How Many Days Do You Need in Egypt?

Among the trips in this guide, seven days is the shortest that pairs Cairo with a full Nile cruise. Five days covers Cairo on its own, or a fast loop through Luxor and Aswan. Ten or eleven days add Abu Simbel, a dahabiya or a few nights on the Red Sea.

Key Takeaways

• Five days fits Cairo alone (5 Days Egypt Pyramid Tour Package from the USA) or a quick Cairo, Luxor and Aswan loop (5 Day Tour to Egypt Luxury).
• Seven days is the shortest trip listed here that adds a three-night boat between Aswan and Luxor to three nights in Cairo (7 Days Cairo and Nile Cruise Package).
• Eight days gives four nights on the water (8 Days Egypt Luxury Tour) or four nights in Cairo with a free last day (08 Days Egypt Trip Package).
• Abu Simbel is part of the 8 Days Egypt All Inclusive Holiday, the 09 Days Egypt and Nubia Tour and the 10 Days Luxury Holiday Tour Egypt.
• Ten and eleven days leave room for a beach: three nights in Hurghada on the 11 Days Luxury Egypt Tour Package, or two nights in Sharm El Sheikh on the 10 Days All Inclusive Trip to Egypt.

Five and six days: Cairo, or a fast loop

With five days you choose between depth and breadth. The 5 Days Luxury Private Tour Egypt spends all five days in Cairo: the Giza Plateau, the Grand Egyptian Museum, the royal mummies, the Citadel of Saladin and Old Cairo, with private guides. Our 5 Day Tour to Egypt Luxury instead covers Cairo, Luxor and Aswan, taking the Pyramids of Giza, both banks of Luxor in a single day, then Philae and a Nubian village.

Six days gives a little more air. The 06 Days Egypt Tour keeps the Cairo, Luxor and Aswan route and adds the High Dam. The 06 Days Cairo to Luxor Tour skips Aswan and spends the time on Cairo and Luxor instead: the pyramids, both museums and Khan El Khalili, then Karnak, a hot-air balloon at sunrise and the Valley of the Kings. The Best 6 Days Egypt Itinerary covers all three cities without a cruise, staying in hotels and flying between them.

The overnight sleeper train from Giza takes roughly ten hours to reach Luxor and about 13 hours to reach Aswan. Itineraries that fly between the cities cover the same distance in a fraction of that.

Seven and eight days: Cairo plus a Nile cruise

This is the classic Cairo-plus-cruise range. The 7 Days Cairo and Nile Cruise Package gives three nights in Cairo for Giza and the Egyptian Museum, then three nights on a five-star boat from Aswan to Luxor, all privately guided. The 7 Days Luxury Egypt Trip follows the same pattern with a deluxe boat and the Grand Egyptian Museum. For something less standard, the 07 Days Egypt Adventure Tour swaps the cruise for Siwa, with a 4x4 trip into the Great Sand Sea, sandboarding and the Oracle Temple of Amun.

At eight days the Nile section grows. The 8 Days Egypt Private Tour Package runs three nights in Cairo and four on a five-star boat from Luxor to Aswan, with your own Egyptologist, vehicle and transfers. The 8 Days Egypt Luxury Tour is built the same way. The 08 Days Egypt Trip Package puts four nights in Cairo up front and a free last day, and the 8 Days Egypt All Inclusive Holiday adds Abu Simbel to Cairo and the Nile.

Nine to eleven days: Abu Simbel, a beach or a dahabiya

Nine days is where the route goes past Aswan: the 09 Days Egypt and Nubia Tour adds Philae, Kalabsha Temple, the Nubian Museum, a Nubian village and Abu Simbel to Giza and Luxor. The 10 Days Luxury Holiday Tour Egypt stretches to ten days, with five nights in Cairo and a four-night five-star cruise from Luxor to Aswan.

At ten and eleven days a beach fits. The 10 Days All Inclusive Trip to Egypt puts two nights in Sharm El Sheikh between Cairo and three nights on the boat, and the 10 Day Private Egypt Tour with Red Sea ends with three nights in Hurghada. The 11 Days Luxury Egypt Tour Package and the Best 11 Days Egypt Tour for Families are eleven-day versions with Cairo, a five-star Nile cruise and three all-inclusive nights in Hurghada. If you would rather spend the extra days on the river, the 10-Day Egypt Luxury Trip with Dahabiya Nile Cruise and the 11 Days Private Guided Egypt Tour with Dahabiya build their trips around a dahabiya, a small sailing boat that stops where cruise ships cannot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a week enough for Egypt? Yes, for Cairo and a Nile cruise. The seven-day trips in our range spend three nights in Cairo and three on a boat between Aswan and Luxor.

How many days do I need for Cairo alone? Five. The five-day Cairo itineraries cover Giza and Saqqara, both big museums, the royal mummies, the Citadel and Khan El Khalili.

Can I add the Red Sea? Yes, from ten days. Choose a trip that ends with Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh nights, such as the ones above.

Do the trips include a Nile cruise? Most trips of seven days or more do. The Siwa adventure trip does not, and none of the five- or six-day trips above include one.

Browse the whole range in our Egypt tour packages.