Pyramids, Temples & the Nile — Self-Launched

Land at Cairo International Airport, sort your visa on arrival (USD 36 / ~£28, QR code or kiosk at the airport), pick up a local SIM from the airport (Vodafone/Orange, ~£6-8 for 10-15GB), and take an Uber or the airport bus to your downtown hotel. Base yourself around Talat Harb or Islamic Cairo. In the evening walk to a rooftop for your first view over the city, eat koshari (Egypt's national dish, ~£2) and graze the Khan el-Khalili bazaar edges without buying anything. Sort your sightseeing plan and book guides for the next days online tonight.

🚌Uber/Careem from airport to downtown ~£5-7; airport bus ~£1

🛏Downtown Cairo budget hotel / guesthouse, twin or single room (~£20-28/night)

• →Visa on arrival at Cairo airport (arrange QR code online in advance)
• →Local SIM card
• →Evening walk and koshari dinner downtown
• →Khan el-Khalili bazaar wander

Get to the Giza plateau early (be at the gate for 8am opening) via Uber (~£4). Buy the site ticket plus the optional entry into one pyramid (Khufu's interior is the priciest; a smaller pyramid is cheaper and often quieter). Then head to Sakkara for the Step Pyramid of Zoser and the Imhotep Museum — either by Uber (~£6-8) or by joining a half-day shared minibus tour on GetYourGuide/Klook (~£25-35 including guide and Sakkara entry). Sunset back at the Giza panorama viewpoint for the classic nine-pyramid shot. Skip the camel touts or negotiate hard; a 30-min ride is ~£8-12.

🚌Uber to/from Giza and Sakkara ~£12-15 total, or shared day tour ~£25-35

🛏Downtown Cairo budget hotel / guesthouse (~£20-28/night)

• →Pyramids of Giza & Sphinx (site ticket ~£12, extra for pyramid interiors)
• →Sakkara & Step Pyramid of Zoser (~£10 entry)
• →Giza panorama viewpoint at sunset

Two good options south: the overnight sleeper train from Cairo Ramses (Watania, ~£45-65 for a single/double cabin, departs evening and arrives Luxor early morning) booked via the Watania website, or a cheap domestic flight (EgyptAir/Nile Air, often £40-70 one-way, 1hr). On arrival, check in, then spend the afternoon at Karnak Temple, one of the biggest temple complexes on earth (~£11 entry). In the evening visit Luxor Temple, beautifully lit after dark (~£8). You can also factor in Dandara (Dendera) — either today by shared taxi or tomorrow morning before heading south: a shared taxi from Luxor is ~£15-20 each way split, or join a half-day tour (~£25).

🚌Overnight sleeper train Cairo-Luxor ~£45-65, or domestic flight ~£40-70

🛏Luxor West Bank or Nile-side budget guesthouse (~£18-25/night)

• →Karnak Temple (~£11)
• →Luxor Temple at night (~£8)
• →Optional Dendera half-day tour (~£25) or shared taxi (~£15-20 each way split)

Cross to the West Bank by public ferry (~£0.30) or a shared rowing boat early, then hire a bicycle (~£3/day) or split a taxi for the day (~£20-25 total). Hit the Valley of the Kings at opening (~£16 entry covering 3 tombs; Tutankhamun and Seti I cost extra), then the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari (~£7) and the Colossi of Memnon (free). Add Medinet Habu if you have energy. In the afternoon, board your Nile sailing boat: weekly dahabiya sailing departures (e.g. via operators like Dahabiya Nile Sailing or local Esna-based boats, bookable via GetYourGuide or direct email) sail Esna–Aswan over 4-5 nights at ~£120-170/night full board, or take the cheaper felucca/motorboat plus bus combo. Sail out of Luxor/Esna late afternoon.

🚌Public ferry + bicycle or shared taxi on West Bank (~£8-10); overnight transfer to boat

🛏Dahabiya sailing boat, en-suite cabin (~£120-170/night full board)

• →Valley of the Kings (~£16)
• →Temple of Hatshepsut (~£7)
• →Colossi of Memnon
• →Board dahabiya and set sail

Your first full sailing day. A dahabiya has no engine, so you drift with the wind past lock gates, palm groves and small villages — the pace is the whole point. Stop mid-morning for El Kab, a lesser-visited tomb and temple complex on the east bank (~£6 entry; reachable with a 20-min walk from the boat mooring). Afternoon reading, swimming off the boat where the crew allows, and dinner on deck under the stars. If you're doing this self-launched on a tighter budget instead of a booked dahabiya, the equivalent is the public bus Luxor–Esna plus local felucca captains around Esna/Aswan who do short hops (~£15-25 per half day per boat, split between 4-6 people).

🚌Sailing; onshore walks or short felucca hops

🛏Dahabiya sailing boat, en-suite cabin (full board)

• →El Kab tomb & temple complex (~£6)
• →Sailing and village walks
• →Deck dinner

Sail on through the narrow green ribbon of farmland hemmed by desert. Stop at the Temple of Edfu (Horus temple, one of Egypt's best-preserved, ~£10 entry, reached by horse cart or on foot from the mooring, cart ~£3), and further south at Kom Ombo's twin temple of Sobek and Haroeris (~£8), especially beautiful at sunset. If sailing on a budget felucca, the Edfu–Kom Ombo stretch is easy by shared minibus from Edfu town (~£2). Evening mooring near a small island; buy fresh bread and produce from a village shop and eat with the crew.

🚌Sailing; horse cart or walk to Edfu temple; shared minibus alternatives ~£2-4

🛏Dahabiya sailing boat, en-suite cabin (full board)

• →Temple of Edfu (~£10)
• →Kom Ombo temple (~£8)
• →Village walk on Herdyab Island

Sail the last stretch into Aswan, disembark and check into a guesthouse. In the late afternoon take a boat to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple (~£10 entry plus ~£4 return boat), the most romantic temple setting in Egypt. Then take a public ferry or small boat across to a Nubian village on the west bank for mint tea and a home-cooked dinner with a local family — many guesthouses in Aswan can arrange this directly for ~£12-20 per person, which is the independent equivalent of the tour's Nubian Village Visit. Evening stroll along the corniche.

🚌Boat to Philae ~£4 return; public ferry to West Bank ~£0.50

🛏Aswan budget guesthouse, ideally Nubian-style West Bank (~£18-25/night)

• →Philae Temple (~£10 + boat)
• →Nubian village visit and home-cooked dinner (~£12-20)
• →Aswan corniche walk

Abu Simbel is the highlight of the south. Cheapest route: the shared early-morning convoy minibus from Aswan (~£12-18 return, leaves around 4am, ~3.5hrs each way) booked through your guesthouse or GetYourGuide. Faster: fly Aswan–Abu Simbel with EgyptAir (~£55-90 one-way). Entry to the temples is ~£19. Back in Aswan by afternoon — rest, then take a felucca sunset sail (~£6-8 per person) or visit the unfinished obelisk and the Nubian Museum (~£6). Optional: Aswan High Dam (~£5).

🚌Shared convoy minibus Abu Simbel return ~£12-18, or domestic flight ~£55-90 one-way

🛏Aswan budget guesthouse (~£18-25/night)

• →Abu Simbel temples (~£19 entry)
• →Felucca sunset sail (~£6-8)
• →Optional Nubian Museum (~£6) or High Dam (~£5)

Fly Aswan back to Cairo (EgyptAir/Nile Air, ~£45-80 one-way, or overnight train ~£30-50 to save money). Drop bags and head to the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza (~£16-20 entry, book the timed slot online in advance) for the Tutankhamun galleries and the Grand Staircase. Then pick your own afternoon: either a historic walk through Islamic Cairo — Al-Muizz Street, Bab Zuweila, Al-Azhar and the Khan el-Khalili — with a licensed local guide (~£25-35 for a half day, via GetYourGuide), or a downtown food crawl trying ta'ameya, molokhia, hawawshi and Om Ali (~£10-15 in food, guide ~£25). Farewell dinner somewhere with a Nile view.

🚌Domestic flight Aswan-Cairo ~£45-80, or overnight train ~£30-50; Uber around Cairo ~£5-8

🛏Downtown Cairo budget hotel / guesthouse (~£20-28/night)

• →Grand Egyptian Museum (~£16-20)
• →Historic Cairo walking tour or downtown food crawl (~£25-35 guide)
• →Farewell dinner

Breakfast, last-minute souvenir run for papyrus, spices or perfume oils at a fixed-price shop rather than the bazaar touts, and an Uber to the airport (~£5-7). If your flight is late, squeeze in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir (~£8) for the old-school mummy rooms. Depart with the Pyramids, the Nile sail and Abu Simbel behind you — for around a third of the group-tour price.

🚌Uber to Cairo International Airport ~£5-7

🛏N/A — depart

• →Optional Egyptian Museum Tahrir (~£8)
• →Souvenir shopping