November is arguably the best month to visit Egypt: the brutal summer heat has gone, Luxor and Aswan are comfortable for temple days and Nile cruises, and it’s peak season without the worst crowds.
Egypt weather in November
Warm and dry — Cairo 20-26°C, Luxor and Aswan 25-30°C by day and cool at night. Perfect for exploring temples and the pyramids without the punishing summer heat.
Crowds & prices
Peak season starts ramping up, so book Nile cruises and Abu Simbel trips ahead, but November is more comfortable (and slightly less mobbed) than the December-January high point.
What to do in Egypt in November
Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a Luxor-to-Aswan Nile cruise (Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo), a dawn trip to Abu Simbel, and a felucca sail at sunset in Aswan.
What to pack
Light breathable clothing for the day, a warm layer for cool desert nights, a hat, sunscreen and modest cover for mosques.
The Catch With November: Peak Season Starts Now
November is when Egypt’s high season switches on, so the gap between it and the December-January peak is smaller than most guides admit. Red Sea resorts in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh fill up fast, and Nile cruise cabins for the Luxor-to-Aswan run get scarce; book six to eight weeks out rather than turning up and hoping. Rates tend to run roughly 15 to 25 percent below the Christmas-New Year wall, which is the real reason to pick November over late December.
What November genuinely earns you:
- Red Sea diving near its annual best, with water around 25C, a 3mm wetsuit good for full days, and visibility frequently past 30 metres off Sharm.
- The Cairo International Film Festival, which lands mid-month (it ran 12-21 November in 2025) and packs the capital’s cinemas and hotels.
The honest miss: the Abu Simbel Sun Festival, when dawn light strikes the inner sanctuary statues, falls on 22 February and 22 October, so November visitors see the temple without that event. Pack a warm layer too; Red Sea nights drop to about 17C even when days sit near 28C.
Egypt in November FAQ
Is November a good time to visit Egypt?
One of the best — comfortable temperatures for Upper Egypt and ideal Nile-cruise weather.
Is it too hot for Luxor and Aswan?
No — November is the sweet spot after the summer heat breaks.
How much does Egypt cost?
Egypt is budget-friendly; a Nile cruise is the main splurge. See our Travel Cost Index.
Plan more: trip costs · best time to visit any destination · compare destinations
Book the Grand Egyptian Museum before you land
The single biggest reason to be in Egypt right now sits on the Giza plateau: the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which opened fully on November 1, 2025. Visiting in November 2026 means you catch it during its first-anniversary stride, and it is genuinely the largest museum on earth dedicated to a single civilization: over 100,000 artifacts across roughly 5.2 million square feet, including the complete Tutankhamun collection shown together for the first time and Khufu’s restored solar boat.
Here is the part most people get wrong. There is no on-site ticket booth anymore. Since the ministry closed the counters in late 2025, every ticket is timed-entry and must be bought in advance on the official site, tickets.gem.eg. Show up without a booking and you will not get in.
- Foreign adult (18+): EGP 1,450 (~$29-30 USD)
- Student (13-25, valid ID) & child (6-12): EGP 730; under 6 free
- Galleries: 9:00 AM-6:00 PM, extended to 9:00 PM Wednesdays & Saturdays
- Grounds, cafes, shops: 8:30 AM-7:00 PM
Book the earliest morning slot. The Tutankhamun galleries clog by late morning, and you want the Grand Staircase to yourself.
Bring a card, not cash: 2026 site fees and hours
Egypt went almost entirely cashless at its monuments in 2026. Nearly all major sites now take only Visa, Mastercard, or the local Meeza card at the gate: cash is refused at the Pyramids, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, and beyond. Call your bank before you fly and switch on international transactions, because a declined card at the Giza gate is a genuinely miserable way to start the day.
Current foreigner entrance fees, paid in EGP at the card terminal:
- Giza Necropolis (grounds): EGP 700; open 7:00 AM-5:00 PM, last entry ~4:00 PM
- Inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu: EGP 1,000 (a separate, limited-quota ticket, worth it once)
- Khafre or Menkaure pyramid interior: EGP 280 each
- Valley of the Kings, Luxor: EGP 750, includes three tombs
A November-specific tip: sites open at 7:00 AM and the light is soft and the plateau is nearly empty until the 9:00 AM tour buses arrive. Be at the Giza gate at opening. By 10:00 AM in peak season the queues for the Khufu interior stretch long and the desert heat, though mild in November, still bites at midday on unshaded stone.
Getting from Cairo to the south: flight, sleeper, or cruise
The classic November trip pairs Cairo with the Nile Valley, and how you cover the ~680 km south to Aswan shapes the whole itinerary. You have three real options.
- Fly. EgyptAir runs multiple daily Cairo-Aswan hops; one-way fares typically land around $70-150 and the flight is about 90 minutes. This is the move if your days are tight: fly down, cruise up to Luxor, fly home.
- Sleeper train. The Abela overnight service (still widely sold under the old “Watania” name) leaves Cairo in the evening and reaches Aswan the next morning. Note it now departs from the new Bashtil (Upper Egypt) station in Giza and calls at Giza station about 30 minutes later, not from Ramses. A private single cabin runs roughly $120, a double around $100 per person, dinner and breakfast included. You trade a hotel night for the train and wake up in the south.
- Nile cruise. The heart of the trip. November falls in the ideal cruising shoulder season: warm days, cool evenings, tolerable sun. A 3-4 night Luxor-Aswan cruise runs about $450-750 standard, or $790-1,300 for the genuinely luxurious boats.
My advice: fly one direction and cruise the other so you never backtrack. Aswan to Luxor (downstream) is the more relaxed sailing direction, with Kom Ombo and Edfu temples slotted in along the way.
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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.