Egypt, a country which has a lot of cultural and historical sights to offer is a great destination for everyone. Whether you like resorts, beaches, snorkeling, nature, museums or hiking, you’ll find it all in Egypt. However, with a distance of over 1000 kilometres from Cairo to one of the iconic temples of Abu Simbel in the South, you would expect that you’ll need a lot of time to see all the highlights of Egypt. Thanks to the domestic network of Egyptair and other airlines that operate in Egypt such as Nile Air and Air Cairo it is easy to see a lot of Egypt in just a week. This is my guide how I travelled around Egypt by air and see the main sights in just a week.
The map above shows all the airports that are served by Egypt Air. As you can see, it is possible to fly to all the civilised parts of the country from cities in the desert with archaeological sites to resort cities at the Red Sea. With such great network, it is fairly easy to travel fast-paced through Egypt. The places I wanted to visit were Cairo, Sharm-El-Sheikh (including Sinai), Luxor, Aswan and the famous Abu Simbel temple.
My experiences in Egypt
One question I often get: do you need an organised trip within Egypt? My answer is: no! Egypt is a touristy country and everywhere I went was very easy approachable: there are taxi’s everywhere, you can use Careem or Indrive app if you need taxi’s on demand. Even at temples or islands where you need to take a boat, there’s ample options available to get you straight to your location. So no, not necessarily. However, some people prefer the convenience and opt for an organised tour.
Cairo
Cairo has a lot to offer besides the Pyramids. I’ll show you the highlights I have visited and recommendations. A lot of great flight deals start from Egypt, which made me return to Cairo multiple times. Therefore, I have compiled a list of my favourite places in this city!
Favourite spots in Cairo
Giza Pyramids
No visit to Egypt is complete without marvelling at the iconic Pyramids of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Would you like some wonderful views to the Pyramids and Sphinx? Then I suggest you visit Rooftop 7000, the Pizza Hut or another roof top bar or restaurant in the eastern entrance area of the Giza complex. We decided to visit Rooftop 7000, buy a drink and enjoy the amazing views!
Zabbaleen
Mokkatam is the district surrounding the Saint Simon Monastery is known for the Zabbaleen, an Egyptian word for Garbage collectors mainly inhabited by Coptic Christians. Even though the area may seem overwhelming, the people who live at Mokkatam are very friendly and welcoming.
Saint Simon “The Tanner” Monastery
Inside Mokkatam, the Zabbaleen district, you’ll be able to find this gem of a Coptic Orthodox monastery. The monastery has a magnificent hall and cathedral carved within a mountain.
Al-Azhar Park
If you want to get away from the chaos of Cairo, Al-Azhar Park is a great and very clean park to walk around or have a picnic. There is a very small entrance fee for the park but it is negligible (last time I was there it was 50 EGP). The park offers wonderful views as well over the city as well as to the Saladin Citadel. Just a short walk from the park gets you to the beautiful Al-Azhar Mosque as well. Get some Al-Azhar Park vibes from my Youtube short here.
New Cairo
A complete new capital is in construction just eastward from Cairo International Airport. In contrast to the chaotic Cairo city, it is meant to be an organised, clean and hyper-modern city similar to the Middle-Eastern countries. While New Administrative Capital Cairo (NAC) can be an interesting place to stay if your aim is to enjoy luxury and shopping, it is however ideally located and rather far from the more touristic places such as Giza Pyramids. In addition, some areas still feel like a construction place as of 2025.
Favourite restaurants
Abou Tarek
If there’s one national dish you should try, it is Koshary, a nutritious and filling dish containing macaroni, noodles, rice, lentils, rice, chickpeas and a tomato-based sauce. Abou Tarek is a restaurant specialised in this national dish and lays in the middle of the centre. While you could eat in, there is also the option to take it home. The restaurant is attracting a lot of locals, which for me indicates that it is one of the best places for Koshary!
Taboulah Lebanese Restaurant
If you fancy a traditional Arabic mezze, your go-to place is right in the middle of the Embassy district, close to Tahrir Square and is named Taboulah. While the restaurant is a bit hidden in the basement it is a unique experience offering great quality food.
Favourite hotels
Marriott Mena House
The Mena House, which is probably the hotel that is the closest to the Giza Pyramids offers amazing rooms with Pyramid view from your balcony. Due to its magical view, great pool and great location (with even direct access to the Pyramids on a golf car upon request!), it is just a great hotel for visiting the pyramids. Would you like to see my room tour? Check out my Youtube Short!
Le Meridien Cairo Airport
Le Meridien Cairo Airport is a convenient airport hotel, offering a wide range of food & drink places and a great outdoor pool. Due to the nature of flights that usually depart or arrive during the night, it is a great start or end of your trip in Egypt. While it is an expensive hotel in cash, I managed to book this hotel using just 13600 Marriott Points. If you own an a Belgian American Express Platinum card, you’ll also be Gold status holder and be eligible to free upgrades. You could easily transfer Amex points to Marriott points. The best convenience this hotel offers is the fact that it is directly connected to terminal 3, meaning that you could just walk straight to and from the airport building through a connector tube.
Sharm-El-Sheikh
One of the many resort cities in the North of Egypt does not only offer great beach activities such as sunbathing, red sea expeditions and cheap all-inclusive hotels, just a bit over an hour from Sharm-El-Sheikh lays the Sinai mountain. With daily trips offered to Mount Sinai, it is possible to experience the place he was given the Ten Commandments by God. For that reason, including that of the heat from the mountains, the excursions are taken at night.
As I really enjoy hiking, I decided to join a small excursion, where I was picked up at my resort in Sharm at 8:00 PM in the evening, hiked up the mountain to then wait until sunrise on the top of it. If you’re planning to do so, make sure to bring enough clothes with you to combat the cold night in the mountains as a lot of travellers underestimate this, especially if you climbed up quickly and you have to wait for a few hours at the top.
By the time the sun has risen and finishing the decent, you’ll be able to take a visit to the Saint Catherine’s Monastery, a Greek-Orthodox monastery that lays right at the side of Mount Sinai. The monastery is definitely worth a visit, as it encloses what is claimed to be the burning bush seen by Mozes.
Aswan
The city of Aswan can be accessed easily by train or by air. To save time, I decided to fly to Aswan and use it as “base” to make a day trip to Abu Simbel and a day trip to Luxor. If there’s one place you must visit in Aswan, it is the Philae Temple. Bonus if you decide to book a hotel on Elephantine island, so that you could feel the vibe of Nubian tradition. For this reason, I stayed at the affordable Jamaica Guest House.
Favourite hotel
Jamaica Guest House
If you’re looking for an affordable stay on the Elephantine island in Aswan, this is the place to be. Take in mind that you rely on the public boat transportation. At night, you can still catch a boat by waking up the boat captain and pay him a bit extra for transferring you alone to the other side. This can add a stress factor if you need to catch a bus, train or flight at night. However, it should not put you off to stay here!
Luxor
Luxor can be visited easily by flight or by train. I decided to take a daytrip from Aswan to Luxor by a local train.
Luxor, also known as the city with the greatest open air archaeological museum in the world has a gigantic amount of ruins of Egyptian temple complexes. Some of the most famous archaeological sites can be found here such as Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings and many more. We used a lot of walking in combination with some tuktuk rides to get to different places.
Abu Simbel
If you get the chance to visit Abu Simbel it is one of the most iconic places to visit in Egypt, with the grandeur the temple of Ramesses II. Abu Simbel can be visited through a minibus tour from Aswan, which is a drive that usually departs at night. Another alternative is by flying from Aswan to Abu Simbel if you’re short on time. Flying Aswan – Abu Simbel with EgyptAir makes you eligible to the free bus service to the temple.
