Travel to Egypt

almost all of the great history lies in the Nile Valley

Given that Egypt is a very arid country where agriculture and human settlement is largely restricted to the ribbon of green that flanks the Nile River, it is remarkable that the country is the fourteenth most populous in the world, with over 100 million inhabitants.

Only in the vast deserts away from the river can one truly experience solitude.

Just 5% of Egypt’s 400,000 square miles is occupied, with the remaining 95% comprising a large eastern section of the virtually uninhabitable Sahara Desert.

Nowhere is Egypt’s vast population more evident than in the capital Cairo, where over 22 million people live within the greater metropolitan area. The city is chaotic, noisy, polluted and grid-locked, making it a challenging introduction to the country, one which many visitors choose to skip, heading instead to the pyramids of Giza for a first stop.

Heading south up the Nile, human populations thin out rapidly by comparison, with verdant fields shaded by endless stands of date palms.

For the majority of visitors whose primary interest is the ancient history of the country, the main sites of interest are generally located on the open rocky ground that lines the riverine floodplains – a heady mix of pyramids, temples, tombs and lost cities.

Most people start with three nights in Cairo, taking plenty of time to visit the Great Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, as well as deploying a day exploring the lesser-visited pyramids and vast necropolis of the nearby Saqqara area, just to the south.

From there, most visitors fly or take the overnight train south to Luxor, where archaeological highlights include the remarkable temples of Luxor and Karnak, as well as the tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. The west bank of the Nile in this area is relatively peaceful, with a handful of small rural hotels which make great bases for another 3-4 night stay. Further highlights in this area include an early morning balloon flight and a night-time visit to the illuminated temples.

The next step in the journey is usually a boat cruise from Luxor, upstream to Aswan. This 3-5 night journey provides a uniquely relaxing section of a trip, with plenty of time to simply sit on deck and watch the world go by. The routing usually involves stops at some or all of the impressive archaeological sites at Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo.

Reaching Aswan, it is usual to spend a further 1-3 nights in one of the riverside or lakeside hotels, visiting more archaeological sites on Elephantine Island and Philae Island, exploring the very cool and authentic Nubian villages, and maybe visiting the ancient quarry to see the enormous Unfinished Obelisk. This part of Egypt has an even more relaxed feel and is not to be missed.

The final stop on this Nile journey is Abu Simbel, where a pair of gigantic rock-carved temples sits above Lake Nasser. This can be done as a flying trip on the way back to Cairo, but there are reasons to include a night here too.

From Aswan it is possible to fly back to Cairo for departure, making a total trip of around 10-17 nights.

Visitors who have experienced Egypt before may look to include other more unusual locations in a return trip.

Perhaps the most exciting option is to undertake a week-long overland exploration of the western deserts, where a string of oases offer superb desert scenery, further ancient sites and fascinating contemporary Berber tribal cultures. However, some of these areas are often placed off-limits due to security concerns.

Another option is to add some time out on the beaches of the Red Sea, where there are a plethora of resorts and some fabulous diving. The areas of Hurghada and El Quseir are easily reached by road from Luxor. The renowned Sharm el-Sheikh over on the Sinai Peninsula is rarely combined with the Nile, but tends to be visited in isolation.

A few visitors choose to include the coastal city of Alexandria in their trip, usually flying there and back from Cairo. Unfortunately the two ancient sites of great renown, the Pharos and the Library, no longer exist, and the sprawling city is largely charmless with dense high-rise towers, and the majority of its once-grand historical buildings now sadly crumbling and neglected.

Most returning visitors tend to be primarily interested in the remarkable archaeology of the country and are therefore focused on visiting ever-more remote and obscure sites along the Nile, for example:

• The Osireion at Abydos, an extremely old subterranean site where precise megalithic stonework hints at ancient high technology.

• The Temple of Hathor at Dendera, where engravings depict a very early astrological calendar and some apparent electrical devices of great mystery.

• Temple sites around the upper part of Lake Nasser, close to the border with Sudan, are very rarely visited, usually when undertaking the unusual route south into the Land of the Black Pharaohs, ending at Khartoum.

Seasonality

Egypt is usually best visited during the Oct-Apr fall-winter-spring period, preferably avoiding the busy Xmas and Easter vacations.

The converse May-Sep summer is relatively quiet (less so in Jul-Aug), but is extraordinarily hot.

Getting around

Egypt is relatively easy to get to and has a good network of internal transport connections.

International flights

The vast majority of visitors to Egypt fly into the capital, Cairo, which is situated 200 km inland from the Mediterranean, in the north of the country.

It is usually best to arrive into Cairo before 3pm, so that you can get out to Giza for your first stop. At the end of the trip, you will probably be flying back to Cairo from Luxor, Aswan or Hurghada and then connecting directly out.

There are some limited international flights direct into Luxor, which could be of interest if you are happy to skip Cairo and the great pyramids at Giza. Direct flights into Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada tend to be used for beach packages only.

Internal flights

Egypt is quite a large country, spanning 1420 km from north to south, and 1275 km east to west, so distances between key destinations in Egypt can be significant.

Internal flights are a good option, with flight durations usually being no more than one hour. Most internal flights are operated by EgyptAir and there is a reasonably good network of connections, although delays are common.

The most useful internal flights are those which route out from Cairo south to Luxor or Aswan. Most visitors fly out to one and return from the other.

If you want to head to the Red Sea coast, then both Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh have regular connections with the capital.

Flights between Cairo and Alexandria can be surprisingly infrequent, given the vast size of the two cities. Most people prefer to travel by road, since it only takes just over a couple of hours and is considerably cheaper.

Trains

Travelling by train arguably delivers a more authentic and involving trip, so may be worth considering.

The train service that runs up and down the Nile Valley, from the Mediterranean coastline all the way south to Aswan, is primarily aimed at domestic travellers. It is reasonably reliable and definitely usable, although journeys often take longer than published as delays are common.

Booking one of the recently-introduced fast Talgo trains, or a first-class carriage on a standard train, is recommended to avoid the run-down and rather grubby alternatives.

The services most commonly used by visitors to Egypt are the overnight sleeper trains from Cairo to Luxor and the three-hour ride from Luxor to Aswan.

Road connections

There are a few road connections in Egypt which are regularly used, notably:

Luxor to Aswan : 3.5 hours
Luxor to Hurghada : 4.5 hours
Luxor to Quseir : 3 hours
Cairo to Alexandria : 3 hours
Cairo to Siwa : 8 hours

All other routes are either better done by air/boat or the areas are inaccessible for security reasons.

Please note that the fact a route appears to be widely offered does not mean that it can be legally travelled. For example, there are many local operators taking people out into the western deserts even when this is expressly forbidden by the Egyptian government. We will leave you to figure out how this manages to continue.

We do not recommend the use of any public road transport such as buses, coaches or taxis.

Boat cruises

A high proportion of visitors to Egypt include some time on a boat along the Nile. By far the most frequently traversed sector is Luxor to Aswan (in either direction), which takes 3-5 nights and includes some really interesting archaeological sites along the way. There is a wide choice of comfortable boats on this route, ranging from relatively large luxury cruise ships to the more traditional and romantic dahabiya sailboats.

Boat connections

There are also ferry boats that run the length of Lake Nasser, connecting Aswan with the Sudan border, for hardy travellers heading south into the Land of the Black Pharaohs and Khartoum.

hypnotic experiences beyond the archaeology