Absolute Egypt — Self-Launched

Land at Cairo airport and take a white official taxi or Uber/Careem to your downtown hostel (agree the fare before you get in — roughly £5-7). Settle in, then take an evening wander along the Nile Corniche or through the Khan el-Khalili bazaar for mint tea and koshari from a street stall. Buy your sleeper train ticket tonight or tomorrow morning via the Watania Railways website (book ahead — berths sell out in high season).

🚌Airport taxi/Uber to downtown Cairo, ~£6

🛏Hostel private room or budget hotel, Downtown Cairo (~£15-20)

• →Nile Corniche walk
• →Khan el-Khalili bazaar evening wander
• →Koshari dinner

Head out early by Uber to Giza (be there for opening) to beat the crowds and the heat. A site ticket covers the plateau, Sphinx viewpoint and entry to one pyramid. Local guides cluster at the gate and charge ~£10-15 for a couple of hours — worth it for context. After lunch, visit the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) or, if you prefer the classic collection, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir; independent travellers can pre-book a skip-the-line guided tour on GetYourGuide for ~£25-35. Then collect your bag and board the Watania overnight sleeper to Aswan (departs around 20:00, arrives early morning), twin-berth cabin with sink and a basic tray meal.

🚌Uber to Giza ~£3; Uber to museum ~£3; Cairo–Aswan sleeper train ~£55-70 one way

🛏Overnight sleeper train (twin-berth cabin)

• →Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx (entry ~£13-15)
• →Optional camel ride at Giza (~£10)
• →Grand Egyptian Museum or Egyptian Museum (entry ~£12-18)

Arrive early, check into a guesthouse on the Corniche or Elephantine Island, and sleep off the train. Spend the afternoon wandering the Aswan Souk for spices and scarves, then in the late afternoon take a local motorboat across to a Nubian village on the west bank (~£4-6 return, negotiate with the boat captain at the dock). Do a short village and field walk, then eat a home-cooked Nubian dinner — many families offer this informally, or arrange a Nubian home dinner through a local guesthouse for ~£12-15 including food. Sunset over the dunes from the village is the highlight.

🚌Local motorboat to Nubian village ~£5 return; walkable town

🛏Aswan guesthouse or budget hotel (~£15-20)

• →Aswan Souk
• →Nubian village walk
• →Traditional Nubian home dinner
• →Elephantine Island ruins (optional, ~£5)

Book the Abu Simbel trip through your guesthouse (shared minibus, ~£20-28 including the convoy departure around 04:00 — a brutal start but worth it) or pre-book on GetYourGuide. Temple entry is ~£12 extra. You get roughly two hours at the site before the drive back, arriving early afternoon. Otherwise stay local: Philae Temple by boat (~£8 entry plus ~£4 boat) or the Nubian Museum (~£5). Evening: cheap grilled fish by the Corniche.

🚌Shared minibus Aswan–Abu Simbel return ~£25; local boat to Philae ~£4

🛏Aswan guesthouse or budget hotel (~£15-20)

• →Abu Simbel temples day trip
• →Philae Temple by boat
• →Nubian Museum

Arrange a felucca directly with a captain at the Aswan dock (or via your guesthouse) for a one-night sail towards Kom Ombo — around £25-40 per person if you're two or more, including meals cooked on board. You sail with the wind, stop for swims in the Nile and lunch on a sandbank, and sleep on mattresses on the deck under the stars. Note: no toilet onboard a simple felucca; either choose a captain with a support boat, or accept the 'closest sandbank' approach. Bring a sleep sheet, warm layer and torch.

🚌Traditional felucca sailboat (overnight)

🛏Felucca deck, mattresses and blankets provided

• →Full-day Nile sailing
• →Nile swim stops
• →Sunset and stargazing on deck
• →Onboard meals cooked by crew

Disembark near Kom Ombo and visit the twin temple of Sobek and Horus the Elder — entry ~£5, and it's small enough to do without a guide (signage is decent). Then catch a local microbus or shared taxi from Kom Ombo to Luxor (~£3-5, about 1.5-2 hours) or a train if you prefer comfort (~£4-8). In the late afternoon, visit Karnak Temple (~£11) — go late for cooler air and better light. Stay on the east bank near the Luxor Temple for easy access to food and the train station.

🚌Microbus/shared taxi Kom Ombo–Luxor ~£4; local taxis ~£3

🛏Luxor budget hotel, east bank (~£15-20)

• →Kom Ombo Temple
• →Karnak Temple late afternoon

Cross the Nile by public ferry (~£1) and either hire a bike (~£3/day) or a shared microbus to the West Bank sites. Get a taxi for the day for ~£15-20 if you want to be efficient. The Valley of the Kings ticket (~£13) covers three tombs; Tutankhamun's tomb is an extra ~£10. Add the Temple of Hatshepsut (~£7) and stop at the Colossi of Memnon (free). G Adventures does this by donkey — you can too, but be honest with yourself about animal welfare; licensed donkey handlers at the ferry dock charge ~£8-12 return and it's a memorable way to cross the fields. Lunch with a West Bank family can be arranged through most guesthouses (~£8). Evening: Luxor Temple lit up (~£8).

🚌Public ferry across Nile ~£1; bike ~£3 or day taxi ~£18

🛏Luxor budget hotel, east bank (~£15-20)

• →Valley of the Kings (3 tombs included)
• →Temple of Hatshepsut
• →Colossi of Memnon
• →Donkey ride through West Bank fields (optional)
• →Luxor Temple at night

Use the day for whatever you skipped: Luxor Museum (~£5), the Mummification Museum (~£3), or a sunrise hot-air balloon over the West Bank (~£35-50 — book the night before, weather dependent). Otherwise relax in a riverside café. In the evening board the Watania sleeper train back to Cairo (~£55-70), arriving early morning.

🚌Luxor–Cairo overnight sleeper train ~£60

🛏Overnight sleeper train (twin-berth cabin)

• →Optional hot-air balloon flight over the West Bank
• →Luxor Museum
• →Mummification Museum
• →East bank riverside cafés

Arrive Cairo in the morning and transfer to Ramses or Cairo station for a daytime train to Alexandria — the air-conditioned Spanish-built trains take about 2.5 hours for roughly £5-9 (book on the Egyptian National Railways site or just buy at the counter). Drop your bag at a hostel near Raml Station or the Corniche, then walk the seafront and the Stanley Bridge area. Alexandria has a distinctly Mediterranean, European feel — spend the afternoon in cafés and eat fresh seafood near the harbour.

🚌Cairo–Alexandria train ~£7; local tram/taxi ~£2

🛏Alexandria budget hotel near the Corniche (~£18-22)

• →Alexandria Corniche walk
• →Raml Station and downtown cafés
• →Seafood dinner by the harbour

Do a loop of the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (~£7), Pompey's Pillar (~£5), the Qaitbay Fort (~£4) and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (~£5) — all reachable by tram and local taxi without a guide, though a half-day private guide runs ~£30-40 if you want the layers explained. The Catacombs alone justify a guide. Late afternoon: Montazah Palace gardens (~£2). Dinner: grilled fish at a Greek-Egyptian taverna on the Corniche.

🚌Blue tram rides ~£1 each; taxis ~£3-4

🛏Alexandria budget hotel near the Corniche (~£18-22)

• →Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
• →Pompey's Pillar
• →Qaitbay Fort
• →Bibliotheca Alexandrina
• →Montazah Palace gardens

Take an early microbus or bus west along the coast to El Alamein (~2 hours, ~£4), where the Commonwealth War Cemetery and the WWII museum make a sobering stop (~£2-3 entry). From El Alamein or Marsa Matruh, catch the onward bus to Siwa — the West Delta Bus from Cairo/Marsa Matruh runs along the desert road and takes 4-6 hours from Matruh (~£6-8). Total travel day is long. On arrival, check into a mudbrick eco-lodge in Siwa town and eat dinner under the palms.

🚌Microbus Alexandria–El Alamein ~£4; bus El Alamein/Marsa Matruh–Siwa ~£7-9

🛏Siwa mudbrick eco-lodge or guesthouse (~£15-22)

• →El Alamein Commonwealth War Cemetery and museum
• →Desert road drive
• →Siwa town evening stroll

Hire a bike from your lodge (~£3/day) and pedal to the Mountain of the Dead (Gebel al-Mawta, ~£2) and the Temple of the Oracle at Aghurmi (~£2) where Alexander the Great was proclaimed a god. Cool off at Cleopatra's Bath spring (free, or a small tip). In the late afternoon take a donkey cart (~£4) or a shared 4x4 to the dunes for sunset (a 4x4 dune and hot-spring excursion with a local driver runs ~£20-25 including a picnic — easily arranged through your lodge).

🚌Bicycle ~£3; donkey cart ~£4; shared 4x4 sunset run ~£22

🛏Siwa mudbrick eco-lodge or guesthouse (~£15-22)

• →Mountain of the Dead
• →Temple of the Oracle at Aghurmi
• →Cleopatra's Bath spring
• →4x4 dune and hot spring sunset excursion with picnic

Optional early hot-air balloon over the oasis (local operators, ~£40-50, book through your lodge) or a slower morning swimming in Siwa's salt lakes — you float like in the Dead Sea and it's free. Afternoon: Fatnas Island for sunset over the palms and the reed-fringed lake, plus a visit to the old Shali fortress ruins in the centre of town. Siwan dates and olive oil are the local buys.

🚌Walking, bike hire ~£3, local tuk-tuk ~£2-3

🛏Siwa mudbrick eco-lodge or guesthouse (~£15-22)

• →Salt lake swimming
• →Fatnas Island sunset
• →Shali fortress ruins
• →Optional hot-air balloon over the oasis

Long transit day: take the direct West Delta bus from Siwa to Cairo (roughly 9-10 hours, ~£9-12, usually an early or overnight departure — check schedules the day before). Alternatively break the journey at Marsa Matruh for a swim. Arrive Cairo and check back into a downtown hostel.

🚌Siwa–Cairo direct bus ~£10

🛏Hostel private room or budget hotel, Downtown Cairo (~£15-20)

• →Desert and oasis scenery from the bus
• →Downtown Cairo evening walk

A relaxed final full day: Islamic Cairo's Khan el-Khalili and the Al-Azhar area, the Hanging Church and Coptic quarter in Old Cairo (~£1-2 entries), and the view from the Cairo Tower or a sunset felucca on the Nile (~£5). If you haven't done the Grand Egyptian Museum yet, this is the day — pre-book a GetYourGuide ticket for ~£20-25. Final dinner of ta'ameya, ful and grilled meats at a local ahwa.

🚌Uber between districts ~£2-3 each; metro ~£0.30

🛏Hostel private room or budget hotel, Downtown Cairo (~£15-20)

• →Khan el-Khalili and Islamic Cairo
• →Coptic Cairo and the Hanging Church
• →Nilometer and Old Cairo
• →Nile sunset felucca (~£5)
• →Grand Egyptian Museum (optional)

Breakfast, last-minute souvenir shopping, and a taxi or Uber to the airport. If your flight is late, there's time for a final wander along the Nile or a proper Egyptian breakfast.

🚌Uber to Cairo airport ~£6

🛏—

• →Final breakfast in downtown Cairo