A guide to Egypt

With insights from my favourite tour operator... and me!

I recently took some of my London friends on a trip to Egypt and it was a true joy to see the country I was born and part raised in through their eyes. As always when I go to my hometown and share bits on Instagram, I received so many messages asking for recommendations of where to go, what to see, what to do and, in short “how to do Egypt like me” (haha) so I thought I’d put together a little guide with suggestions from me and Kenzie Kashmiri of Traveline Egypt - who helped me put our itinerary together…

Where should I go for ancient Egypt? 

Kenzie: If you’re really interested in getting to see the best of ancient Egypt then - to get access to the areas that aren’t as frequently visited - do a Nile cruise. It starts in Cairo and takes you all the way to Aswan - or, you can do it from Aswan to Cairo. You stop in areas like Tal El Amarna and Beni Hassan, where some of the most impressive tombs of the Middle Kingdom are located. I’d suggest taking a dahabiya boat with friends or family for 5 nights. It’s a smaller boat with no motor so it’s super quiet and you can dock in more remote areas like Gebel el-Silsila.

Alya: I mean, the pyramids, obviously. There’s a new museum which is in the process of opening near the pyramids too, which, when completed will be the largest archaeological museum complex in the world, hosting more than 100,000 artifacts. Luxor and Aswan as a whole are also incredible - it’s what I did with my friends earlier this year and they were gobsmacked at the impressive history and heritage. We didn’t do the cruise as Kenzie suggested, above, but I have done one from Luxor to Aswan a couple of times on a dahabiya before and it’s definitely the best way to do it.

Where should I go for beaches?