Practical

What to Pack for Egypt: Temples, Desert Nights and the Red Sea

What to pack for Egypt comes down to three different climates in one trip: hot dusty ruins, cold nights on the river and in the desert, and a coast where the rules change entirely. Most people over-pack clothes and under-pack the small things that actually matter. This is the list we give our own travellers.

What should you wear at temples and tombs?

Temples and tombs are hot, dusty and largely unshaded. Loose long cotton or linen beats shorts and a vest: covered arms and legs are cooler in direct sun and stop you burning through the afternoon. Pale colours hide the limestone dust better than dark ones. Egypt has no dress code at archaeological sites and nobody will stop you in shorts. The reason to cover up is heat, and the attention you attract in the street afterwards.

Working mosques are different. Shoes come off, shoulders and knees stay covered, and women need something over their hair. A large scarf handles that, and saves you borrowing the covering that mosques keep by the door. Coptic churches are less strict but the same instinct applies. Pack one scarf that can also deal with desert wind and a cold boat deck at night. It earns its space more than any other single item.

Why do beach clothes not work anywhere else?

The Red Sea resorts run as enclaves. Inside the grounds swimwear is normal and nobody comments. Step into a local street or market in Hurghada in the same outfit and you are the only person dressed like that. Pack for two holidays: swimwear and light cover-ups for the coast, then something with sleeves for the walk to a restaurant. A sarong or a loose long shirt covers both jobs and dries in an hour.

Reef shoes are worth it if you enter the water from a beach rather than a boat ladder. Red Sea coral is sharp and sea urchins sit in the shallows. A rash vest matters more than most people expect: snorkel for half an hour and your back burns straight through the water without you feeling it. It is one of the most common problems we see on the coast, and it ruins the following two days.

Why is everyone cold on a Nile cruise?

Egypt's daytime heat hides how far the temperature drops once the sun goes down. Between roughly November and March, a boat's sundeck after dark is genuinely cold, and the air coming off the water makes it feel colder still. Luxor and Aswan can be well over 30C at two in the afternoon and jumper weather by nine. Nearly everyone packs for the afternoon and then spends the evenings indoors because they brought nothing warm.

Desert nights are worse. In the Western Desert or Sinai, clear skies and dry air mean the temperature falls fast as soon as the light goes. If you are sleeping out, you want a proper fleece or a light down layer and socks, not a cardigan. There is also the air conditioning problem: coaches, restaurants and hotel lobbies run cold, so in summer you swing between 40C outside and something like a fridge indoors all day.

How do you handle sun where there is no shade?

There is no shade at Giza, very little at Karnak and none worth the name at Abu Simbel. Whatever you would wear in southern Europe, go a step further. A brimmed hat rather than a cap, because ears and the back of the neck burn first. Sunglasses matter more than usual, since pale limestone throws glare back at you all day. Sunscreen is sold in Egypt, but the choice is thin and the price high, so bring your own and bring more than you think.

A hat with a cord or chinstrap is the detail people wish they had packed. Wind on the Nile and in open desert takes ordinary hats off your head, sometimes into the water. Lip balm with sun protection is worth the space; dry heat and wind split lips within a couple of days. And remember the places people miss: the tops of your feet in sandals, and the backs of your hands on an open boat deck.

What footwear works on uneven tomb floors?

Tomb interiors are ramped, stepped and worn smooth in patches, with fine dust sitting on top. Some passages are steep and the handrails are not always where you want them. Closed shoes with a bit of grip beat sandals, which fill with grit and slide on polished stone. You do not need hiking boots. That is overkill for what is mostly flat walking with short awkward sections, and heavy boots are miserable in the heat.

One pair of trainers or light walking shoes plus one pair of sandals covers the whole trip. Slip-on styles help at mosques, where shoes come off repeatedly and you want to be quick about it. Bring socks you do not mind ruining, because everything ends up the colour of the desert. Add flip-flops if you are going to the coast, and that is genuinely all the footwear you need for a fortnight.

What should you bring for an upset stomach?

Assume you will have at least one bad day. Rehydration salts matter more than anything else, because dehydration in that heat is what turns a mild upset into a lost day and a doctor's visit. Bring a few sachets so you have them at three in the morning, before anyone can get to a pharmacy. Loperamide is worth carrying for travel days, but treat it as a way to survive a coach journey rather than a cure.

Beyond that, pack lightly. Egyptian pharmacies are good, everywhere, cheap, and the staff often speak English, so there is little point carrying a full medicine cabinet from home. Ask your GP whether standby antibiotics make sense for you; that is their call, not ours. Do bring hand gel and a packet of tissues, because toilets at the sites frequently have neither paper nor soap and there is usually an attendant expecting a coin.

Plugs, cash and the small notes you need for tipping

Egypt runs on 220V with the round two-pin European plug, so British and Irish visitors need an adapter, and travellers from the US should check their chargers handle the voltage. Bring two adapters, because hotel rooms rarely have enough sockets for a couple of phones and a camera. A power bank earns its place: you are out for long days using your phone as camera, map and torch, with nowhere to charge it.

Tipping is constant and small. The man who steadies you onto the boat, the toilet attendant, the driver, the housekeeper. It only works if you have small Egyptian notes, and cash machines hand you large ones. Break notes early and hoard the small ones deliberately. Cards work at hotels and larger restaurants and almost nowhere else that matters day to day. Bring some clean, untorn euros or dollars to change on arrival.

What to pack for Egypt, and what to leave behind

Leave the drone at home. Egypt restricts them tightly, they get taken at the airport, and there is no reliable way to get one back. Skip the water filter bottle too: sealed bottled water is everywhere and cheap, and refill points barely exist outside your hotel or boat. A travel hairdryer, heavy binoculars and more than a week of clothes are all dead weight, since laundry is cheap and comes back the same day.

A head torch is optional; your phone handles the dim corners of a tomb well enough. Do not bring jewellery you would be upset to lose, or anything that dust would spoil. And do not panic-buy technical clothing before you fly. Two loose long-sleeved shirts and a pair of lightweight trousers you already own will do the job better than expensive fabric bought in a rush the week before.

Common questions

How much should I actually pack for a two-week trip?+

Five or six days of clothes covers a fortnight, since you will have laundry done at least once along the way. The bigger constraint is the bag itself. Internal flights have their own baggage limits, and on Nile boats and at small hotels your case is carried up narrow stairs by hand, so a soft bag you can lift yourself beats a large hard case.

Does the packing list change between summer and winter?+

Yes, at both ends. From June to September the heat in Luxor and Aswan decides everything: the lightest cover you can find, and more sun protection than you think you need. From December to February the days are pleasant, but darkness comes early and the evenings are cold enough for a fleece and long trousers. Spring and autumn need a bit of each, which is why one warm layer travels all year.

Can I buy what I forget once I am there?+

Most of it. Cairo has full-size supermarkets and pharmacies, and clothes are cheap if you need another shirt. The exceptions are things where quality or fit matters: sunscreen choice is limited and expensive, specific prescription medicines may not match your brand, and comfortable walking shoes in your size are hard to find in a hurry. Bring those, buy the rest.

What should be in my day bag at the sites?+

Water, small notes, tissues, hand gel, sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat. Add a light scarf if there is any chance of a mosque. Keep your passport somewhere secure, since you need it for internal flights and sometimes at checkpoints, and a photo of it on your phone is a sensible backup. A small bag that zips shut keeps dust out of everything.

Are there medicines I should not bring into Egypt?+

Egypt restricts some painkillers and sedatives that are ordinary at home, including codeine-based tablets and tramadol. Carry prescription medicines in their original packaging with a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor, and check current rules with the Egyptian embassy before you fly. The quantities that cause trouble are usually large ones, but the paperwork costs you nothing.