How To Do Egypt For Less Than $300

I feel as though Egypt has gotten a bad rap in the backpacking world.

For people from the west, Egypt is mysterious. It’s a completely different culture, language, and way of life.

I usually hear people say one of two things when they visit Egypt.  “I was constantly hassled” or “I was constantly ripped off.”

To be honest, I felt the same too, at first. However, I eventually learned ways to avoid both. Lucky for you, I’m here to sort things out.

CAIRO

Most people start their vacation in Cairo. Cairo is a good starting point because it’s the gateway to the Nile Valley as well as home to The Great Pyramids.

If you’re independent, I’ll put it bluntly. Travel on your own. Make the train reservations yourself, organize the tours yourself, and find lodging yourself. This can save you loads of cash.

As a backpacker, get on hostelworld.com or hostelbookers.com and reserve your accommodation with whomever you feel comfortable with. I paid 40 Egyptian Pounds a night, (5 Egyptian Pounds=1 US Dollar)  or $8, and had my own room with AC. You can go as cheap as $4/night.

DO NOT join a tour through your hostel/hotel immediately. Price things first.

You must be comfortable with haggling. Look at it this way. If the price is too low, they won’t do it. Until then, they are still making money.

And lie! I told fibs all the time. Like “The guy down the street gave me this price.”

Even if he didn’t, I made up a price to get a better deal. It works, so if your morals allow it, do it.

Once you have an idea what the best priced tour is, join it. All tours are similar, especially since guides aren’t allowed in many of the sights. Price is the only issue. I paid $36 for two full day tours of Old Cairo and The Great Pyramids.

You can go one step further and do it on your own. Entrance to The Great Pyramids is $12 and a taxi will cost you about $4 each way. You can wander Old Town on your own, but it will cost you $6 to get there and back.

If you want to take a camel ride from the Pyramids, awesome. Locals pay $4 to take a camel ride. Other travelers pay somewhere around $10. However, I’ve heard of some tourists paying $100 for a 2 hour camel ride in the desert. Can you say rip off!

Haggle, haggle, haggle and if that doesn’t work, walk away. There are plenty of other camels to ride, trust me.

Also, don’t let the locals trick you into getting on a camel.

When a local guy walked up to me and said he wanted to show me his camel, I followed him because I was curious. He told me to put my foot in a stirrup and before I knew it, I was 8 feet in the air on top of a camel with the local dude holding my $800 camera. Not cool!

Let’s just say I spent the entire time figuring how I’d dismount the camel to beat the local guy’s ass once he tried running off.

I didn’t even enjoy the view of one of man’s biggest engineering feats. The local was pissed I didn’t give him money for the pictures and I walked away telling him not to trick tourists. Not a good situation to be in.

2-3 days is all you need in Cairo. After that, head south.

I was an idiot and did a 6 day package tour of the Nile Valley for $360. I kicked myself in the ass the entire rest of the time after learning what things really cost.

Why I signed up for a tour when I’d been traveling on my own for 7 months independently, I’ll never know.

ASWAN

If I would’ve booked the train from Cairo to Aswan on my own, the furthest south destination in the Nile Valley,  it would’ve cost $16. It’s an overnight train so no accommodation would be necessary.

In Aswan, you can find accommodation for $4/night. Trust me, it’s nothing special, but it’s a bed and a place to rest your head.

There isn’t much in Aswan, but it’s the takeoff point to see Abu Simbel. A half day tour to Abu Simbel costs $10 with lunch included. A tour of the Aswan Dam and surrounding ruins the next day costs an additional $10.

Anybody seeing how cheap it really is yet?

Abu Simbel is truly amazing and worth the effort. This temple was moved from it’s original location because of the nearby Aswan dam, which blocked the Nile. The Egyptians painstakingly disassembled the temple and reassembled it on higher ground so it wouldn’t be flooded. Crazy!

After 2 days in Aswan, 1 at Abu Simbel and 1 at the dam and ruins, you take a felucca up the Nile to Luxor. A felluca is a traditional Arabic wooden sailing boat. The trip takes 2 days and 1 night and costs $20 including food.

The only thing you pay extra for is drink. Luckily, the guys on the felucca had a connection to get us beer. Beers were $1 each, but well worth it.

Trust me, it’s extremely relaxing as you cruise past small villages along the gentle shores of the Nile, while sipping on beer and relaxing with fellow backpackers.

LUXOR

After 2 days, you’ll reach Luxor. 2 days in Luxor is enough.

Accommodation should be somewhere around $6/night. A tour of the Karnak temples on the first day costs $12. To go see the Valley of the Kings on the second day costs $16. To be honest, it’s the same price to do it independently as it is with a tour, so might as save yourself the headache (in Luxor at least).

FOOD

What about food?

Well, as a backpacker you should probably be used to eating pretty basic and bland stuff. In Egypt, the traditional dish is called Koshery. It’s a mix between noodles, beans, tomatoes, and spices. It’s $1 for a large bowl and fills you up. Literally, I lived off the stuff.

If you don’t like that, you can usually get a variety of other food for less than $6 a meal. To be safe, $10 a day is enough to keep your stomach happy.

Egypt is primarily Muslim, so you’re just not going to find bars to party at night. However, you’ll find places to smoke hookah/shisha. It costs $1 for a hookah that lasts 2 hours. It’s a great way to chat with friends, locals, and just chill out.

On the 2nd night in Luxor, you hop on an overnight train back to Cairo for $8.

THE MATH

•  My organized trip including The Great Pyramids and Old Cairo cost $412. I spent an extra $60 for food and $15 for beer/hookah totaling $487. REMEMBER THAT!

For a smart, savvy backpacker (unlike myself ), it would nearly be half the price.

•  The Great Pyramids and Old Cairo- $26.

•  Accommodation in Cairo- $8.

•  All train travel from Cairo to Aswan and return- $24.

•  Accommodation in Nile Valley- $26 (2 nights on a train).

•  All food/entertainment in the evenings- $80. Good luck spending it all!

•  All tours and self guided excursions in the Nile Valley- $90.

•  The grand total for this is a whopping $254.

Damn, I wish somebody told me this before I went to Egypt!

ALMOST THERE!

Finally, remember always to haggle and price vendors.

A good rule of thumb is to half the initial price is. Without a doubt, vendors will try to take advantage of you. It’s up to you to make sure it doesn’t happen.

That’s how it’s done ladies and gentleman.

And if you find yourself saving over $200 in Egypt after reading this article, I accept checks, money orders, cash, or dates (for the ladies). Don’t worry, anything you save on top of $200 is yours to keep!

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