Egypt Family Journey: Ancient Pyramids and the Mighty Nile — Self-Launched

Land at Cairo International Airport and buy your visa on arrival (USD 36, card/online QR code in advance via visaonarrival.gov.eg, ~£28). Skip the taxi touts and use Uber/Careem to Downtown or Zamalek (~£4–6) — or pre-book an airport transfer on Klook for ~£10 if arriving late. Check into a budget hotel such as a Downtown guesthouse or the Dahab Hostel area (double ~£25–35/night). In the evening take a stroll along the Nile at Qasr el-Nil bridge, grab koshari from Abou Tarek (~£2) and, if the kids are still awake, mint tea at a ahwa (café). Buy your monuments ticket bundle and book your Aswan sleeper train seat or domestic flight tonight.

🚌Airport taxi / Uber ~£5

🛏Downtown Cairo budget hotel or guesthouse (double room ~£30/night)

• →Visa on arrival / e-visa
• →Nile-side evening walk
• →Koshari dinner at Abou Tarek

Get to the Giza plateau at opening (8am) via Uber (~£4) or the metro to Giza then a short taxi. Buy the site ticket plus entry to one pyramid interior at the gate or on Klook/GetYourGuide (~£12–15 total). Wander the plateau on foot or hire a camel/horse for the classic panorama shot (~£8, haggle hard). For Egyptologist context, join a small-group GetYourGuide tour (~£25–35) or simply read up and hire a licensed guide at the gate (~£20 for the group). In the afternoon, book a community farm/cooking experience through Airbnb Experiences or a local operator like Nawaya-linked farm lunches (available ~£20–25 pp) — home-style Egyptian cooking, bread-making and a female-led community kitchen lunch. Alternatively do a Downtown cooking class (~£25). Return to the hotel for an early night before the train.

🚌Uber to Giza and back ~£8

🛏Downtown Cairo budget hotel (double ~£30/night)

• →Great Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx (entry ticket)
• →Pyramid interior entry
• →Optional camel ride
• →Community farm visit and Egyptian cooking lunch

Spend the morning at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir (ticket ~£5) or the NMEC royal mummies hall (~£10) — good for kids and air-conditioned. Afternoon: catch the Watania sleeper train from Cairo Ramses (departs ~8pm, arrives Aswan ~9am next day; single sleeper cabin ~£50–60 including dinner and breakfast, book at watania.com or at the station). Budget alternative: a daytime EgyptAir/Nile Air flight Cairo–Aswan (~£45–60 if booked a few weeks ahead) — this is what the tour does. Cheapest option is a first-class seated train (~£12) if you don't mind 12 hours. Pack snacks and water; sleeper cabins sleep two adults or two adults plus a small child.

🚌Sleeper train Cairo–Aswan ~£55

🛏Overnight sleeper train cabin (~£55 pp)

• →Egyptian Museum or NMEC
• →Board overnight sleeper train

Arrive Aswan, drop bags at a Nile-view guesthouse (e.g. in the Nubian village of Gharb Soheil, ~£25–30/night). Hire a driver-guide for the half-day (~£20–25 for the car) or use a GetYourGuide Aswan highlights tour (~£25 pp) to cover the High Dam and Philae Temple — Philae is reached by a short boat ride, entry ~£7. Play 'spot the dogs' on the temple walls as the tour's Nat Geo angle suggests. In the late afternoon take a felucca across to a Nubian village (~£8–10 per boat, shared) for mint tea and a walk through the colourful houses — many families welcome visitors for tea for a small tip (~£3–5). Dinner of Nubian tagine by the river (~£5–7). Alternatively, board a budget 3-night Nile cruise departing tomorrow (cruise-only cabins from ~£150–200 pp for 3 nights full board — book on Booking.com or NileCruisesEgypt and compare, often far cheaper than the tour's premium ship).

🚌Private driver half-day ~£22 (split between travellers)

🛏Nubian village guesthouse or Aswan budget hotel (~£28/night)

• →High Dam
• →Philae Temple with boat transfer
• →Sunset felucca ride
• →Nubian village tea visit

Optional early start: shared minibus to Abu Simbel (departs ~4am, ~£25–30 pp including entry, 3hrs each way) — book at any Aswan hotel or on GetYourGuide; the flight version in the tour is expensive, the road is the budget route. Otherwise a relaxed morning, then board your Nile cruise and sail north, stopping at Kom Ombo for the crocodile-god temple right on the riverbank (entry ~£5). Continue sailing to Edfu and dock overnight. If you skipped the cruise, travel independently: a train Aswan–Kom Ombo (~£2, 1hr) and Kom Ombo–Edfu (~£2), staying in an Edfu hotel (~£20–25), then a public Nile ferry where possible. Meals on board or at small riverside restaurants (~£7–10/day).

🚌Nile cruise / local train ~£10 (cruise cost counted in accommodation)

🛏Nile cruise cabin (full board) or Edfu budget hotel

• →Optional Abu Simbel by shared minibus
• →Kom Ombo Temple
• →Nile sailing and sundeck time

Morning horse-cart or short walk to Edfu Temple (entry ~£5), the best-preserved temple in Egypt — 200 years to build, dedicated to Horus. The stories carved on the walls are perfect for kids. Return to the ship and sail on to Luxor, arriving late afternoon/evening; if independent, take a shared taxi or train Edfu–Luxor (~£3–5, ~2hrs). Dock overnight in Luxor and eat on board or at a local restaurant near the corniche (~£6–8).

🚌Included in cruise / shared taxi ~£4

🛏Nile cruise cabin (full board) or Luxor budget hotel (~£25)

• →Edfu Temple
• →Nile sailing to Luxor

Book a West Bank driver-guide for the day (~£30–35 per car, split) or a small-group GetYourGuide West Bank tour (~£30–40 pp). Start at the Valley of the Kings (entry ~£12, includes 3 tombs; Tutankhamun's tomb extra ~£8). Then Hatshepsut's terraced temple (~£4) and the Colossi of Memnon (free). A student-led bike ride to a village project on the West Bank can be arranged through local guesthouses or community tourism operators (~£10–15 including bike and tea). Late lunch at a West Bank family home — many run home-cooking lunches for ~£8–10 pp, bookable via your driver or Airbnb Experiences. Afternoon at leisure: swim, nap, or take a sunset felucca on the Nile (~£8).

🚌Private West Bank driver ~£32 (split)

🛏Luxor budget hotel or guesthouse (~£25/night)

• →Valley of the Kings
• →Temple of Hatshepsut
• →Colossi of Memnon
• →West Bank village bike and tea visit
• →Family home lunch

Early visit to Karnak Temple and the Great Hypostyle Hall (entry ~£10) — arrive at 7am to beat the heat and crowds. Lunch near the corniche on your own (~£5). Afternoon flight Luxor–Cairo on EgyptAir/Nile Air (~£45–60 booked ahead) or the sleeper train back (~£55). Check into your Cairo hotel and in the evening do a Cairo street-food walk — either self-guided through Downtown (koshari, ta'ameya, ful, hawawshi, sugarcane juice, ~£8–10) or a GetYourGuide/Airbnb 'Cairo food tour' (~£30–40 pp) with a local foodie guide covering Khan el-Khalili-adjacent stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

🚌Flight Luxor–Cairo ~£52; airport taxis ~£6

🛏Downtown Cairo budget hotel (~£30/night)

• →Karnak Temple and Great Hypostyle Hall
• →Domestic flight Luxor–Cairo
• →Cairo street-food tour

Morning at the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza (entry ~£20 — buy in advance online; the Tutankhamun galleries alone are worth it). Make it kid-friendly with a scavenger-hunt approach: assign each family member five artifacts to find. Then head to Islamic Cairo — walk Al-Muizz Street's back lanes (free) to Khan el-Khalili bazaar for souvenirs, spices and mint tea at El Fishawy (~£2). Farewell lunch of grilled kofta or stuffed pigeon (~£7). Allow 3 hours before your flight for the airport (Uber ~£5) and keep the last of your Egyptian pounds for departure snacks. If departing late, pre-book an airport transfer on Klook (~£10).

🚌Uber to GEM and airport ~£10

🛏None (departure day)

• →Grand Egyptian Museum
• →Al-Muizz Islamic Cairo walk
• →Khan el-Khalili bazaar
• →Farewell lunch