When we started planning our Egypt itinerary, everyone told us the same thing: “Just book a package tour. It’s easier, safer, and costs the same anyway.”
As a group of 4 independent travelers who prefer exploring at our own pace, that didn’t sit well with us. Package tours meant fixed schedules, forced shopping stops, and zero flexibility. Plus, after searching online, we found almost no practical information about visiting Egypt without a tour. Just warnings about potential hassle and scams of people who had joined a package tour.
So we decided to find out for ourselves: Can you actually travel Egypt independently? Is it really just as expensive as a package tour? And is the hassle worth the freedom?
To get straight to the conclusion: We’re glad we went DIY and it’s totally possible. Here’s our complete Egypt itinerary for traveling without a package tour, including exactly what we paid, what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently next time.
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission when you click on them, at no additional cost to you. It just helps to keep this site running. I only promote products and services I really recommend and always give my honest opinion about them.
Table of Contents - Our Egypt Itinerary: How to Travel Luxor, Aswan & Cairo Without a Package Tour
- Getting to Egypt
- Our 9-day Egypt Itinerary
- Day 1 – Arrival in Luxor: Visa, SIM card & first impressions
- Day 2 – Luxor East Bank: Luxor Temple & Karnak Temple
- Day 3 – Luxor West Bank: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple & Boarding the Nile Cruise
- Day 4 – Nile Cruise: Edfu Temple & Kom Ombo Temple
- Day 5 – Aswan: High Dam, Philae Temple & Nubian Village
- Day 6 – Abu Simbel
- Day 7 – Flight to Cairo
- Day 8 – Cairo: Giza Pyramids & Dahshur Pyramids
- Day 9 – Cairo: Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) & Departure
- What we spent on this 9-day Egypt itinerary
- Our verdict: Traveling Egypt independently vs a package tour
- Final thoughts about our 9-day Egypt itinerary
- FAQ about traveling Egypt independently
Getting to Egypt
Egypt’s biggest airport is of course Cairo International Airport, but did you know that Luxor also receives various international flights? We found a very good deal flying into Luxor↗ and another leaving from Cairo. This didn’t only let us start in a quieter, less chaotic place than Cairo, it also saved us having to pay for a second internal flight getting back to Cairo.
Our 9-day Egypt Itinerary
This was our 9-day day by day Egypt itinerary. I think 8 days would have been enough actually, but we wanted to make sure we had enough time to organize our tours, have some downtime and do some shopping. So we opted for 9 days in Egypt.
| Day | Location | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Luxor | Arrival & contracting cruise and guides for Luxor |
| Day 2 | Luxor | Luxor Temple & Karnak Temple |
| Day 3 | Luxor / Cruise | Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Artisans Village, Memnon Coloss & boarded cruise |
| Day 4 | Cruise | Edfu Temple & Kom Ombo Temple |
| Day 5 | Cruise / Aswan | Aswan High Dam, Philae Temple & Nubian Village |
| Day 6 | Aswan | Abu Simbel |
| Day 7 | Cairo | Flight from Aswan to Cairo, contracting guide for the pyramids & souvenir shopping |
| Day 8 | Cairo | Giza Pyramids & Dahshur |
| Day 9 | Cairo | Grand Egyptian Museum & departure |
Day 1 - Arrival in Luxor: Visa, SIM card & first impressions
We started our trip in Luxor and I thought this was a great choice! The airport is quite small and relaxed. We got our Visa on arrival which was a very simple and straight forward process. We just followed the signs to the bank where we had to pay the fee. While waiting in line somebody handed us a short form to fill out. We paid the fee and received the visa sticker. With this we went to immigration where they put the visa in our passport and we handed them the form. Easy as that!
We also bought a sim card here at the airport, but it was quite expensive ($25 USD). The guy activated it for you but it took about an hour for it to work. There was an issue between the hotel we booked and Booking.com due to which they had cancelled our reservation, so while we waited to see if the sim card would work, we booked another hotel + a transfer so we could get there quickly and easily.
When we checked into our hotel, the owner also offered us tours. We didn’t commit straight away, since we wanted to look at other options as well. In the evening we walked around a little bit, past the river Nile and the Luxor temple which really sparked our curiosity for our trip! We didn’t pass any agencies though, just locals who offered to take us or who had friends.
So in the end we knocked a few dollars off the offer of the hotel owner and we booked through him since it was the best and most reliable option.
Day 2 - Luxor East Bank: Luxor Temple & Karnak Temple
On our first full day in Egypt we visited Luxor temple & Karnak temple on the East Bank. The tour was included in the price we paid for the cruise. Our guide was amazing, super knowledgeable and a great storyteller. I was amazed by all the hieroglyphs and carvings everywhere I looked and our guide made them almost come to live with his explanations. We actually spent more time at these temples than we had originally planned and I was very happy that this was possible. I would have stayed even longer if I could!
After visiting the temples we made a stop at the “Papyrus museum“, which really was just a shop where they explain how it’s made and sell you imitations for a very expensive price. They are good imitations, but still. You’ll find them at many different souvenir shops for much cheaper.
Afterwards, we went for food with the guide. He took us to the restaurant owned by the hotel owner. The food was very good, but it was a touristic restaurant, with a touristic price. We had hoped to be brought to a more local place.
Day 3 - Luxor West Bank: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple & Boarding the Nile Cruise
We spent the morning of our third day on the West Bank of Luxor. We had the option to do a hot air balloon ride at sunrise, but we decided to skip it due to the poor air quality which limited visibility too much.
So our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. The entry ticket allows you to visit 3 of the 8 open tombs, free of choice but excluding Tutankhamun’s tomb. If you want to visit this one you have to pay a separate ticket at the entrance.
We knew that Tutankhamun’s tomb was smaller and not as decorated as the others, but we wanted to see this tomb we saw in so many pictures and in documentaries, so we bought the extra ticket. I could definitely tell that this was a smaller and more popular tomb. It was even hotter and stuffier inside compared to the other tombs. While it was amazing to see, I was very eager to get out again once I had seen the burial chamber!
After visiting the Valley of the Kings we went to Hatshepsut’s temple, the “Artisanal village” (a shop where they tell you about carving the alabaster stone) and to the Colossi of Memnon.Â
Around 1 pm we boarded the cruise ship (we were booked on this one), just in time for lunch. We did ask to make a quick stop before hopping on board to buy water, since they don’t provide it for free.
The rest of the day we spent navigating and eating and drinking, since they give you so much food! After lunch there was tea & coffee and before dinner a “cocktail party” (where we were served very sugary juices). We enjoyed sitting on deck and watching the world along the river banks go by slowly.
Day 4 - Nile Cruise: Edfu Temple & Kom Ombo Temple
In the morning, after breakfast, we visited Edfu Temple. This temple is not located right on the river bank, and you’ll need transport there. The most common way to get there is by horse carriage. When I saw this, I understood why some tour packages included a horse cart: that must have been this one. Our tour didn’t and we weren’t aware of this necessity either. So I was a bit annoyed that we were forced to take a horse carriage while the horses didn’t look their best and I didn’t really like contributing to this. On the way to Edfu I also saw tuk-tuk’s driving around with tourists as well as locals, so it must be possible to arrange for a tuk-tuk instead as well.Â
But it’s not all bad. The good thing about Edfu not being located on the river bank is that it hasn’t been affected by the floodings of the Nile and it’s one of the best preserved temples in Egypt.Â
After our visit we continued our cruise to Kom Ombo, where we arrived in the late afternoon, just after sunset. This was the only temple we visited after dark and saw lit up from the inside. Kom Ombo is not as well preserved as Edfu since it’s almost right on the river bank, but it’s still cool to visit. This is also where you can find the crocodile museum with the mummified crocodiles.
Day 5 - Aswan: High Dam, Philae Temple & Nubian Village
Our 4-day cruise was actually a 3-day cruise, since we already arrived in Aswan on our 3rd day (today). We spent the morning in Aswan and first visited the high dam. I didn’t find the dam that interesting to see to be honest, but it has a huge importance for Egypt, so it makes sense it’s part of the standard Egypt itinerary.
Next we headed to the Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis. It was originally constructed on Philae island (hence the name), but it was moved to a neighboring, higher island when the dam was constructed and the artificial lake that was formed as a consequence flooded the original location of the temple.
The only way to reach the island is by boat, and we had a private boat, which we had to pay for. We also weren’t aware of this, since we had agreed when we booked that only the entrance fees and the tips would have to be paid, but this is just how it goes in Egypt I guess. I would have happily just shared a boat with some of the many other tourists, but there are so many boatsmen desperate to take tourists, that I guess they try to divide the tourists and get more boats going.
After visiting Philae we had the option to go to the “Unfinished obelisk“. However, we read reviews that it wasn’t really worth it, and we also got that feeling when we reached the site, so we decided to skip it and headed back to the cruise ship. Here we had lunch and in the afternoon we visited a Nubian Village.Â
Visiting the Nubian Village is the typical touristic experience and I actually enjoyed the boat ride there more than the town. When you arrive you’re invited for a drink, you can see the crocodiles the Nubians traditionally keep as pets and see what a typical house looks like from the inside. They also offer henna tattoos and camel rides up and down the street here, and there is a market where you can buy souvenirs.
In the evening there was a “traditional” Nubian show after dinner on the ship. I have to say that I have my doubts whether it was very traditional, but it certainly was entertaining.Â
Day 6 - Abu Simbel
After our last night on the boat, we had to check out at around 4 am to make our way to Abu Simbel, a 3.5-4h drive from Aswan. Since it was too early for the breakfast buffet, they prepared a packed breakfast for us. Simple but sufficient.
The Abu Simbel site consists of 2 temples: The famous one that Ramses II had instructed to be built for himself and a smaller one his favorite wife Nefertari. The interesting fact about these temples is that they actually have been moved, just like the Philae temple. The original site of these temples has also been flooded by the artificial lake that was formed by the dam so they moved the temples stone by stone and built artificial mountains to represent the original one the temples were built in.
While knowing that does take away some of the magic, these temples were still amongst the most impressive ones I’ve seen. And unfortunately also amongst the busiest… I actually wanted to visit in the afternoon since all tours are visiting early in the morning, but we could only get a shared shuttle in the morning unfortunately.
We arrived back in town in the early afternoon and checked into our hotel for the night. The guy was super helpful, let us wash our laundry and recommended a restaurant that actually did feel very local and was half the price of all the other restaurants where we ate, and the food was just as good, if not better.Â
Day 7 - Flight to Cairo
On the 7th day of our trip it was time to leave the area of the new kingdom behind, and head to Cairo. We accepted a taxi that the hotel owner arranged for us, although an Uber would have been much cheaper in hindsight. But split between 4, the taxi for $10 was still not expensive.
When we arrived in Cairo, we did book an Uber which was much cheaper than the hotel transfers. Hotels typically offer transfers of $ 20 and we booked an Uber for about 400 EGP, which is less than $10. There was little traffic at this hour though, so the Uber was very cheap. Once we arrived we couldn’t find the hotel, and were unable to get in touch with them. Luckily we were able to cancel them for free and we booked this hotel last minute since it was a very good deal. The hotel has gorgeous views over the pyramids from the two rooftop terraces.
We spent our afternoon organizing our tour for the next day with the hotel owner, enjoying the views and souvenir shopping in the area. None of us was very eager to go to the Khan Al-Khalili after all the stories we heard and I honestly don’t feel like I’ve missed out.
Originally my idea was to visit Dashsur today in the afternoon, but since it all took longer to settle in the hotel it was a bit too rushed we organized a tour of both Giza and Dashsur for the next day through the hotel instead. He offered us a very good deal of Giza, Saqqara, Dashsur and Memphis for $25 per person including a guide, transport and lunch, so we decided to just do that.
Day 8 - Cairo: Giza Pyramids & Dahshur Pyramids
The first stop of the day was the Giza Plateau: home to the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We went to several viewpoints by the vans that drive around the area taking people to the different places. We did get up close to the pyramids, but we had already decided not to go in. After seeing the pyramids, we headed for the Sphinx and from there we left the Giza Plateau.
Next, we went to Saqqara. Unfortunately our guide wasn’t great and had no more information than I did. So I didn’t actually know what Saqqara had to offer and we didn’t enter the site since I found it quite expensive not knowing what I’d be paying for. So we just took a quick photo from outside the ticket center and headed to Dahshur.
There are two pyramids to see at Dahshur: the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid. We visited both pyramids from the outside and entered the red pyramid, which was an amazing experience. It’s not so hard to enter, and there were only a handful of people at the site since we happened to visit just in between two tour groups. So we only crossed 3 people on our way down and another 3 on the way up, which made our visit perfect.
From Dahshur we started our drive back to Cairo, stopping by Memphis on the way, which is famous for the huge statue of Ramses II. Despite having skipped Saqqara, and all the tourist trap shops our guide wanted to take us to, we still arrived here only 15 minutes before closing time and decided to skip it. It didn’t seem worth it buying a ticket and trying to just snap a quick picture, if they would even let us in, so we headed back to our hotel.Â
Day 9 - Cairo: Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) & Departure
We spent our last day at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). You can easily spend the whole day here if you have a late flight. Besides the exhibitions there are shops, cafes and restaurants too. There are lockers too, so you can bring your luggage and head to the airport straight from the museum, which is what we did.
We checked out of our hotel at the latest check out time, called an Uber and headed to the museum where we dropped our stuff in one of the free lockers and headed to the main exhibition. Our primary interest was Tutankhamun’s treasure, so we kind of skimmed through the earlier periods, which were also interesting to see, but it wasn’t the same as being at the temples. Tutankhamun’s treasure was absolutely unbelievable though! We spent most of our time admiring everything they found here and how much more there must have been in the bigger tombs of Faraos who ruled for much longer than he did.Â
Then a final stop at the boat museum, some food, and it was time to head to the airport already. Altogether we spent about 3 hours between the main gallery and the museum, just looking at the main things.
What we spent on this 9-day Egypt itinerary
| Category | Item/Location | Cost (per person) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | Hotel Luxor (2 nights) | £833 ($17.50/€15) | |
| Nile Cruise | £23,784 ($500/€430) | Includes pay by card fee of 3% | |
| Hotel Aswan (1 night) | £368 ($7.75/€6.65) | ||
| Hotel Cairo (2 nights) | £416 ($8.75/€7.50) | ||
| Food & Supplies | Lunches in Luxor (2x) | ~£1,000 ($21/€18) | Big lunches, didn't need dinner |
| Supermarket | ~£250 ($5/€4.50) | 2x breakfast, snacks, water | |
| Drinks on cruise ship | £714 ($15/€13) | We split large beers and water bottles between 2 | |
| Meals in Cairo | ~£1,700 ($36/€31) | 2x traditional meals, 2x breakfast | |
| Luxor Temples | Luxor Temple | £500 ($10.50/€9) | |
| Karnak Temple | £600 ($12.60/€10.85) | ||
| Valley of the Kings | £1,470 ($31/€26.50) | General entrance: £750 (3 tombs) + Tutankhamun's tomb: £700 + cart: £20 | |
| Hatshepsut Temple | £460 ($9.70/€8.30) | Temple entrance: £440 + cart: £20 | |
| Memnon Colossi | Free | ||
| Artisans Village | Free | ||
| Nile Temples | Edfu Temple | £625 ($13/€11.20) | Temple entrance: £550 + horse carriage £150 for 2 people |
| Kom Ombo Temple | £450 ($9.50/€8) | Includes Crocodile Museum | |
| Aswan Sights | Aswan High Dam | £200 ($4.20/€3.60) | |
| Philae Temple | £687.5 ($14.50/€12.50) | Temple entrance: £550 + boat: £550 total for private boat (£137.50 each in our case) | |
| Abu Simbel | £872 ($18.35/€15.80) | Temple entrance: £822 + cart: £50 golf cart | |
| Cairo & Giza | Giza Plateau | £700 ($14.80/€12.70) | Camel and horse rides are approx $15-20 (€13-17) for about 30 minutes |
| Dahshur | £200 ($4.20/€3.60) | ||
| Grand Egyptian Museum | £1,450 ($30.50/€26.20) | ||
| Transportation | Domestic flight Aswan to Cairo | £4,800 ($101/€87) | |
| Hotel transfer Luxor | £119 ($2.50/€2.15) | $10 total for a car | |
| Airport transfer Aswan | £142.50 ($3/€2.50) | ||
| Ubers Cairo airport | £275 ($5.75/€5) | £400 to the hotel (light traffic) + £700 to the airport (rush hour) | |
| Uber to GEM | £25 ($0.50/€0,45) | ||
| Other | Tips | £2,137 ($45/€38.70) | Cruise: $2.50/day; Tours: $5/full day |
| Souvenirs | £4,950 ($104/€90) | 4x A3 papyrus, 5x cotton t-shirt, 2x pendant | |
| TOTAL | £49,728 ($1,045.60/€899.70) | ||
Our verdict: Traveling Egypt independently vs a package tour
So getting back to the first three questions asked in the beginning of this article: Can you actually travel Egypt independently? Is it really just as expensive as a package tour? And is the hassle worth the freedom?
After completing our trip, here are our honest answers:
Can you travel Egypt independently? - Yes!
Organizing everything ourselves was completely doable. We booked hotels, arranged guides, and figured out transport without major issues. The only real challenge was that it’s not a common way to travel Egypt, so we couldn’t quite shop around for tours as we’d have liked to do, but just went for the options we got offered at the hotels.
Organizing our trip ourselves also gave me the feeling that I connected more to the country. Even though we spent most of our time on the cruise or with a guide, at least organizing them in the country itself gave me that feeling.Â
Is it just as expensive? - Nope, we saved money
Despite what everyone told us, traveling independently was cheaper than comparable package tours. Our biggest expense was the 4-day cruise at $500 and even including this cruise, we still spent less than we would have on a package tour.
Budget travelers –Â While we thought the cruise itself was worth it and we’re happy we did it, there was a time when we traveled on a much tighter budget and adding the cruise would have been too much for us.
You can save even more by skipping the 3rd night on the cruise and sleeping in Aswan, or skipping the cruise entirely. Take buses or trains between Luxor and Aswan (faster AND cheaper), book budget hotels, and arrange day tours locally. The only temples you’d miss are Edfu and Kom Ombo, although Kom Ombo is easily visited from Aswan. You could swap Edfu for extra sites at Luxor if you wanted to. We had to miss out on the valley of the queens for example due to our tight schedule, but I would have loved to visit that site!
Is the hassle worth the freedom? Absolutely.
Yes, we dealt with scams, negotiated prices constantly, and had mixed experiences with guides. But I didn’t have the feeling that this would have been any different had we gone with a package tour. After all the warnings we’d read, the reality was much more manageable than we imagined. Plus organizing the trip ourselves, we had the benefit that we had complete control over our schedule, skipped forced shopping stops, and explored at our own pace. Looking back, we remember the incredible temples, pyramids and sailing the Nile, not the minor annoyances.
What we'd do differently
While I’m very happy with how our little tour of Egypt turned out, there are a few minor things I’d change knowing what I know now.
- Shorten the cruise. Our “4-day” cruise was really only 2 days of sailing since we docked in Aswan on night two. So next time, we’d book a 3-day cruise and visit Abu Simbel on our 3rd day before checking into a hotel and we’d organize visiting the sights of Aswan through the hotel.
- Add more time in Luxor. We missed the Valley of the Queens due to our tight schedule. I’d have loved an extra day on the West Bank to explore less-crowded sites, even if they’re not the main attractions. The standard itinerary covers the most impressive temples, but I’d love to discover some of the other sites without the crowds as well, like Dashur in Cairo.
- Inquired a bit more about the transport to the sites. I would have chosen a tuk-tuk instead of the horse carriage to Edfu, and the carts to the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple are really not necessary, it’s a short and flat walk. At Abu Simbel you can also walk, but there is a steep incline at the end and it gets hot during the day. Guides don’t give you the option though, so you’d have to say you want to walk it. At the Philae temple we would have taken a shared boat if possible which would have been much cheaper.
- Divided Giza and the other pyramids over two separate days. I have seen package tours offering Giza in the morning and an optional extra tour of Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis in the afternoon, so when the hotel owner offered us this tour, I thought it would be ok. But it turned out to be too rushed and not possible to visit all in one day. In our case I wasn’t too disappointed, since my main interests were Giza and Dahshur, but if you’re interested in Saqqara and Memphis as well, I suggest taking a full day for these sights
Final thoughts about our 9-day Egypt itinerary
If you’re comfortable with independent travel and enjoy flexibility, go DIY. If you want zero stress and don’t mind rigid schedules, a package tour works. But don’t let fear of “hassle” or assumptions about cost scare you away from doing it yourself. It’s easier and cheaper than everyone claims!
Still not sure what to do, here’s my in dept comparision guide of Egypt package tours vs DIY travel.
FAQ about traveling Egypt independently
Yes! Cameras are allowed at all archaeological sites we visited at no extra cost. You can take photos freely with phones or cameras at temples, pyramids, and tombs. I didn’t bring my DSLR to the Grand Egyptian Museum expecting crowds, but it would have been fine and cameras were allowed there too. Just be respectful and don’t use flash where prohibited.
Maybe slightly, but package tours don’t protect you completely. Our guides still took us to “official” shops where they earn commissions, the same tourist trap independent travelers encounter. Plus, not all meals are included in packages, and they often send you to the same touristy restaurants you’d find on your own. The difference is you’re paying more for the illusion of protection. We found that doing research beforehand helped us avoid most scams, with or without a guide.
Yes, we felt safe throughout our trip. Egypt has heavy security at all tourist sites—checkpoints, metal detectors, and tourist police everywhere. The biggest “danger” is persistent vendors and negotiating prices, not physical safety. As long as you use common sense (don’t flash expensive items, be aware of your surroundings), you’ll be fine. We’re a group of 4, but I’ve seen many solo travelers and couples doing the same itinerary without issues.
Officially, you should cover shoulders and knees in Egypt in general. However, this wasn’t enforced at the sites we visited. We saw many tourists in shorts and tank tops. That said, I’d recommend modest clothing for comfort (sun protection) and to respect the culture. At mosques and other religious covering is required and women should cover their heads (hair) as well.
Tipping is expected everywhere and for basically everything in Egypt. We were explained we should tip minimum $5 per cabin, per night we spent on the cruise ship, given at the end of our stay (they’ll give you an envelope). We used this as an indicator for our day trips and tipped $5 each per full day for both the guide and driver. Package tours often quote $40-50 USD total for tips per person for similar itineraries, which is more or less what we paid.
Yes! The GEM has free lockers located between the ticket office and checkpoint at this entrance. We stored luggage for 4 people (4 under seat backpacks + 2 small bags) in one large locker. Just ask staff for directions to the lockers if you don’t see them immediately, if you’ve reached the ticket checkpoint, you’ve gone too far.
Not necessarily, we booked everything once we arrived. Hotels offered packages and connected us with guides. The downside is you can’t easily shop around for prices. If you prefer knowing costs upfront and want customer support, pre-book (some)tours through GetYourGuide↗ or Viator↗. Booking locally is fine too and often cheaper.