← All Egypt tours
Egypt
8 days · Nile & Red Sea
Cairo, Luxor and Hurghada: an 8 day Egypt itinerary
No boat on this one. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a night in Luxor for both banks, two nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies.
from US$2,040 / per person
- Length
- 8 days
- Pace
- Easy
- Type
- Nile & Red Sea
- Style
- Private
- Where
- Cairo
- From
- from US$2,040 pp
About this trip
What this 8 day Egypt itinerary is like
No boat on this one. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a night in Luxor for both banks, two nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies.
This is a nile & red sea route through Cairo · Luxor · Hurghada, run privately unless you pick a group departure. Your guide is a licensed Egyptologist who lives on the route rather than flying in with the group.
Nothing here is fixed. Days can be added, dropped or reordered, and we will tell you honestly which optional sites are worth the extra ticket.
Accommodation and price
Three ways to travel this route
The route is the same in all three. What changes is where you sleep, and on a Nile trip that is most of the difference in price: the boat is the hotel for half the journey. Prices are per person, land only, and exclude international flights.
Standard
US$2,040
per person, land only
- Cairo
- Flamenco Hotel or similar
- 4 nights, breakfast
- Luxor
- Iberotel Luxor or similar
- 1 night, breakfast
- Hurghada
- Swiss Inn Resort Hurghada or similar
- 2 nights, soft all-inclusive with breakfast, lunch and dinner
Comfort
US$2,470
per person, land only
- Cairo
- Steigenberger Hotel El Tahrir or similar
- 4 nights, breakfast
- Luxor
- Sonesta St. George Hotel or similar
- 1 night, breakfast
- Hurghada
- Continental Hotel Hurghada or similar
- 2 nights, soft all-inclusive with breakfast, lunch and dinner
Luxury
US$2,750
per person, land only
- Cairo
- Four Seasons First Residence or similar
- 4 nights, breakfast
- Luxor
- Steigenberger Nile Palace or similar
- 1 night, breakfast
- Hurghada
- KaiSol Romance Resort or similar
- 2 nights, soft all-inclusive with breakfast, lunch and dinner
Hotels and boats are the ones our partner books on this route and are named so you know what you are buying. A specific boat can be swapped for an equivalent in the same category when it is dry-docked or full, which is why each one says or similar. You are told which boat you are on before you pay.
Your trip
Day by day
Open any day for the full description. Every day can be changed before anything is booked.
Day 1Arrive in Cairo
Met at Cairo international airport by your tour leader, taken to the hotel and walked through the plan for the week, including the pick-up time for each day. Nothing else is scheduled.Read the full day →
Met at Cairo international airport by your tour leader, taken to the hotel and walked through the plan for the week, including the pick-up time for each day. Nothing else is scheduled.
- Day 2
Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum
The Pyramids and the Sphinx in the morning, with a short camel ride included, then lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon goes to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Tutankhamun treasures. Back to the hotel afterwards.Read the full day →
The Pyramids and the Sphinx in the morning, with a short camel ride included, then lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon goes to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Tutankhamun treasures. Back to the hotel afterwards.
Day 3Fly to Luxor and the west bank
Collected from the hotel and flown south to Luxor — that flight is in the price. Straight to the west bank for the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, with lunch at a local restaurant. On to your Luxor hotel for the night.Read the full day →
Collected from the hotel and flown south to Luxor — that flight is in the price. Straight to the west bank for the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, with lunch at a local restaurant. On to your Luxor hotel for the night.
Day 4Karnak, Luxor Temple, then the drive to Hurghada
The east bank in the morning: Karnak and Luxor temples, then lunch locally. After that the road east to Hurghada and your hotel, with dinner there. A balloon flight over the west bank is offered here as a paid extra.Read the full day →
The east bank in the morning: Karnak and Luxor temples, then lunch locally. After that the road east to Hurghada and your hotel, with dinner there. A balloon flight over the west bank is offered here as a paid extra.
Day 5A free day at Hurghada
Nothing booked. The beach, or one of the optional excursions the hotel and the operator can arrange. All three meals are covered by the soft all-inclusive board.Read the full day →
Nothing booked. The beach, or one of the optional excursions the hotel and the operator can arrange. All three meals are covered by the soft all-inclusive board.
Day 6A free morning, then back to Cairo
Breakfast and a last morning at the coast, then the transfer to Hurghada airport and the flight to Cairo, which is included. Met on arrival and taken to your hotel.Read the full day →
Breakfast and a last morning at the coast, then the transfer to Hurghada airport and the flight to Cairo, which is included. Met on arrival and taken to your hotel.
Day 7The Mummies, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo
A full Cairo day: the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the Royal Mummies Hall, then the Citadel of Saladin and the alabaster mosque of Mohamed Ali. Lunch at a local restaurant, then Coptic Cairo — the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.Read the full day →
A full Cairo day: the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the Royal Mummies Hall, then the Citadel of Saladin and the alabaster mosque of Mohamed Ali. Lunch at a local restaurant, then Coptic Cairo — the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
Day 8Departure
Breakfast, then a transfer to Cairo International whenever your flight goes.Read the full day →
Breakfast, then a transfer to Cairo International whenever your flight goes.
Want this written up for your dates — travel times, what each day asks of you and where you would sleep? Ask us for the full 8-day plan. We send it before you commit to anything.
Included
What the price covers
- ✓Met at the airports by the operator’s own representatives
- ✓Guest relations support for the length of your stay
- ✓All transfers in a private air-conditioned vehicle
- ✓Domestic flights Cairo–Luxor and Hurghada–Cairo
- ✓The road transfer from Luxor to Hurghada
- ✓Seven nights: four in Cairo, one in Luxor, two at Hurghada, at the plan level you choose
- ✓All Cairo sightseeing as private tours
- ✓English-speaking guide on your tours
- ✓Bottled water in the vehicle during touring
- ✓Breakfast daily from day 2, lunch on each touring day, and soft all-inclusive at the Hurghada hotel
- ✓A short camel ride at Giza
- ✓Porterage where needed
- ✓All service charges and taxes
Not included
What to budget separately
- —International flights
- —Egypt entry visa
- —Extra meals and drinks beyond the ones listed
- —Optional tours, including the balloon flight at Luxor and any excursions at Hurghada
- —Tipping
- —Additional entry tickets — going inside one of the pyramids, or into the tomb of Tutankhamun, is paid at the gate
Good to know
Questions about this trip
Is there a Nile cruise on this trip?+
No. Luxor is one night in a hotel, not a sailing, and the Red Sea days replace the river entirely. You see both Luxor banks in a day and a half, which is the same ground a cruise covers there, but you miss Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan. If the boat is the point of the trip, take one of the cruise itineraries instead.
Are domestic flights included?+
Two of the three moves are flights and both are in the price: Cairo to Luxor on day 3 and Hurghada to Cairo on day 6. The Luxor to Hurghada leg is a road transfer, also included. International flights into and out of Egypt are not.
How long is the drive from Luxor to Hurghada?+
It is a desert road crossing from the Nile valley to the coast, and it takes most of an afternoon. It happens on day 4, after the Karnak and Luxor Temple morning and lunch, so the sightseeing is behind you before you get in the vehicle. The transfer is private and air-conditioned.
Which sightseeing is private?+
The operator specifies that the Cairo sightseeing is run as private tours, with your own guide and driver. All transfers on the trip are private and air-conditioned, and you have an English-speaking guide on your touring days. If the arrangement in Luxor matters to you, ask the operator to confirm it in writing when you enquire.
Is two nights at Hurghada worth it?+
It is a stop rather than a beach holiday. You get one properly free day plus a free morning, on soft all-inclusive board, which is enough to stop moving and swim but not enough to build a week around. Anyone who wants the Red Sea as half the trip should be looking at a longer itinerary.
What is not included?+
International flights, your Egypt visa, extra meals and drinks, optional tours, tipping, and additional entry tickets. That last one catches people out: going inside one of the pyramids, or into the tomb of Tutankhamun, is a separate ticket bought at the gate.
How much should we budget for tipping?+
Tipping is excluded from the price and it is a real line in an Egypt budget rather than loose change. Reckon on US$10–15 per person per day for your guide and about US$5 for the driver. There is no cruise crew box on this trip, but hotel and resort staff expect small notes too. Break large notes whenever you get the chance.
Official sources
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
- Egypt e-visa portal ↗The official government application site. Fees and eligibility change here first.
- UK FCDO travel advice for Egypt ↗It updates continuously, and most UK travel insurance follows it.
- Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ↗The ministry lists which tombs and temples currently open.
What this trip looks like
Before you travel
What you can hold us to
No middlemen taking a cut
You are quoted by the local company that runs the trip. No booking fee and no surcharge at the airport.
A licensed Egyptologist, every site
Not a tour escort with a flag. Our partner uses guides who have spent twenty years on the same temples.
We say when something is not worth it
Some tickets are. Some are a queue in the heat. We will tell you which before you pay for them.
Private unless it says group
Your guide, your driver, your pace. Group departures are labelled clearly on the card and the page.
Someone answers the phone
Our partner is in Egypt, in Egyptian hours, and you are put in touch with them directly rather than through a chain.
Change it before you commit
Every itinerary is a starting point. Add days, drop sites, reorder — nothing is fixed until you say so.
Pace
How hard is easy?
Short walks on level ground, a few flights of temple steps, and air-conditioned transport between sites. Suitable for most ages.
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates and we will price it
A real itinerary with prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
from US$2,040 / per person
Or message us on WhatsApp.
8 days · Nile & Red Sea
from US$2,040 · per person