Egypt
🗓 Best time: October–April is the season — Cairo pleasant, Luxor warm, Nile evenings perfect. May–September is furnace territory in Upper Egypt; only the Red Sea coast stays comfortable.
💰 Realistic budget: ₹80,000–₹1,10,000 per person for 7 nights including flights.
🛂 Visa for Indians: Indians holding a valid US, UK or Schengen visa can use the e-visa/on-arrival route (~US$25); everyone else applies through the embassy — allow 2–3 weeks. Rules shift; confirm before booking.
Nothing dulls the moment: you round the Giza plateau's rise and the pyramids are simply there, absurd and eternal, with the city lapping at their feet. Egypt's genius is that the hits keep coming — Tutankhamun's gold at the Grand Egyptian Museum, Karnak's forest of columns, the Valley of the Kings' tombs still vivid with 3,000-year-old paint, and between them the Nile itself, best travelled the ancient way.
The shape of the trip
The classic (7 nights): Cairo (3) — Giza and Saqqara, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili's bazaar; fly to Luxor for Karnak and the Valley of the Kings (2); then either a Nile cruise or the train to Aswan for Philae and a felucca sail (2). Beach-inclined travellers add the Red Sea after.
The money
Egypt is excellent value once there: solid hotels ₹3,500–6,500, a koshari dinner ₹300–600, guided site days ₹2,500–4,000. Nile cruises span ₹8,000–20,000 per night per couple by category. Baksheesh (small tips) is the constant lubricant; carry small notes and good humour.
Worth knowing
Sort the visa path first — it sets your timeline. Hire Egyptologist guides at the big sites (superb and inexpensive). Hustle at Giza is real but manageable: agree prices before, decline with a smile, and the pyramids remain sublimely indifferent to it all.
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