The Egypt packing list we send every traveler, item by item and with the reason for each
The Egypt packing list we send every traveler, item by item and with the reason for each
An Egypt packing list comes down to five things: light natural-fiber clothing that covers shoulders and knees, one real warm layer for winter dawns and desert nights, broken-in closed shoes plus a sandal, a serious sun kit, and a small health kit built around your stomach and the sun. Add a plug adapter and a power bank, your passport with paper copies, and the extras for whatever you booked: a jacket for the cruise deck, a headlamp for the desert, reef-safe sunscreen and water shoes for the Red Sea. Leave the drone, the revealing outfits and the jewelry at home. The full list by category is below, with the reason behind every item.
How to use this list, and what it is not
This is the checklist version. Each category is a list of items with a one-line reason, so you can decide whether it applies to your trip. The longer thinking, the fabrics, the cultural context and the mistakes people make, lives in our essay on what to pack for Egypt. Read that one on the couch; print this one and put it next to the suitcase.
Packing is only half of getting ready. Visa, insurance, bank notice and the airport routine are in the Egypt travel checklist. Do the paperwork first, then pack.
One rule shapes everything below: pack for layers, not outfits. A single day can start at a chilly balloon launch, move to a temple forecourt in full sun and end with a windy dinner on a cruise deck. Three or four pieces that combine cover all of that.
Clothing by season, with the temperatures that justify it
Egypt is a desert with a river through it, so the swing between midday and dawn is bigger than first-time visitors expect. The month decides the warm layer, and the warm layer decides the size of the bag.
| Season | Daytime | Dawn and night | What goes in the bag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter, December to February | 65 to 75 F (18 to 24 C) in Cairo, warmer in Luxor and Aswan | 45 to 55 F (7 to 13 C), colder in the desert and on the water | T-shirt, long sleeve, fleece, light jacket. Long pants daily. |
| Spring and fall, March to April and October to November | 75 to 90 F (24 to 32 C) | 55 to 65 F (13 to 18 C) | Light clothing plus one sweater for the evening. |
| Summer, May to September | 95 to 105 F (35 to 41 C) in Luxor and Aswan | 75 to 85 F (24 to 29 C) | Linen and thin cotton in pale colors, a sun shirt, one thin layer for air conditioning. |
Winter
- Four or five cotton base tops: the layer you sweat in at noon and keep on at night.
- Two long-sleeve shirts: sun cover at midday, warmth at 6 a.m. in the Valley of the Kings.
- One fleece or wool sweater: the cruise deck before sunrise really is 45 F, and boats are not heated like American hotels.
- One light windproof jacket: over the fleece on the felucca and the balloon, and it packs down to nothing.
- Two or three pairs of long pants, one of them warm. Shorts do not work in Cairo in January.
Summer
- Five or six loose tops in linen or thin cotton, pale colors: dark synthetics turn into an oven at Karnak.
- One long-sleeve sun shirt with a collar: better than sunscreen on your forearms for eight hours.
- Two pairs of wide linen pants and one long skirt or loose trousers for the mosque day.
- One thin cardigan: the bus, the cruise dining room and the museum are all heavily air conditioned.
Modest-dress pieces that earn their place
Egypt has no dress code for tourists, but it has a dress culture, and visitors who match it get better service, fewer stares and easier mosque visits. These pieces make modest dressing effortless. Women will find the detail in what to wear in Egypt as a woman, men in what men should wear in Egypt.
- Tops that cover the shoulders: tank tops stay for the resort and the cruise sundeck.
- Bottoms to the knee or below: capris, wide pants, maxi skirts. Men, long pants in the city, shorts at the pool or on the boat.
- One large lightweight scarf or pashmina: the most useful item on this page for women. Head cover at a mosque, shoulder cover over a sleeveless dress, a blanket on the overnight stretches.
- Nothing sheer, cropped or low cut for the city days. Your Red Sea days are a different world.
Shoes for temples, sand and boat decks
You will walk more in Egypt than on any city break, over uneven flagstones, gravel, dusty ramps and tomb stairs. Shoes are the one category where a mistake follows you for the rest of the trip.
- Broken-in closed sneakers or trail shoes: the temple and tomb shoe. A grippy sole and cushioning matter; new shoes bought for the trip are how blisters happen on day two.
- Sandals with a back strap: the boat deck, the hotel, the evening walk. Flip-flops slide on wet fiberglass decks.
- For the desert: low sneakers fill with sand, so bring either high sneakers or sandals you accept will get sandy. Hiking boots are unnecessary and cook your feet.
- Water shoes for the Red Sea: rocky shore entries and sea urchins are real.
The sun kit
The Egyptian sun is intense in every month, and the sites with the least shade, Giza, Karnak, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings, are the ones you spend longest at. Sunburn on day one takes the shine off the whole trip.
- Broad-spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen: bring your favorite from home, because trusted brands are not always on the shelf in Luxor.
- A wide-brimmed hat with a chin cord: the wind at Giza and on the Nile takes a loose hat within a day.
- Polarized sunglasses: glare off pale stone and water is as tiring as the heat.
- Lip balm with SPF: lips burn first at Abu Simbel.
- An insulated water bottle: cold water at 3 p.m. in Aswan keeps you drinking. Bottled water for refills is everywhere.
The health kit, with generic names
Pharmacies in Egypt are excellent and on almost every block, but the first night you need something is usually on a boat or in the desert. Generic names below, so you can match them at home. Our travel first aid kit guide goes deeper on doses and when to see a doctor.
- Loperamide: gets you through a temple day or a flight. Not if you have a fever.
- Oral rehydration salts, several sachets: the item most people wish they had packed. Heat plus a stomach bug dehydrates you fast.
- An antacid and a bismuth-type stomach settler: different oils catch up with some travelers around day three.
- Ibuprofen or acetaminophen: sun and dehydration headaches are common.
- Motion sickness tablets if prone: the Nile is flat, the Red Sea boat and the desert 4x4 are not.
- Hydrocolloid blister plasters, adhesive bandages, antiseptic wipes.
- Prescription medication in its original labeled packaging with a copy of the prescription, plus a spare pair of glasses or contact lens solution.
Documents and copies
The shortest list and the one where a gap is hardest to fix once you are here. Everything goes in the carry-on, never the checked bag, with copies kept separate from originals.
- Passport with at least six months of validity beyond your dates: the airline checks it before you board and immigration checks it again.
- Your visa, printed, if you obtained it in advance.
- Travel insurance certificate with the emergency number, printed and on your phone: hospitals ask for it at the door.
- Printed hotel, cruise and domestic flight confirmations: immigration sometimes asks where you are staying, and phone batteries die.
- Two photocopies of the passport photo page and visa: one in the day bag, one in the suitcase. Hand the copy, not the passport, to anyone who asks to hold a document.
- A card with your guide's WhatsApp number and your hotel addresses written out, for taxi drivers and the day the phone stays in the room.
Electronics and power
Egypt runs on 220 volts with the round two-pin sockets used across continental Europe. Every phone and camera charger made in the last decade handles the voltage; only the plug shape needs solving. Cabin sockets and hair tools are covered in power plugs and electricity in Egypt.
- Two US-to-European round-pin adapters: one for the room, one that lives in the day bag. Cheap at home, hard to find in a hurry in Aswan.
- A power bank of around 10,000 mAh: a long sightseeing day drains a phone by lunchtime. It travels in the cabin bag; airlines do not allow power banks in checked luggage.
- A compact multi-port USB charger: rooms and cabins have few outlets, so one adapter charges everything.
- Camera, spare batteries and cards. Ask your guide about the current photography rules at each site, because permits change.
- A small headlamp: tombs are lit, desert camps are not, and cruise corridors at night are dim.
Extras for the Nile cruise
A cruise adds a few items and removes the biggest packing headache, because the suitcase stays in the cabin from embarkation to disembarkation. The full breakdown is in our Nile cruise packing guide. The short list:
- A light jacket or wrap for the sundeck: the wind on the river at night is cool in every season and cold in winter.
- Swimwear: most boats have a small pool on the top deck, and the sailing afternoons are exactly when you want it.
- One smart casual outfit for dinners: nobody wears a tie, but people change out of dusty temple clothes.
- A small day bag: excursions leave the boat at dawn and you carry water, hat, sunscreen and camera for three or four hours.
Extras for the desert and the Red Sea
Desert overnight at the White Desert, Siwa or Fayoum
- A warm layer beyond what the season suggests: the desert floor loses its heat within an hour of sunset, and a winter night can approach freezing.
- A scarf or buff covering nose and mouth: for the 4x4 dust and the wind on the dunes.
- A headlamp with fresh batteries: camps have no lighting beyond the fire.
Red Sea days at Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Dahab or Sharm el Sheikh
- Reef-safe mineral sunscreen: the corals you snorkel over are the reason you came, and chemical filters damage them.
- Water shoes or reef sandals: many shore entries are over rock and coral, and sea urchins live there.
- A rash guard: you float face down for an hour and your back burns before you notice.
- Two swimsuits, a quick-dry towel and a dry bag for the phone on the boat.
What not to pack for Egypt
Every item you leave at home is weight you do not carry up a tomb staircase. Some of these are about comfort, and a few are about the law.
- A drone: drones are tightly restricted in Egypt and routinely held at customs on arrival. Do not bring one, even packed, even if you never intend to fly it.
- Revealing clothing for the city days: short shorts, spaghetti straps, crop tops and sheer fabrics attract attention in Cairo and get you turned away at mosques. Keep them for the resort.
- Valuables you do not need: fine jewelry, a second camera body, a laptop you will not open. Theft is rare in tourist Egypt, but loss and worry are not.
- Too many clothes: laundry is easy and fast.
- Heavy hiking boots: nowhere on a standard itinerary needs them.
- Anything you would hate to lose in a checked bag: which brings us to the carry-on rules.
Luggage type and weight, including the domestic flights
Most Explora Egipto itineraries include a domestic flight or two, typically Cairo to Luxor or Aswan and back, or Cairo to Hurghada. Those flights carry a checked allowance lower than many US travelers expect, and a modest cabin allowance. We confirm the exact figures for your flights in your itinerary, because they vary by carrier and fare, and our guide to domestic flights in Egypt explains how the airports work.
The practical answer is to pack for the domestic allowance from the start. A medium suitcase, not a large one, with sturdy wheels, because pavements, ramps and gangways are not smooth. A soft-sided bag squeezes into a minivan better than a hard shell.
- Checked: one medium suitcase, packed well under the limit on the way out, because you will buy things.
- Cabin and day bag: one small backpack with documents, medication, electronics, power bank and one change of clothes, emptied of the paperwork for the sightseeing days.
- A foldable duffel for the return, when the Khan el Khalili purchases need a home.
How Explora Egipto sends you a pre-trip list
Once your trip is confirmed, we do not send a generic checklist. About three weeks before departure your coordinator sends a packing list built from your actual itinerary: the months you travel, the cities with their forecast ranges in Fahrenheit and Celsius, whether you have a cruise, a desert night or Red Sea days, the domestic flights with their baggage allowance, and the sites where a particular item matters, such as socks for the mosque day or a headlamp for the camp.
It arrives by WhatsApp and email as a short document you tick through, and your coordinator stays on the same thread for the questions it raises.
If you are still deciding on the trip itself, tell us your dates and what you want to see. We come back with an itinerary and the quote, and the packing list follows once you say yes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the one item people most regret leaving off an Egypt packing list?
A real warm layer, in any month. Travelers read that Egypt is hot and pack for the beach, then stand on a cruise deck before sunrise or at a desert camp at midnight in a T-shirt. Winter dawns in Luxor sit around 45 to 50 F (7 to 10 C), and the river wind makes it feel colder. A fleece and a light windproof jacket weigh almost nothing and fix the problem.
Can I bring a drone to Egypt?
No. Drones are restricted in Egypt and are routinely confiscated at customs on arrival, whether or not you intend to fly them. Leave it at home. If you want aerial footage of the pyramids or the Nile, licensed operators exist and your guide can point you to them, but the rules change and permits take time, so do not plan a trip around it.
Do I need a plug adapter or a voltage converter for Egypt?
A plug adapter, from US flat pins to the European round two-pin type, yes. A voltage converter, no. Egypt runs on 220 volts, and phone, camera and laptop chargers are all built for that range. Bring two adapters and a small multi-port USB charger so one outlet charges everything, and keep the power bank in your carry-on for the domestic flights.
What shoes are best for the temples and tombs?
Broken-in closed sneakers or trail shoes with a grippy sole. Temple floors are uneven stone, tomb corridors are steep ramps with wooden slats, and everything is dusty. Add sandals with a back strap for the boat, the hotel and the evenings, and water shoes if you have Red Sea days. Do not bring new shoes or heavy hiking boots.
Do women have to cover their hair in Egypt?
Only inside mosques, and a scarf pulled over the hair for the visit is enough. Everywhere else hair is uncovered and nobody expects otherwise from visitors. What matters more in the cities is covering shoulders and knees. One large lightweight scarf does all of it: hair at the mosque, shoulders over a sleeveless top, shade at noon and warmth on the deck.
How much luggage can I take on the Cairo to Luxor or Aswan flight?
Domestic flights in Egypt carry a lower checked allowance than many US travelers expect, and a modest cabin allowance. The exact figures depend on the airline and fare, so we confirm them in your itinerary rather than quoting a number that may change. The safe approach is a medium suitcase packed light and a small backpack as cabin bag.
Pack once, pack right, and let us handle the rest
Tell us when you want to travel and what you want to see, and we build the itinerary around it: Cairo, the Nile cruise, Abu Simbel, a desert night or the Red Sea. Once it is confirmed, a packing list written for your exact trip lands in your inbox, and your coordinator stays on WhatsApp for the small questions before you zip the bag.
