Pyramids, the Nile & the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Planned by Egyptians.

Yes. Egypt's main tourist destinations — Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea coast — are open and operating normally. The US State Department's current Egypt advisory is Level 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions) for these areas. Tourist-site security is robust, well-organized, and visible.

We have offices in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, and Sharm El Sheikh — six locations across Egypt's main tourist hubs. That means our staff are on the ground every day, monitoring conditions in real time. We never run tours near the North Sinai border zone or the Libyan frontier — those are the specific areas flagged at higher US advisory levels. The Nile Valley, Cairo, and the Red Sea coast are where we work, and they're as safe and well-run as any Mediterranean destination.

Yes. US passport holders need an Egypt visa. The easiest route is the Egypt e-Visa online at visa2egypt.gov.eg — a single-entry visa is approximately $25 and takes 3–5 business days. Visa-on-arrival is also available at Cairo International. Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your entry date.

We include complete e-Visa guidance with every confirmed booking. If you're flying into Sharm El-Sheikh and staying only in South Sinai, a free entry stamp is available — but it does NOT cover Cairo or the Nile Valley. Most American travelers take the standard e-Visa for flexibility.

A 10-day private Egypt tour with a 5-night Nile cruise — Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan — typically runs $2,500–$4,500 per person depending on accommodation tier. Budget-minded travelers can do an 8-day trip from around $1,990 pp. Luxury fully private tours with five-star hotels start around $5,000 pp.

Our prices include all ground transportation, private Egyptologist guiding, hotel accommodation, and Nile cruise. International flights are separate — we can arrange these or work with your own bookings. Peak season (October–March) is 15–20% higher than April–June. Group travel reduces per-person cost significantly. We price all four tiers so you can compare.

Yes — the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at Giza is fully open as of 2026. It is the largest archaeological museum ever built, displaying the complete Tutankhamun collection — all 5,398 objects from the boy king's tomb — together for the first time in history, alongside more than 100,000 other artefacts spanning 7,000 years. It sits within walking distance of the Pyramids of Giza, so a single morning covers both.

Every Egypt itinerary we build for 2026 includes the GEM as a half-day private guided visit. Plan three to four hours minimum — the Tutankhamun galleries alone take an hour, and the Grand Staircase with Ramses II's colossus is one of the most photographed museum spaces in the world right now. The old Egyptian Museum at Tahrir Square remains open with a different (still excellent) collection — many of our guests visit both. We pre-book skip-the-line entry; arrival times matter to avoid peak coach traffic from Cairo.

October through April is the prime window for American travelers — temperatures in the Nile Valley sit in the 70–85°F range, skies are clear, and the light for photography is exceptional. November through February is peak season and books out fast. March and April offer near-perfect weather with slightly smaller crowds.

Thanksgiving week and spring break are our most popular US travel windows. July and August in Luxor and Aswan reach 105–115°F — manageable with early-morning touring, but not ideal for a first visit. Red Sea beach extensions work year-round, so combining a Cairo + Nile Valley tour with a few days on the water is a great all-weather strategy.

Ten nights is our recommended starting point for a first Egypt vacation from the US — the transatlantic flight earns a proper trip. Cairo (3 nights) plus a 5-night Nile cruise covers the Pyramids, Egyptian Museum, Luxor, and Aswan with room to breathe. Adding Abu Simbel or a Red Sea extension brings you to 12–14 nights.

An 8-night trip works, but jet lag from New York or Los Angeles can cut into your first day or two. Fourteen nights is the sweet spot we recommend to most American clients — you fully decompress, explore beyond the headline sites, and finish the trip relaxed rather than exhausted. Every itinerary is modular, so adding days is straightforward.

Yes. We strongly recommend comprehensive travel insurance covering trip cancellation, emergency medical evacuation, and travel disruption. Standard US health insurance typically does not cover international medical care, and emergency medical evacuation can cost $50,000 or more without coverage.

Look for policies that explicitly include medical evacuation — not just 'emergency medical.' Egypt has good private hospitals in Cairo, but evacuation coverage gives you full options. We include insurance guidance with every booking. Travel Guard, Allianz, and World Nomads are common starting points.

Tipping is a core part of the Egyptian tourism economy. A practical guide: $10–15 per person per day for a private Egyptologist guide, $5–8 per day for a driver. On a Nile cruise, $5–10 per day shared among the boat crew is standard. These are separate from your tour price and given directly.

We include a detailed tipping guide with every confirmed booking, tailored to your itinerary and group size. The key rule: tip directly to the individual in cash, in person, at the end of each day. Egyptian Pounds and US dollars are equally welcome. Never tip through an envelope or box — it rarely reaches the person.

Both work. Our packaged tours follow proven itineraries that cover the highlights at a comfortable pace — start there if you want certainty. Custom trips are built from scratch around your specific dates, group, and interests — start there if you want length, region, or activity flexibility. Either way, you get the same Cairo team and the same operational quality.

Most American clients land in the middle: they pick a packaged itinerary as the spine, then customize 2–3 days around it (e.g., adding Abu Simbel, swapping a city day for a hot-air-balloon dawn, extending the Red Sea portion). That's our most popular approach. The custom builder kicks off with a 15-minute call to scope the trip — no commitment.