The Egypt travel checklist we send every guest, organized by how many weeks you have left
The Egypt travel checklist we send every guest, organized by how many weeks you have left
An Egypt travel checklist works best when it is organized by time, not by category. Months out, you handle the four things that cannot be rushed: a passport with six months of validity beyond your entry date, the tourist visa, travel insurance with medical coverage, and a travel clinic appointment. Weeks out, you confirm the cruise and domestic flights, sort out your phone, bank and medication. Days out, you pack for the season, break your cash into small bills and charge everything. Below is the full list in that order, the packing list by category, and the things people forget every time.
Two to three months out: the four things that cannot be rushed
Start with the passport. Egypt requires six months of validity beyond your date of entry, and the airline enforces it at check-in at home, not in Cairo. Read the expiry date now and renew if you are anywhere near the line; everything below depends on the passport number.
Then the visa. Most US passport holders get a tourist visa either on arrival at the airport or as an electronic visa applied for online before departure. We recommend the online route, which removes a line and a cash transaction from a moment when you are tired. Who qualifies and how it works are in our guide to Egypt visa requirements.
Insurance third. Luxor is a long way from your home hospital, and a policy covering medical care, evacuation and trip interruption is not optional in our view. Read the exclusions for scuba diving and hot air ballooning if you plan either. The detail is in travel insurance for Egypt.
Fourth, a health appointment. See a travel clinic six to eight weeks before you leave, because some vaccines need time to take effect and some come in more than one dose. Egypt imposes no mandatory vaccines on travelers from the US, so this is a conversation about routine boosters and the food-and-water shots your doctor may suggest. Our page on travel vaccinations and health advice for Egypt lists what usually comes up.
Four to six weeks out: booking in the right order
Egypt trips have a booking order, and getting it wrong is the most common reason a trip ends up more tiring than it needed to be. Nile cruises sail on fixed days of the week, so the cruise sets the skeleton. Domestic flights fill up in the winter high season. Hotels are the easy part and come last.
- Fix your dates and length of trip. Eight to ten days is the comfortable minimum for Cairo plus a cruise.
- Lock the Nile cruise cabin. The sailing day decides which days you spend in Cairo, so this goes first, not last.
- Book the domestic flights. Cairo to Luxor or Aswan and back, timed around embarkation and disembarkation.
- Book the Cairo hotels for the nights on either side.
- Add the extras that need a time slot. Abu Simbel, the hot air balloon in Luxor, a night in the desert.
- Confirm a guide and driver for every day, with names and a WhatsApp number, not just a company.
With Explora Egipto this is one message rather than six browser tabs: we build the chain around the cruise day, hold the domestic flights while you decide, and send a single itinerary with a quote. If you assemble it yourself, keep the order above and you avoid a hotel booked for a night you are actually on the boat.
Two weeks out: phone, bank, medication and copies
Phone. Decide between an eSIM bought before you leave, a local SIM at the airport, or your US carrier's international day pass. For a week or more, the local SIM or an eSIM wins, because you will use maps and WhatsApp constantly. Our guide to SIM cards and mobile internet in Egypt compares the options.
Bank. Tell your bank and card issuer your dates and every country you pass through, including a layover. Check the daily ATM limit and the foreign transaction fee on each card, take at least two cards from different banks, and keep them in different bags. Egypt still runs on cash for tips, small purchases and the bazaars, so plan on withdrawing Egyptian pounds on arrival.
Medication. Refill prescriptions for the whole trip plus several days of margin, in the original packaging with the label. Write a list with the generic name of each medicine, because a pharmacist in Luxor recognizes the molecule, not the American box.
Copies. Photograph the passport data page, the visa confirmation, the insurance card, every booking and the itinerary. Keep the set on the phone itself, not only in the cloud, because when the problem is the connection the cloud is useless. Email it to someone at home and print one set that travels apart from the originals.
The last few days: packing for the season, cash and charging
Egypt has two packing seasons. From October to April, Cairo days sit around 68 to 80 F (20 to 27 C), while nights on the river and desert mornings can fall to 50 F (10 C), so you need a real layer for the sun deck after dark and the dawn run to Abu Simbel. From May to September the south regularly passes 100 F (38 C), and the list shrinks to the lightest fabrics you own, a wide hat and a lot of sunscreen.
The month by month detail, fabrics, and what women and men wear at temples and mosques is covered properly in what to pack for Egypt. Use that guide to decide the contents and this one to make sure nothing is left on the bed.
Cash. Ask your bank for new, unmarked bills in small denominations. Tipping starts at the airport, and porters, drivers and the man who opens a tomb door all expect a small note, so small bills are worth more than large ones nobody can break. Torn or marked bills are refused at exchange counters. Read how tipping works in Egypt so the amounts feel natural.
Adaptor and charging. Egypt uses the European two round pin plug on 220 volts. Phones, laptops and camera chargers are dual voltage and only need the adaptor; leave the US hair dryer at home, hotels and boats supply one. Charge the power bank the night before you leave, not the morning of.
Sun kit. High SPF sunscreen, lip balm with SPF, sunglasses that block glare, a brimmed hat, and rehydration salts for the first hot afternoon.
The packing list by category
This is the checklist itself, kept deliberately short. Tick it off the night before, then close the suitcase and stop thinking about it.
Documents
- Passport, checked for six months of validity.
- Visa confirmation, printed and on the phone.
- Insurance card and confirmations for the cruise, domestic flights and hotels.
- Itinerary with the guide's name and WhatsApp number.
- Paper copies of everything, stored away from the originals.
Money and cards
- Two cards from different banks, in different bags.
- New small bills for tips, plus a modest reserve in larger notes.
Clothing, adjusted to the season
- Light long pants or skirts and loose long sleeve shirts for temples and sun.
- One warm layer from October to April; a fleece is enough.
- A large scarf, for the mosque, the sun deck and the desert dust.
- Broken-in walking shoes for the Valley of the Kings, plus sandals for the boat.
- Socks for mosques, where shoes come off and the marble is cold.
- Swimsuit for the cruise pool, and one nicer outfit for the last dinner on board.
Health
- Prescriptions in original packaging, plus the generic-name list.
- Stomach remedies, rehydration salts and a pain reliever.
- Band-aids, blister pads, hand sanitizer and wet wipes.
- Insect repellent for riverbank evenings and high SPF sunscreen.
Tech
- Plug adaptor, at least one per two people.
- Power bank, charged, and the cables for every device.
- Camera with spare batteries and cards.
- Offline maps and a translation app with the Arabic pack installed.
Day bag
- Refillable bottle, tissue pack and wet wipes, because public bathrooms rarely have paper.
- Small bills, a copy of the passport and the guide's number.
- Hat, sunglasses, scarf and sunscreen.
Your carry-on, the only bag you are guaranteed to have
Checked bags are delayed often enough that the carry-on deserves its own list. Everything that would ruin the first two days if it went missing rides in the cabin with you.
- Passport, visa confirmation and the paper copies.
- All prescription medication, with several days of margin.
- Every power bank and spare lithium battery, which cannot go in the hold anyway.
- One complete change of clothes and a small toiletry kit.
- Sunglasses, sunscreen and a thin long sleeve layer for the air conditioning.
- Small bills for the airport porter and the first taxi tip.
Book the cruise and domestic flights in the right order for me
Arrival day in Cairo
The first hour goes smoothly if you did the visa online and have three things in hand: the passport, the hotel address, and the number of the person meeting you. Our drivers wait inside the arrivals hall with a name board.
- Visa done online; if you chose visa on arrival, buy it at the bank counter before the immigration line.
- Passport in your hand, not the overhead bin, from the moment the seatbelt sign goes off.
- Hotel address saved in English and, if you can, in Arabic for the driver.
- Driver's and guide's numbers saved before landing.
- A small bill ready for the porter who takes the cart before you can say no.
- A modest ATM withdrawal for the first day, and the first day kept light.
Where the counters are and how the meet and greet works are in our Cairo airport arrival and departure guide.
On the Nile cruise
Reception holds your passport briefly at embarkation for the registration book, then hands it back; ask for it before the first excursion so it is never on the boat while you are at a checkpoint. Excursions leave early, so the day bag is packed the night before, not over breakfast.
- Embarkation port and sailing direction confirmed, with the boat's name and pier.
- Passport recovered from reception on the first evening.
- Day bag packed the night before every excursion: water, hat, scarf, small bills, passport copy.
- Warm layer for the sun deck after sunset from October to April.
- Small bills for the temple guardians and the felucca crew.
- An envelope of cash for the crew tip on the last evening.
What to wear on deck, how formal the dinners are and what the cabin already provides are in what to pack for a Nile cruise.
Long day trips: Abu Simbel, the balloon and the desert
Three excursions have their own quirks.
Abu Simbel from Aswan
- Alarm set well before dawn and a breakfast box arranged with the boat or hotel.
- Passport in the day bag; there are checkpoints on the desert road.
- Warm layer for the drive out, sun kit for the way back.
- Camera batteries charged, because the temple faces the sunrise.
Hot air balloon over Luxor
- Closed shoes and long pants for the landing in a field.
- Hair tied back and no loose hat; the burner is above your head.
- A light jacket for the pre-dawn pickup, and small bills for the crew.
A night in the desert
- Warm layer even in spring; the desert loses its heat fast after sunset.
- Headlamp, wet wipes and a scarf against the dust.
- Family warned that you will have no signal for a night.
The things people forget every single time
Ten items stay home with striking regularity.
- The plug adaptor, the first thing you need and the last thing anyone remembers.
- Thin socks for the mosques.
- A large scarf, for sun, dust, the mosque and the air conditioning.
- Small bills from day one, because tipping starts at the airport door.
- The power bank charged, not just packed.
- A tissue pack in the day bag, every day.
- A copy of the passport in the day bag when the original is in the safe.
- Lip balm, which the desert air makes essential within a day.
- The guide's WhatsApp number saved before landing, while you still have data.
- Reading glasses for museum labels, which are small and low.
Departure day
The end of the trip is where things get left behind. Run this list before the bags close.
- Check the room safe. It is where more passports are forgotten than anywhere else in Egypt.
- Spend or exchange the leftover Egyptian pounds; coins cannot be changed anywhere.
- Settle the tips for the guide, the driver and the hotel staff, customarily left for the last day.
- If you dived in the Red Sea, respect the surface interval before flying.
- Pack the papyrus tube and the alabaster in the carry-on, not the checked bag.
- Leave for the airport with a wide margin for Cairo traffic and the security check at the terminal entrance.
How Explora Egipto sends your own checklist
Everything above is the general version. When you book with us you get a personal one, built from your itinerary and your travel month rather than a template.
It arrives on WhatsApp in three messages. About a month out, a documents check: we ask for a photo of the passport data page, confirm the validity against your dates, and remind you about the visa and insurance. A week out, the practical list: your phone plan, the small bills you need on which days, the warm layer if your cruise falls in the cooler months, closed shoes if there is a balloon, a headlamp if there is a desert night. The day before you land, the driver's name, photo and number, and your hotel address in Arabic.
During the trip your guide takes over, with a message the night before each excursion giving the pickup time, what to bring and what to leave in the safe.
Frequently asked questions
What documents do I need to travel to Egypt from the US?
A passport valid for at least six months beyond your entry date, a tourist visa obtained online before departure or on arrival, proof of travel insurance with medical coverage, and your booking confirmations. Carry a paper copy of the passport and visa apart from the originals, and a digital copy on the phone. Nothing else is checked at immigration for an ordinary tourist stay.
How far in advance should I start an Egypt travel checklist?
Three months is comfortable. That leaves time to renew a passport close to the six month rule, to see a travel clinic six to eight weeks out, and to book the cruise cabin and domestic flights while there is still choice. Under a month is possible, and we do it often, but it means accepting the cruise dates and domestic flights that are left.
Do I need vaccinations to travel to Egypt?
Egypt does not require any vaccine for travelers arriving from the US. Travel clinics generally talk about keeping routine boosters current and about the food-and-water shots advised for most of the region, tailored to your itinerary and health. Book the appointment six to eight weeks out, since some doses need time to take effect.
How much cash should I bring, and in what bills?
Enough small US bills to cover tips for the first days, in new and unmarked notes, and Egyptian pounds from an ATM once you arrive for everything else. The right amount depends on your length of stay and your habits, so send us the itinerary and we tell you what we would carry for that trip.
What should I pack for Egypt in winter versus summer?
From October to April, light clothes for the day plus a warm layer for evenings on the river, dawn departures and the desert, which drop to 50 F (10 C) or lower. From May to September, the lightest breathable fabrics you own, a wide hat and a lot of sunscreen for temperatures over 100 F (38 C) in the south. In every month, shoulders and knees covered for mosques and churches.
Does Explora Egipto send a checklist for my trip?
Yes. Every guest gets a personal pre-departure checklist on WhatsApp built from their itinerary and travel month: a documents check a month out, a practical packing list a week out, and the driver's details the day before landing. Ask us for the quote and the checklist for your dates comes with it.
Print the list, then let us handle the rest of it
Tell us your dates, how many people are traveling and what you most want to see, and we come back with the itinerary, the cruise and domestic flights in the right order, and the personal checklist that goes with it. You pack the bag; we do everything from the airport door onward.
