Egypt is one of the world's great destinations, and has been for thousands of years. The monuments are staggering in scale and age, the Nile Valley is lush and beautiful, and the culture -- ancient and modern -- is endlessly fascinating. It is also loud, chaotic, and occasionally exhausting. That is part of the deal.
Most visitors start in Cairo, and they should. The city is enormous and overwhelming, but the Pyramids of Giza are right there on its western edge, and the Egyptian Museum holds treasures that justify the trip on their own. Cairo is also a living city of over 20 million people, with medieval Islamic architecture, buzzing souks, and some of the best street food in the Middle East.
From Cairo, the classic route heads south along the Nile. Luxor is the ancient city of Thebes, with the Valley of the Kings on one bank and the vast Karnak Temple complex on the other. Aswan is smaller and more relaxed, set among granite islands and Nubian villages, and the starting point for trips to Abu Simbel. A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan remains one of the great travel experiences -- three or four days of temples, farmland, and river light.
Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast has a different feel entirely: cosmopolitan, literary, faded but charming. The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina is worth the visit, and the seafood is excellent.
The Red Sea coast draws a different crowd. Hurghada is the biggest resort town, with world-class diving and snorkeling on coral reefs. Sharm el Sheikh sits at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, combining beach resorts with easy access to Ras Mohammed National Park. Dahab is the backpacker and freediver favorite -- laid-back, cheap, and right next to the Blue Hole, one of the most famous dive sites on earth.
The Sinai also holds Mount Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery, both worth the predawn climb for the sunrise. And further west, Siwa is a remote oasis near the Libyan border with salt lakes, palm groves, ancient ruins, and a pace of life that feels like a different country entirely.
Egypt is not always easy. Traffic in Cairo is legendary, touts at tourist sites can be relentless, and the bureaucracy is formidable. The summer heat in Upper Egypt is brutal -- 45 degrees in Luxor is not unusual. But Egyptians are genuinely warm and hospitable people, the food is delicious and cheap, and the history on display here is simply unmatched anywhere on earth.
