Luxury Private Tours in EGYPT
Five thousand years of civilisation above the ground. As much again beneath it.
Our tailor-made private tours combine expert Egyptologist guides, handpicked boutique stays and curated experiences, from exclusive early-access visits to the Pyramids of Giza and the secret tombs of Saqqara to a private Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, the remote desert oasis of Siwa and a boating experience along one of the finest coastlines in the Mediterranean world.
WHY VISIT EGYPT?
Egypt is the country that invented monumental ambition. The civilisation that built the pyramids did so four thousand five hundred years ago, with a precision of engineering and a clarity of cosmological vision that modern archaeology is still working to fully understand. The temples of Luxor and Karnak, the rock-cut tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the colossal statues of Abu Simbel carved into a Nubian cliff face three thousand years ago: all of it is still standing, still overwhelming and still capable of producing the particular quality of silence that only the genuinely ancient can.
What makes Egypt exceptional for the private traveller is the gap between the standard tourist experience and what genuine access provides. The Pyramids of Giza photographed from the viewing platform with several thousand other visitors is a completely different object from the Pyramids of Giza entered at dawn before any other visitor has arrived, with an Egyptologist guide who can explain the specific engineering decisions made by the architects of the Old Kingdom in the light of the most recent scholarship. The Valley of the Kings with a specialist guide who has permission to open tombs not on the standard circuit is a completely different civilisation from the one visible on the tourist route.
Egypt is also a country of extraordinary geographical variety beyond its ancient monuments. The Western Desert oases, where Berber communities have been living around underground springs since before the pharaohs, offer a landscape and a culture of extraordinary beauty and almost complete solitude. The Red Sea coast, with some of the finest coral reefs in the world in waters that are warm year-round, is one of the finest diving and snorkelling destinations in Africa. And the Nile, the river that made Egypt possible, is still the finest way to understand the relationship between the civilisation and the landscape that produced it.
Many travellers combine Egypt with Morocco for a broader North Africa journey, or extend into Jordan for those following the ancient civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean.
Explore our full Africa hub for more inspiring destinations.
Best Time to Visit EGYPT
October to April is the dry season and our most recommended window for a first Egypt journey. Temperatures across the Nile Valley and Cairo are warm and comfortable rather than extreme, the desert light is extraordinary and the conditions for visiting the monuments are at their finest. December and January are the most popular months and require advance planning for the best accommodation and private access arrangements.
November to February is our single most recommended window within the dry season. The temperature in Luxor and Aswan during this period is perfect for extended time at outdoor sites, the Nile cruise conditions are excellent and the quality of the winter light on the temples in the late afternoon is one of the most extraordinary visual experiences Egypt offers.
March to May is the shoulder season, warming significantly through April and into May. The advantage is fewer visitors at all major sites and lower rates at the finest properties. The khamsin, the hot desert wind that occasionally carries sand across the Nile Valley, appears most frequently in March and April but is manageable and adds its own atmosphere to the desert landscape.
June to September is summer and the hottest period across the country. Upper Egypt including Luxor and Aswan can reach extreme temperatures during this window and morning starts before seven are essential at every outdoor site. The Red Sea coast is at its most popular with European visitors during this period and the diving conditions are excellent year-round regardless of season.
DISCOVER EGYPT’s REGIONS
From the ancient pyramids and the extraordinary new Grand Egyptian Museum of Cairo to the temples and royal tombs of Luxor and the Nile journey south to Aswan and Abu Simbel, each region of Egypt offers a completely distinct private journey.
CAIRO: THE CITY AT THE CENTRE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
Cairo is one of the great cities of Africa and the Middle East, a megalopolis of twenty million people built around the most extraordinary concentration of ancient monuments on earth. The Grand Egyptian Museum, opened in its full form in 2023 and housing the complete treasures of Tutankhamun alongside the finest collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts ever assembled in a single building, has made Cairo more essential than ever for the serious traveller. The Islamic Cairo of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, the medieval mosques of the Fatimid city and the Coptic quarter with its extraordinary early Christian churches add layers of history that extend well beyond the pharaonic period.
LUXOR: THE WORLD'S GREATEST OPEN-AIR MUSEUM
Luxor was the capital of ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom, the period of the great pharaohs, and the concentration of monuments on both banks of the Nile here is without equal anywhere on earth. The temples of Karnak and Luxor on the east bank, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon on the west bank: a private Luxor experience with a specialist Egyptologist who can open tombs not on the standard circuit and explain the full theological and historical context of what you are seeing gives this extraordinary city the depth it deserves.
THE RED SEA: CORAL REEFS AND DESERT COASTLINE
The Egyptian Red Sea coast combines some of the finest coral reef diving and snorkelling in the world with a desert landscape of extraordinary drama where the mountains of the Eastern Desert meet the water directly. The reefs of the Ras Mohammed national park at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, the pristine coral gardens accessible by private boat from Marsa Alam and the extraordinary marine life of the Brothers Islands are among the finest underwater experiences available anywhere in Africa. A private boat on the Red Sea, moving between dive sites and anchoring in bays of extraordinary beauty with no other vessels in sight, is one of the most restorative experiences Egypt offers.
Signature Experiences in EGYPT
Egypt rewards those who go beyond the obvious monuments and allow a private Egyptologist guide to open the doors that the standard tourist circuit keeps closed. From exclusive dawn access to the Pyramids of Giza and the secret tombs of Saqqara to a private dahabeya on the Nile and the extraordinary desert silence of the Siwa Oasis, these are the moments we build every Egypt journey around.
EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA
The Pyramids of Giza experienced privately, arriving before the site opens to the public and entering the pyramid chambers with an Egyptologist guide who can explain the specific engineering and cosmological decisions made four and a half thousand years ago, is one of the most genuinely moving experiences available anywhere in the world. The scale of the Great Pyramid, the precision of its alignment with the cardinal points and the specific quality of the silence inside the burial chamber are things that cannot be understood from a photograph or appreciated in the presence of crowds.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH TOMBS IN SAQQARA
Saqqara, the vast necropolis south of Cairo where the earliest pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, stands above a labyrinth of mastaba tombs dating back five thousand years, contains decorated burial chambers that are not open to the general public and that can only be accessed with a specialist guide who has the specific permits and relationships required. The painted walls of these private tombs, showing scenes of daily life in the Old Kingdom with a freshness and a detail that the more famous Valley of the Kings tombs cannot match, are among the most extraordinary surviving documents of ancient Egyptian civilisation.
NILE CRUISE BY PRIVATE DAHABEYA
The dahabeya, the traditional two-masted wooden sailing vessel that carried European explorers and Egyptologists up the Nile in the nineteenth century, is the finest and most atmospheric way to travel between Luxor and Aswan. A private dahabeya, moving under sail when the wind allows and stopping at the temples and villages of the riverbank at your own pace rather than a cruise ship schedule, gives the Nile journey the contemplative quality that the ancient Egyptians understood when they built their civilisation around this river. The light on the temple walls at dawn and dusk from the deck of a dahabeya is one of the most extraordinary visual experiences Egypt offers.
ABU SIMBEL
The twin temples of Abu Simbel, carved into a sandstone cliff by Ramesses II three thousand years ago and relocated in an extraordinary feat of modern engineering when the Aswan High Dam was built, are one of the most overwhelming monuments in Egypt. A private early morning visit by flight from Aswan, arriving as the site opens before the tour groups, gives Abu Simbel the silence and the scale it deserves.
WOMEN OF EGYPT
A private tour of Cairo led by local women guides who can introduce you to the specific history, culture and contemporary life of Egyptian women, from the extraordinary female pharaohs of the ancient world, Hatshepsut and Nefertiti among them, to the women artisans, chefs and community leaders of contemporary Cairo, is one of the most distinctive and most illuminating Egypt experiences available. It reveals a dimension of Egyptian culture that the standard monument circuit never addresses and that gives the entire journey a depth and a human context that no amount of temple-visiting can provide.
SIWA OASIS
Siwa, the remote desert oasis near the Libyan border where Alexander the Great consulted the oracle of Amun in 331 BCE and where the Berber Siwi community has been living around underground springs since before the pharaohs, is one of the most extraordinary and most completely unknown destinations in Egypt. The salt lakes, the ancient mud-brick ruins of the old city, the date palm groves and the extraordinary silence of the Western Desert surrounding the oasis on all sides give Siwa a quality of timelessness that no other destination in Egypt replicates. Getting there requires commitment, by four-wheel drive from the Mediterranean coast, and rewards it entirely.
BOATING THE RED SEA
A private boat on the Egyptian Red Sea, moving between the coral reefs of the Ras Mohammed marine park and the pristine dive sites of the southern coast, anchoring in bays of extraordinary blue water with the desert mountains rising behind the shore, is one of the most restorative experiences Egypt offers. The coral gardens of the Egyptian Red Sea are among the finest in the world and largely intact, accessible from a private vessel at sites the day-trip boats cannot reach, in conditions of silence and solitude that make the underwater world feel genuinely undiscovered.
ASWAN: THE NUBIAN SOUTH
Aswan is the southernmost city of Egypt and the most beautiful, a smaller and slower city than Cairo or Luxor where the Nile is at its most vivid and the Nubian culture of the surrounding villages adds a warmth and a colour to the journey that the pharaonic monuments further north cannot provide. The Philae Temple on its island in the Nile, the Aswan High Dam and its extraordinary engineering history, the Nubian villages accessible by felucca on the islands of the river and the local food culture of a community with deep roots in the oldest continuous civilisation in Africa make Aswan the finest ending point for any Nile journey.
Frequently Asked Questions About Traveling to EGYPT
-
October to April is the most comfortable window for visiting Egypt. Temperatures across Luxor, Aswan and the desert regions are warm and manageable during the day and cool at night. Cairo is a year-round destination. Summer (June to August) brings intense heat to Upper Egypt and the Sahara, and while the sites remain open the conditions are demanding. For those combining Egypt with a Red Sea stay, water temperatures and visibility are excellent year-round.
-
We recommend a minimum of eight to ten days for a first Egypt journey covering Cairo and the Giza Plateau, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, and Aswan and the temples of Abu Simbel. A Nile cruise or private dahabeya between Luxor and Aswan adds a layer of depth that no land-based itinerary can replicate. Those wanting to add the White Desert, the Red Sea or a combined Egypt and Morocco itinerary should plan for twelve to fourteen days.
-
The Grand Egyptian Museum, which opened in 2023 near the Giza Plateau, is the largest archaeological museum in the world and houses the complete treasures of Tutankhamun alongside more than 100,000 artefacts spanning five thousand years of Egyptian civilisation. A private guided visit with a specialist Egyptologist transforms what is already an extraordinary collection into one of the most intellectually and emotionally affecting cultural experiences currently available anywhere in the world. It is the single most compelling new reason to visit Egypt right now.
-
A dahabeya is a traditional Egyptian sailing vessel used by European travellers and writers on the Nile throughout the 19th century. Chartered privately, it carries between eight and sixteen guests and moves at a pace dictated by the wind and the river rather than a fixed schedule. A dahabeya journey between Luxor and Aswan stops at temples and villages that larger cruise ships cannot reach, allows you to sit on deck and watch the Nile landscape pass in complete silence and delivers an experience of the river that feels genuinely timeless. For those who want to understand Egypt beyond its monuments, a private dahabeya is without question the finest way to travel it.
-
The Giza Plateau and the Sphinx are Egypt's most iconic images but the country's depth extends far beyond them. The Valley of the Kings at Luxor contains some of the most extraordinary painted tombs in the world, including the tomb of Ramesses VI and the lesser-visited royal tombs that most tours never reach. The temples of Karnak and Luxor are genuinely awe-inspiring at scale. Abu Simbel in the far south, built by Ramesses II and relocated in its entirety to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser, is one of the most dramatic feats of ancient and modern engineering combined. The White Desert, with its surreal chalk formations rising from the sand, offers a completely different Egypt that most visitors never see.
-
Egypt is a well-established international tourism destination that welcomes millions of visitors each year. The areas covered on a private luxury itinerary, including Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and the Nile corridor, are all considered safe for international visitors. As with any destination, we always brief our clients thoroughly before travel and our local guides and partners are present throughout every journey, handling logistics seamlessly and ensuring every experience unfolds without complication.
-
Egypt pairs naturally with Morocco for a broader North Africa journey tracing two of the continent's greatest civilisations. It also combines beautifully with Jordan for those drawn by the ancient world across the Middle East, or with Tanzania and Kenya for a complete Africa journey moving from ancient civilisation to extraordinary wildlife. We design all multi-country itineraries as fully private and tailor-made.
-
US, UK and most Western passport holders require a visa for Egypt, which can be obtained as an e-Visa online before travel or on arrival at major airports. We always assist our clients with the visa process and confirm the latest entry requirements well before departure.
Plan Your EGYPT Journey
Egypt is a country that has been overwhelming travellers for five thousand years and continues to do so in ways that no amount of preparation quite anticipates. Tell us what draws you most, the ancient monuments, the Nile, the desert oases or the Red Sea, and we will design a journey that reveals the country at its most extraordinary.