Quick verdict: Egypt combines 5000 years of pharaonic history + Nile cruise + Red Sea diving + desert. This guide ranks 15 essential Egyptian experiences for 2026.
The 15 best things to do in Egypt
Pyramids of Giza
Last surviving Wonder of the Ancient World. Great Pyramid + Sphinx. Inside tombs extra. Best at sunset or sunrise.
Cruise the Nile
Egypt’s defining experience. Sail past temples + villages. 3-night minimum. Premium boats (Movenpick, Sonesta) recommended.
Valley of the Kings
Tutankhamun’s tomb + 62 pharaoh tombs. Buy combined ticket. Hot air balloon over valley is iconic add-on.
Abu Simbel temples
Ramses II rock-cut temples on Lake Nasser. Saved from flooding by UNESCO in 1960s. Fly or drive (5h from Aswan).
Karnak Temple
Largest religious building in ancient world. Hypostyle Hall has 134 massive columns. Walk through 2000 years of construction.
Red Sea diving in Hurghada
World-class coral reefs. SS Thistlegorm WWII wreck dive. Cheaper than Maldives. Best November-March.
White Desert overnight
Chalk-white desert with bizarre rock formations + camping under stars. 5h drive from Cairo. Otherworldly.
Khan el-Khalili bazaar
Cairo’s ancient market. Souvenirs + cafes + Egyptian textiles + spices. El Fishawi cafe is 200+ years old.
Mt. Sinai sunrise climb
Where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Climb at 2am for sunrise summit. Greek Orthodox monastery at base.
Egyptian Museum of Antiquities
120,000 ancient artifacts including Tutankhamun gold mask + mummies. Old museum still has best collection.
Felucca sail at sunset
Traditional Nile sailboat. Quietly sail past Nile islands at sunset. Most peaceful Egyptian moment.
Visit Siwa Oasis
Saharan oasis near Libya border. Cleopatra’s spring + salt lakes + Berber culture. Most remote Egypt.
Camel ride at Pyramids
Iconic camel ride + pyramid backdrop. Negotiate hard. Sunset best. Most clichéd but unmissable.
Snorkel Marsa Alam
Dugong + turtle + dolphin spotting. Less touristy than Hurghada. Family-friendly + house reef access.
Try Egyptian street food
Koshari (lentils + rice + pasta) + ful medames (fava beans) + ta’amiya (Egyptian falafel). Hummus + tahini. $1-3 per meal.
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Helpful Packzup guides
Skip the Old Tahrir Museum: Where to Actually Spend Your Cairo Hours
The classic Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square is now the overrated stop. Since November 2025 the boy king’s full collection lives at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on the Giza Plateau, about 2km from the pyramids, where over 5,000 Tutankhamun pieces sit together for the first time. The catch: entry is timed and you must book ahead on the official visit-gem.com portal, with a daily cap of around 8,000 visitors. Grab the first 9 AM slot and you get the Grand Staircase and its colossal statues nearly to yourself before tour buses arrive. A foreign-adult ticket runs around EGP 1,450 (roughly $25).
The pick most visitors skip sits across town in Coptic Cairo. The Hanging Church (Al-Muallaqa), built atop a Roman gate tower, is free to enter (dress modestly) and far calmer than Khan el-Khalili.
- Free time-and-money move: walk Al-Muizz Street in Islamic Cairo. It is a pedestrian-only zone in the evenings and costs nothing to stroll, with the medieval facades lit up after dark. Pair it with a sunset coffee instead of paying for another guided site.
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Updated 2026. Some links on Packzup are affiliate links.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.