Self-Launched Ancient Egypt & Nile Cruise: Pyramids, Pharaohs & Felluccas

Land at Cairo International Airport and take an airport shuttle or ride-hail (Uber/Careem, ~£5-7) into Downtown Cairo. Check into a budget hotel or hostel near Talaat Harb Street or Zamalek — you still get Nile-side views and easy metro access without the Marriott price tag. Buy a local SIM (Vodafone/Orange, ~£6 for data) and change cash to Egyptian pounds. Spend the evening acclimatising with a koshari dinner (~£2) at the famous Abou Tarek, then walk along the Nile corniche at sunset. Book your Giza and museum entries online tonight so you can skip queues.

🚌Airport shuttle or Uber into central Cairo (~£5-7)

🛏Budget hotel/hostel in Downtown or Zamalek (e.g. Dahab Hostel, Berlin Hotel Zamalek)

• →Nile corniche walk
• →Koshari dinner at Abou Tarek
• →Buy local SIM and pick up maps

Head out early to the Grand Egyptian Museum near Giza — pre-book your timed-entry ticket online (~£20). Explore the Great Hall, the Grand Stairs and the Tutankhamun Galleries. In the afternoon take the metro or a taxi to Islamic Cairo: visit Al Azhar Mosque (free, dress modestly — long sleeves/trousers, women cover hair with a scarf) and wander Khan el-Khalili bazaar for spices, lanterns and tea at El Fishawy. You can hire a licensed local guide for a half-day for ~£25-35, or download a self-guided audio tour to save money.

🚌Metro/taxi around Cairo (~£2-3)

🛏Budget hotel/hostel in Downtown or Zamalek

• →Grand Egyptian Museum (timed entry)
• →Al Azhar Mosque
• →Khan el-Khalili bazaar
• →Optional self-guided audio tour of Islamic Cairo

Take the metro to Giza then a short taxi to the Pyramids plateau, arriving when gates open (~8am) to beat the heat and crowds. Entry to the plateau is ~£10; add-on tickets for entering the Great Pyramid (~£10) or the smaller pyramids are paid on site. Wander to the Sphinx viewpoint and the panoramic dune for the classic photo. On the way back, stop at the Sakkara step pyramid if you have energy (~£8 entry, taxi ~£12 return). In the late afternoon, return to Cairo. Optional evening: a budget Nile dinner cruise (~£20) if you fancy it, though a rooftop dinner in Zamalek is cheaper and calmer.

🚌Metro + taxi to Giza (~£6-8 round trip)

🛏Budget hotel/hostel in Downtown or Zamalek

• →Giza Pyramids plateau
• →The Great Sphinx
• →Optional Sakkara step pyramid
• →Optional Nile dinner cruise

Fly Cairo → Luxor (EgyptAir/Nile Air, early-morning flight ~£45-70 if booked ahead) or take the overnight sleeper train the night before (~£40). On arrival, check into a guesthouse on the West Bank or near Luxor Temple. Visit the two east-bank temples: Luxor Temple (~£7) and the vast Karnak complex (~£8) — do Karnak in the late afternoon for cooler air and better light. For dinner try a riverside restaurant in Luxor or local ful and taameya. If you prefer, join a shared guided tour of Karnak for ~£20 per person.

🚌Domestic flight Cairo–Luxor (~£50) or overnight sleeper train

🛏Budget guesthouse in Luxor (e.g. West Bank guesthouses, Bob Marley House)

• →Luxor Temple
• →Karnak Temple complex
• →East bank sunset walk

Cross to the West Bank early (public ferry ~£0.30 or a private boat ~£3). Take a shared minibus or a bike to the Valley of the Kings — the entry ticket (~£13) covers three tombs, with Tutankhamun's tomb extra (~£10) and Ramses VI well worth it if you want one more. Then visit Hatshepsut Temple (~£7) and the Colossi of Memnon (free). In the late afternoon, board your Nile cruise — either a 4-night budget/dahabiya cruise booked via a local Luxor agency (~£200-320 per person all-in) or a cheaper 3-night Luxor–Aswan cruise (~£160-240). Settle in, unpack and catch the sunset from the sundeck.

🚌Public ferry, shared minibus, cruise boat

🛏Nile cruise boat (budget-mid class) or dahabiya

• →Valley of the Kings (3 tombs)
• →Hatshepsut Temple
• →Colossi of Memnon
• →Board Nile cruise

Wake up as the boat sails upstream. Depending on the schedule you'll stop at Edfu (~£8 entry) — reached by horse-cart from the dock (~£3 each way) — and Kom Ombo Temple (~£6), which is best visited at dusk when the crowds thin and the crocodile-mummy museum lights up beautifully. Spend the rest of the day sunbathing on deck, watching feluccas and villages drift past. If you're not on a cruise boat, you can do this same stretch via a combination of a Luxor–Edfu–Kom Ombo minibus (~£8) plus an Edfu–Aswan train (~£6) and staying in guesthouses along the way.

🚌Cruise boat; horse-cart at Edfu; train/minibus if self-arranging

🛏Nile cruise boat (or Edfu/Kom Ombo guesthouse if travelling independently)

• →Edfu Temple
• →Kom Ombo Temple
• →Sundeck sunset over the Nile

Either stay in Aswan for the day — explore the Nubian bazaar, walk Sharia as-Souq and eat lunch in a Nubian restaurant — or take a dawn minibus or flight to the temples of Abu Simbel (~£18 entry plus ~£13 return shared minibus or ~£90 return flight). The minibus convoy leaves Aswan around 4-5am and returns by mid-afternoon; book this through your guesthouse or an Aswan agency. Later, take a sunset felucca sail around Elephantine Island and the Nubian villages — a two-hour private felucca is ~£15-25 per boat and can be split between travellers. Return to your cruise boat or guesthouse for the evening.

🚌Shared minibus or flight to Abu Simbel; felucca on the Nile

🛏Nile cruise boat (or Aswan guesthouse/hostel)

• →Aswan bazaar
• →Optional Abu Simbel temples
• →Sunset felucca sail
• →Nubian village visit

Disembark or check out in the morning and head to Philae Temple on Agilkia Island (~£8 entry plus a boat to the island ~£4). The UNESCO relocation story is remarkable and the temple itself is one of Egypt's most photogenic. Stop at the Aswan High Dam viewpoint (~£3) and the granite quarry with its Unfinished Obelisk (~£3). In the afternoon, take the public ferry to Elephantine Island (~£0.50) and explore the Nubian villages and Aswan Museum, or chill at a rooftop restaurant with 360° views of the Nile and the desert. Check into your Aswan hotel/guesthouse for the night.

🚌Taxis, local boat to Philae, public ferry to Elephantine Island (~£12 total)

🛏Aswan hotel/guesthouse (e.g. on Elephantine Island or along the corniche)

• →Philae Temple
• →Aswan High Dam
• →Unfinished Obelisk
• →Elephantine Island & Aswan Museum

Enjoy a slow breakfast and a last Nubian coffee by the Nile. Depending on your onward plans, fly Aswan → Cairo (~£45-70) to connect to international flights, take the Aswan–Cairo day train (~£25) if you have time, or continue south to Abu Simbel or north to Alexandria independently. If you want to extend, Aswan makes a great base for another day of felucca sailing or a Nubian cooking class (~£20).

🚌Domestic flight or day train Aswan → Cairo

🛏—

• →Last Nile-side breakfast
• →Optional onward travel to Cairo / Alexandria / Abu Simbel