Amazing Egypt Self-Launched: Cairo, Nile Cruise, Abu Simbel & Hurghada

Land at Cairo International and get your visa on arrival (US$25 / about £19, payable in cash or card at the bank counters before immigration — many nationalities can also use the e-visa portal in advance). Take a Careem or Uber from the airport to Giza for roughly £4-6, or the airport shuttle bus to Tahrir for £1.50. Check into a guesthouse in Giza with pyramid views (Panorama Pyramids Inn, Pyramids View Inn and similar run £15-25 a night for a single/double). Spend the late afternoon walking the perimeter of the Giza plateau from the village side for the free sunset view over the pyramids, then eat koshari and grilled pigeon in a local ahwa on Pyramids Road for £4-6.

🚌Airport taxi/Careem to Giza ~£5; local walking and microbuses

🛏Budget guesthouse in Giza with pyramid view (£15-25/night)

• →Visa on arrival at Cairo airport
• →Sunset walk around Giza plateau perimeter
• →Koshari dinner on Pyramids Road

Be at the Giza gate for opening (8am) to beat the heat and the coach crowds — tickets about £13 for the plateau plus extra for going inside a pyramid (Khufu's interior is worth it if you're keen, roughly £35). Cross to the Sphinx viewing terrace. Then take a Careem or a booked local driver south to Saqqara (30-40 min, ~£10-15 return shared) for the Step Pyramid and the Imhotep Museum; entry ~£6. Afternoon: back to Giza, shower and eat, then head to Ramses Station for the Watania sleeper train to Aswan, departing around 19:45-20:30. Book a single-occupancy cabin direct on the Watania Sleeping Trains site (about £65-80 one way, dinner and breakfast included) — or take a daytime train (2nd class, ~£10) and overnight in Aswan instead if you're on a tighter budget. Do not try to see everything on day one; the plateau is huge.

🚌Careem to Saqqara ~£10-15 shared; Watania sleeper train Cairo-Aswan ~£70

🛏Watania overnight sleeper train, single cabin (~£70 incl. meals)

• →Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
• →Step Pyramid of Saqqara and Imhotep Museum
• →Sleeper train south

Arrive Aswan mid-morning and drop bags at a Nubian guesthouse on Elephantine Island or in the West Aswan village (Nubian House-style places, £18-30/night — stay here rather than on a cruise boat for the first night to save money and see a different side of the city). Book your Nile cruise for the following three nights today: either direct with a boat operator or through a local agent on the Corniche, where last-minute 3-night Aswan-Luxor half-board cruises can go for £130-190 per person sharing in low season (the packaged price implies far more). Afternoon: shared taxi or Careem to the High Dam (£3) and a motorboat across to Philae Temple (£6 entry, boat ~£5 shared). Evening: walk the Aswan Corniche and the Nubian souk, then eat at a Nubian restaurant in West Aswan (£5-8).

🚌Local taxi/Careem around Aswan ~£5; motorboat to Philae ~£5

🛏Nubian guesthouse, West Aswan or Elephantine Island (£18-30/night)

• →Aswan High Dam
• →Philae Temple by motorboat
• →Nubian village and souk evening

Shared minibus convoy to Abu Simbel leaves around 4-4:30am — book through your guesthouse or a local office for roughly £15-20 including entry (the temple entry is about £10; some packages quote £25-35 all-in). You get 2-2.5 hours at the site, back in Aswan by early afternoon. This is exactly how the tour does it, just without a guide narrating on the bus. Board your cruise boat in the afternoon and sail toward Kom Ombo; visit the double temple of Sobek and Horus at sunset (entry ~£5) with the on-board guide's group or independently. Note: if the convoy is cancelled for security or weather, most operators refund the transport portion only.

🚌Shared minibus Aswan-Abu Simbel return ~£15; cruise sailing included

🛏Nile cruise cabin, 3 nights half board (£130-190 pp)

• →Abu Simbel temples (Ramses II and Nefertari)
• →Kom Ombo temple
• →Crocodile Museum at Kom Ombo

Morning stop at Edfu: the standard move is a horse-drawn calèche from the boat to the Temple of Horus and back (agree the price, ~£3-5 each way, before you get in). Temple entry ~£5 — it's the best-preserved in Egypt. Afternoon sailing with tea on the sundeck, arriving Luxor in the evening. Optional: Luxor Temple is beautifully lit at night and only ~£5, a 10-minute walk from the corniche — skip the expensive Karnak sound-and-light show unless it's your thing (about £20-25 booked on GetYourGuide). Eat on board or grab a cheap fuul and taameya dinner in Luxor town for £3-4.

🚌Cruise sailing; calèche to Edfu temple ~£4 each way

🛏Nile cruise cabin (included above)

• →Temple of Horus at Edfu
• →Sundeck sailing
• →Luxor Temple by night (optional)

Disembark after breakfast and check into a cheap West Bank guesthouse (£12-20/night) — you'll be glad of it for the early start. Cross the Nile by public ferry (£0.20) and either hire a bike (£3/day) or share a taxi (£8-10 for the day) to the West Bank sites. Valley of the Kings entry covers three tombs (~£13); Tutankhamun's tomb and Seti I are extra. Add Hatshepsut's mortuary temple (~£5) and a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon (free). Optional and highly recommended: sunrise hot air balloon, bookable on GetYourGuide or with any Luxor agent from about £70-90 — you'll be picked up at 4:30am. Afternoon: Karnak Temple (~£6) on the East Bank. Book your Hurghada bus tonight for tomorrow morning.

🚌Public ferry ~£0.20; shared taxi or bike on West Bank ~£5-10

🛏Budget guesthouse, Luxor West Bank (£12-20/night)

• →Valley of the Kings
• →Temple of Hatshepsut
• →Colossi of Memnon
• →Karnak Temple
• →Optional sunrise hot air balloon

Take the morning Go Bus or Upper Egypt Bus from Luxor to Hurghada (4-5 hours, about £6-10) — book online or at the station the day before; the ride crosses the desert and is comfortable enough. Arrive early afternoon and check into a mid-range hotel a street back from the beach in the El Dahar or Sakala area (£20-30/night) rather than an all-inclusive resort, or splurge one night on a 4-star half-board if you want the pool. Afternoon on the public beach or a beach club day pass (~£8-12). Evening: seafood at the Hurghada fish market — pick your fish, they grill it — around £8-12.

🚌Go Bus Luxor-Hurghada ~£8

🛏Mid-range hotel near the beach, Hurghada (£20-30/night)

• →Desert bus crossing to the Red Sea
• →Beach afternoon
• →Fish market dinner

Book a Giftun Island / Nemo Bay snorkelling day trip on GetYourGuide or Klook — £18-25 per person including hotel pickup, boat, snorkel gear and buffet lunch, versus the US$60 the tour charges. Boats leave around 8:30-9am and return mid-afternoon; the reefs off Giftun are genuinely good. Alternative if you'd rather stay dry: a desert safari with quad bike and Bedouin dinner runs about £20-25 booked locally through your hotel. Evening: easy dinner and pack — tomorrow is a flight.

🚌Hotel pickup included in day trip

🛏Mid-range hotel near the beach, Hurghada (£20-30/night)

• →Giftun Island snorkelling day trip
• →Optional quad bike desert safari

Morning flight Hurghada to Cairo (Nile Air, Air Cairo or EgyptAir, roughly £50-80 one way booked a few weeks out; the packaged tour doesn't include this either). Land by midday, store bags at the hotel or the airport, and if your flight home is late, take a Careem to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir (~£2 entry for the old museum, ~£20 for the new Grand Egyptian Museum near Giza) or wander Khan Al-Khalili bazaar and the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo. A local guide for the museum half-day via GetYourGuide costs £25-40 — worth it if you want context on the Tutankhamun collection. Head to the airport 3 hours before departure. Note the GEM needs a separate timed ticket and a full half-day if you want to do it properly.

🚌Domestic flight Hurghada-Cairo ~£50-80; Careem to GEM/Tahrir ~£4

🛏None — onward flight

• →Grand Egyptian Museum or Egyptian Museum, Tahrir
• →Khan Al-Khalili bazaar
• →Coptic Cairo churches