Seven Days in Egypt: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Without the Rush

The plan

Cairo, days 1–3 Day 1 — land, check in, and take a dinner cruise on the Nile. Day 2 — the Old Kingdom in one go: Giza and the Sphinx, Saqqara, Memphis. Day 3 — the Grand Egyptian Museum in the morning, Islamic and Coptic Cairo after lunch, Khan El Khalili to end the day.

Luxor, days 4–5 Day 4 — morning flight south; Karnak and Luxor Temple on the east bank that afternoon. Day 5 — balloon at sunrise, then the west bank: the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple and the Colossi.

Aswan, days 6–7 Day 6 — fly, or drive to take in Edfu and Kom Ombo on the way. Philae, the High Dam, and a felucca at sunset. Day 7 — Abu Simbel at dawn, then fly home from Aswan or connect through Cairo.

Why in that order

Start in Cairo, where jet lag matters least because you are looking rather than climbing down into tombs. Luxor comes next: it is the most intense sightseeing, and you want to arrive with energy. End in Aswan, the calmest city in Egypt and a good place to slow down.

Mistake one: one city too many

The usual error is squeezing Alexandria, the Red Sea and Siwa into seven days. Egypt is big — 900 kilometres from Cairo to Aswan — and every move costs at least half a day.

Three cities in a week is right. Four can be done but tires you. Five is a mistake.

Mistake two: going everywhere by road

Cairo to Luxor is ten hours by road, or one hour in the air for about $80. The overnight sleeper train sounds romantic and turns out to be uncomfortable.

Take the plane. Save the road for Luxor to Aswan, where stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo makes the four hours worth it.

With eight days

Swap the Luxor and Aswan hotels for a Nile cruise. It costs about the same, saves two hotel moves, and for many people the sailing between temples ends up the highlight.

With ten

Finish with four nights on the Red Sea. Hurghada is an hour's flight from Cairo and forty minutes from Luxor, and after a week of monuments, three days of doing nothing is the right call.