghada is about four hours by road from Luxor. The 7 days in Egypt itinerary compares all three routes.

Eight or nine days: the classic route without the rush

Eight days is the shortest length that fits Cairo properly and a full four-night cruise between Luxor and Aswan. It gives you a margin. One delayed flight does not cost you the Valley of the Kings.

Nine days adds one more day of slack. Spend it where the trip is weakest, usually Cairo at the start or Aswan at the end. Both lengths also work with the Red Sea or the Western Desert in place of part or all of the Nile. See the 8 days in Egypt and 9 days in Egypt itineraries.

Ten days: the best length for a first trip

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 and lets you see the museum without watching the clock. It also leaves an evening in Aswan doing nothing on a felucca.

Abu Simbel is roughly 280 kilometres south of Aswan. The flight takes about 45 minutes each way. The cheaper option is the pre-dawn road convoy. On ten days it fits without hollowing out the rest of the trip.

Ten days will not hold the full classic route and a second region together. You can trade part of the Nile for the Red Sea or the Western Desert, but you lose something to do it. The 10 days in Egypt itinerary shows all three versions.

Eleven to thirteen days: the classic route plus one addition

These lengths give you the ten-day classic with room to breathe, plus one addition. Pick a few nights on the Red Sea or two nights in the Western Desert.

Pick one. Trying to fit both is the mistake these lengths invite. Adding the coast or the desert usually means dropping Abu Simbel to make room.

The Western Desert is a cool-season trip, roughly October to April. Before you book it, read the US State Department and UK FCDO pages for Egypt. Desert areas are treated separately from the Nile Valley, and your insurance follows that advice. Summer heat makes the drives and the camping unpleasant, and winter nights can approach freezing. The 11, 12 and 13 days in Egypt itineraries each set out three routes.

Fourteen days: add the Red Sea

Two weeks buys a second region. Six days of ruins is already plenty, so the extra days go to the coast or the desert. The fourteen-day shape is the classic sites, then seven nights on the coast at Hurghada or Marsa Alam. You fly home from there.

With children, this is usually the version that works best. The temples come first, then a week on the coast.

Two other fourteen-day routes work well. One runs the classic route slowly, with three full days in Cairo. The other adds the White Desert and a night camped under the sky. The 14 days in Egypt itinerary covers all three.

Fifteen and sixteen days stretch the same choices. Sixteen is the shortest length that fits the desert, the Nile and a proper stretch of coast in one loop. That route is cool-season only. See the 15 days in Egypt and 16 days in Egypt itineraries.

Eighteen to twenty-one days: the whole country, or two

Beyond a fortnight, extra days inside Egypt mostly buy rest and margin. The other use for them is a second country.

Eighteen days fits the whole of Egypt, Nile and Western Desert both, with Alexandria at the end. It also fits Egypt and Jordan, which sit about an hour and a half apart by air. Our Egypt and Jordan page puts the range for the two-country trip at twelve to sixteen days. The 18 days in Egypt itinerary sets out the routes.

Twenty-one days is the full circuit of Egypt, every region included. Or it is a proper week and a bit each in Egypt and Jordan. A third option pairs Egypt with Greece, but only in spring or autumn, because the two countries peak in opposite seasons. The 21 days in Egypt itinerary covers all three.

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 of sites.

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?

Under five days, stay in Cairo. Giza, Saqqara, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Islamic Cairo fill four days comfortably. Cairo plus a cruise needs at least seven.

Which length suits you

First trip, and you want the famous sites seen properly: ten days on the classic route.

Travelling with children: fourteen days, with the temples first and a week on the coast.

Short on leave: seven days, Cairo and a cruise, and accept the pace.

Been before, or a cruise does not appeal: ten to fourteen days with the Western Desert, between October and April. Check the US State Department and UK FCDO advice for the desert first.