- Luxor has 5 full-day tours, but the East and West Banks tour covers both banks in a single day.
- Cairo has 27 tours and 10 full days, but many repeat the same sites: four of the full days start at the Giza pyramids.
- Sharm El Sheikh: 5 long days (Tiran Island, Ras Mohammed, Mount Sinai, Cairo by plane, Luxor by plane) and two shorter tours.
- Hurghada: 4 full days (Giftun Island, Dolphin House, Cairo by plane, Luxor by road), plus the Sindbad submarine and a desert safari at sunset.
- Domestic flights are never part of a tour price; 7 tours travel by plane.
Count one day for each full-day tour you want; the short and evening tours come on top. By that count, the day tours on this site fill 10 days in Cairo, though many of them repeat the same sites; 5 in Luxor, in Alexandria and in Sharm El Sheikh; 4 in Hurghada and in Marsa Alam; and 3 in Aswan (plus 6 tours in town) and in Dahab.
Days per city, at a glance
| Base | Tours | Full-day or longer | Shorter, evening or in town |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cairo and Giza | 27 | 10: Pyramids, Memphis and Saqqara; Giza pyramids and the Egyptian Museum; Grand Egyptian Museum and the pyramids; Pyramids and both museums; Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo; Coptic and Islamic Cairo; Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis; Alexandria; Fayoum; Luxor by plane | 17: seven half days (the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx; the Grand Egyptian Museum; the Egyptian Museum; the Museum of Egyptian Civilization; the Citadel; Coptic Cairo; Islamic Cairo), the two museums (about 7 hours), the layover tour (between flights), and eight short or evening tours: felucca ride (about 2 hours on the Nile), quad bike (about 2 hours of riding), pyramids sound and light show with dinner, Maxim dinner cruise, Tanoura show night, Khan El Khalili walk, street food, cooking class |
| Luxor | 10 | 5: East and West Banks; West Bank; Dendera and Abydos; Edfu and Kom Ombo; Cairo by plane | 5: East Bank (morning, back after lunch), Karnak with a guide (morning), Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut (morning), hot-air balloon (sunrise), Karnak sound and light show (evening) |
| Aswan | 10 | 3 day trips: Abu Simbel; Kom Ombo and Edfu; Luxor in a day | 7: six tours in Aswan itself (High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk and Philae; High Dam and Philae; Philae by boat; Nubian Museum; Nubian village by boat; felucca sail) and the Philae sound and light show (evening) |
| Alexandria | 5 | 5: Alexandria in a day; El Alamein; Wadi El Natrun monasteries; Cairo and the pyramids; Grand Egyptian Museum | None |
| Sharm El Sheikh | 7 | 5: Tiran Island (day at sea); Ras Mohammed (full day at sea); Mount Sinai (night climb and sunrise); Cairo by plane; Luxor by plane | 2: quad and camel safari (about two hours of riding); Old Sharm by evening |
| Hurghada | 6 | 4: Giftun Island (full day at sea); Dolphin House (full day at sea); Cairo by plane; Luxor by road | 2: Sindbad submarine (about two hours); desert safari by jeep (sunset and evening) |
| Marsa Alam | 5 | 4: Port Ghalib snorkeling (day at sea); Samadai Dolphin House (full day at sea); Luxor by road; Cairo by plane | One: sunset quad safari |
| Dahab | 3 | 3: Blue Hole, quad and camel (day trip); Mount Sinai (night climb and sunrise); Cairo by plane | None |
Where tours overlap
A count of tours is not a count of different sights. In Cairo, four of the full days begin at the Giza pyramids, two visit Saqqara and Memphis, and the Citadel and Coptic Cairo are on two full days and on half days of their own; full days that do not repeat each other's sites are, for example, Pyramids, Memphis and Saqqara, Coptic and Islamic Cairo in a day, Alexandria and Fayoum. In Luxor, the East and West Banks tour visits Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple and the Colossi of Memnon in one day; the West Bank and East Bank tours take two days and add Medinet Habu and Deir el-Medina, the craftsmen's village; Karnak with a guide and Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut take the same sites except Luxor Temple as two mornings. In Aswan, Philae is on three of the town tours, and two of them also visit the High Dam. Edfu and Kom Ombo run from Luxor and from Aswan, so that day belongs to only one of the two cities. The Cairo days by plane from the Red Sea all visit the Giza pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and the Luxor days from Hurghada, Marsa Alam and Sharm El Sheikh all visit Karnak, Hatshepsut's temple and the Colossi of Memnon.
