Egypt Trip Planner — Build Your Perfect 2026 Egypt Trip

You send us a short message — your dates, your group size, and a one-paragraph wishlist (or pick one of the 6 templates above as a starting point). Within four hours during Cairo working hours, we send back a fully built itinerary, line-by-line pricing, and 2–3 hotel options at each city. You revise as many times as you like — extra Luxor day, swap the cruise vessel, add Abu Simbel, drop Alexandria — at no extra cost. Once you sign off, a 25% deposit confirms the trip; the final balance is due 30 days before arrival. We send a 40-page pre-trip pack one week before you fly. The whole process is run from one Cairo office, by Egyptians.

No fee, no commitment, no deposit asked at the quote stage. The customisation process — first quote, all revisions, hotel option research, internal-flight pricing, cruise vessel comparison — is free. We only invoice once you have signed off on a final itinerary. Most clients go through 3–4 versions of the trip before sign-off, and we don't bill for any of it. The first reply is usually within 4 hours during Cairo working hours (9am–6pm Egypt time, GMT+2).

Eight days is the sweet spot for first-time Egypt visitors — Cairo + a 3 or 4-night Nile cruise + Abu Simbel or Alexandria. Five days is the absolute minimum for Cairo + a Luxor flight (no cruise). Ten days gives you full Cairo, full cruise, Abu Simbel and Alexandria comfortably. Twelve to fourteen days is the right length if you want to add the Red Sea (Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh) or the western desert (Bahariya, the White Desert, Siwa). We can also plan trips as short as a 4-day Cairo break and as long as a 21-day Egypt grand tour.

October through April is peak Egypt travel season — comfortable temperatures in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan (20–28°C / 68–82°F), warm enough for Red Sea swimming, clear blue skies. November and March are our personal favourites because shoulder pricing kicks in but the weather is reliable. December 24 – January 5 and Easter week are the busiest periods (book 6 months ahead). June, July and August are hot in Luxor and Aswan (40°C / 104°F) but the Red Sea stays comfortable, and trip prices drop 15–25% — so summer is the cheapest time to visit Egypt.

For October–April (high season) plan at least 3 months ahead — Nile cruise cabins, Giza-view rooms and Abu Simbel flights all sell out. For Christmas / New Year and Easter week, plan 6 months out. For May–September (shoulder / summer) 4–6 weeks is usually enough. We can often still build a trip 10–14 days out, but you will have less choice of cruise vessel and less negotiating room on hotel categories. The earlier you start the planner conversation, the more upgrades we can include at no extra cost.

Standard inclusions on every itinerary built through the planner: airport transfers on arrival and departure, 4- and 5-star hotel accommodation with daily breakfast, all domestic flights or sleeper-train tickets inside Egypt, full-board Nile cruise where the itinerary includes one (breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea), all sightseeing entry fees to temples, tombs, pyramids and museums (including the Grand Egyptian Museum), an English-speaking Egyptologist guide for every site visit, and all ground transport in private air-conditioned vehicles. Excluded by default: international flights, your Egypt e-visa ($25 online), tipping, personal drinks and any optional excursions (hot-air balloon, dive gear, Great Pyramid chamber). Everything is itemised in the quote so you can see what moves the price.

Yes — family Egypt trips are roughly 30% of our bookings. We typically pace family itineraries with one historical site and one "fun thing" per day (camel ride at Giza, cooking class in Aswan, sound-and-light at Karnak, cruise pool day, felucca sunset). Tell us the kids' ages on the first message — under 5, 5–9, 10–14, 15+ all need different pacing. We have run trips with kids as young as five. Family rooms (triple, quad, connecting) are pre-checked at every hotel before we send the quote.

Yes. The tourist zones we route through (Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Abu Simbel, Alexandria) are heavily protected. Tourism and antiquities police presence is high. Your private guide travels with you the entire day, and all transfers are in private, tracked vehicles. We do not route into the Sinai interior or near the Libyan border. US, UK, Canadian and Australian governments all currently list our operating zones as safe for travel with normal precautions — you can verify the latest advisory on your country's travel.gov site before booking.

International flights: we can book them as part of your planned trip (we work with EgyptAir, BA, Lufthansa, Emirates and Qatar) but most travellers find slightly better prices booking directly with airlines. We are happy either way. Egypt e-visa: $25, applied online at visa2egypt.gov.eg, takes 5–7 business days — we send you the exact walkthrough after sign-off. Travel insurance: not included in the package, but strongly recommended. We can connect you to two providers we trust (World Nomads for under-65, Allianz for over-65) but you book direct.

Free date-change up to 30 days before arrival. Free name-change on the booking up to 14 days before. Cancellation: 100% refund of deposit minus any non-refundable hotel deposits up to 60 days before arrival, 50% between 60 and 30 days, 0% inside 30 days (industry-standard terms). Mid-trip changes (extra Luxor day, swap a cruise excursion, extend Cairo) are usually free if we can rebook at the same supplier rate; if there's a price difference, we just pass through the cost.