The question we get asked the most is: How much did your trip to Egypt cost? So we thought we will break it down for you because if you’re planning your own trip then you’ll need to know more than just the total amount. In addition, we will also give some tips to lower your expenditure.
Before we start, know one thing! We are mid-range travellers from India who like to keep their costs as low as possible while also enjoying private tours and mid-range/luxury hotels. We are not budget travellers but will give tips along the way in case you are. If you’re travelling on a budget – living in hostels/guesthouses and travelling independently, your budget could look very different from our analysis.
Few points to note before we start:
- All costs in this blog post on the Egypt trip are given in Egyptian pounds (EGP) and in Indian Rupees (Rs.).
- 1 EGP is Rs. 4.76 (as on 26th Jan 2022). However, for the sake of making calculations easy we have rounded the numbers off to be 1 EGP = Rs. 5. Check the current rate here.
- All expenses are given for two people unless otherwise mentioned.
- The costs below are based on our experience of travelling in the peak tourist month of December. Your costs should be lower by at least 10-15% if not travelling in December and January.
Here we go!
Introduction – Egypt Trip Cost
Egypt is known to be an inexpensive country and so we thought when we started planning a trip to this Arab country.
Per budgetyourtrip.com average daily expense for one person including food, hotel and transport is:
Budget: EGP 246 (Rs. 1,170)
Mid-Range: EGP 636 (Rs. 3,000)
Luxury: EGP 1,683 (Rs. 8,000)
While we do use this website a lot for initial budgeting, in this case, we beg to differ. Egypt is inexpensive in a lot of respects but then very expensive in others. By this, I don’t mean to discourage you and say, don’t visit the country. Rather, do visit it because you’ll love it but also know what it actually costs.
International Flights
International flights to Egypt from India and back would cost you about Rs. 35,000-Rs.55,000 per person depending on when you’re booking.
Tips to lower international flight costs:
1. Book flight tickets on a low-cost carrier like Air Arabia directly through their website/app. They offer low prices and have a great cancellation policy you may not find elsewhere.
2. Book flight tickets as soon as possible. Egypt is a tourist country and as for all tourist places, you should book flights as soon as possible, i.e. at least 3-4 months prior. We saw first-hand how prices rose after that. Though we did book flights for the peak season in December so they were bound to rise with time.
3. Do not travel in the peak month of December. It is very crowded and the prices of tours and hotels soar! Visit between Oct-Nov and Feb-March for the best weather-flight price trade-off.
The total Egypt flight cost for two on average: EGP 18,000 or Rs. 90,000
Domestic Transport
The easiest, fastest but also most expensive way to travel between cities is by taking a domestic flight. You would especially need these between Cairo-Aswan, Cairo-Luxor, and Luxor/Cairo-Sharm El Sheikh.
This would cost about Rs. 4,000-Rs. 6,000 per person one way on Egyptair (primary domestic carrier) if booked directly via their website and the country is selected as Egypt.
Our flights Cairo-Aswan, and Luxor-Cairo, cost us Rs. 20,000 for two people (This was booked 2 months in advance).
Sharm El Sheikh was a last-minute plan and we booked the flight ticket less than 24 hours before departure for Christmas Day so the flight cost us Rs. 10,000.
3 Domestic flights cost us a total of EGP 6,000 or Rs. 30,000
Train and Bus
If you wish to travel on a budget you can alternately choose to travel by bus (Go Bus) or train. A common route for the train is Cairo-Aswan and common routes for the bus are Cairo-Luxor, Cairo-Hurghada-Luxor, and Cairo-Sharm El Sheikh.
Here are approx prices for a one-way ticket:
Bus from Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh/Luxor (overnight bus): 200 EGP – 400 EGP (INR 1000-INR 2000)
Train to Aswan overnight train: It’s USD 80 (Rs. 6000) for a sleeper train so you’ll have to stick to the chair car which is about USD 10 (Rs. 800).
Two things to remember however are:
- Trains are nearly always late.
- Buses are the better way to go on routes where they are available. However beware that there may be several checks by the police along the way, especially to Sharm El Sheikh, which may delay the bus and be a hassle for you.
Hotel
You’ll find amazing hotels at very competitive prices in Cairo.
In Luxor, you’ll find good hotels at a decent price as well, but not as good as in Cairo. We spent about Rs. 6,000 per night for a stay at the Pavillion Winter. The hotel is dated but it gives access to the historic Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel and has a fantastic location within walking distance from restaurants, the market and the Luxor temple.
In Aswan, there is a dearth of good mid-budget hotels so you’ll pay a bomb for very average hotels. We paid about Rs. 9,000 per night for Basma Hotel in Aswan and didn’t think it was worth it.
We booked our hotels in Cairo (Marriott Mena House) and Sharm El Sheikh (Renaissance Sharm El Sheikh Golden View Beach) through Mariott Bonvoy points so didn’t really spend any money on accommodation at these places. Learn about more such money-saving travel tips and hacks!
On average, you would spend EGP 1200 or Rs. 6,000 per night if you stay at mid-range properties.
The total money you’d spend for mid-range hotels (15 days): EGP 18,000 or Rs. 90,000 (approx.)
Food
Food is pretty inexpensive in Egypt provided you eat at restaurants serving local food. An average over-filling (yes, portions are usually large) meal would cost you about Rs. 500-1000 per meal or less. We nearly always over-ordered!
Total money spent by us in 15 days: EGP 4000 or Rs. 20,000 approx.
Average per day cost: EGP 270 or Rs. 1,300 per day
Tour
This is where the bulk of your money will go.
While it is not impossible to roam Egypt by yourself independently, there are multiple issues involved. Here is a list of problems you might face:
- Drivers do not speak English and you might get ripped off if you can’t haggle well
- You’ll waste time arranging for transport and guides
- Seperate day tours booked online can turn out to be very expensive. Nearly triple the price. This is great if you only wish to do a few specific tours.
- Hotel travel desk charges are high
- You won’t have an Egyptologist guide with you at all times to explain the rich Egyptian history and historical sights.
- Finding good Egyptologist guides on the go isn’t easy.
- Local shopkeepers will hassle you to purchase their wares
- If you have an Indian passport, you cannot get an E-Visa without a host letter from an Egyptian travel company. And beware, the process to apply for an offline visa is tedious.
I know all this because we considered independent travel ourselves as we always travel independently. However, for Egypt, we came to the conclusion that we’d rather pay for the convenience of an organised tour. Since group tours don’t suit our travel style we decided to do a private tour. We spent 20 days searching for the perfect travel company by sending emails back and forth to two Egyptian travel companies. They were super expensive!
We finally found Lykke Travel (an India-based company) through an Instagram follower and booked them because they were not only very competitively priced (cheaper by at least $300-500) but also because Shashank (the owner) was super helpful. He knew the ins and outs of travelling in Egypt being a former backpacker himself. Lykke has a stake in the Egyptian travel company so it’s pretty much like going with a local company itself. The perk is that you’ll have an Indian touchpoint who understands his clientele well. If you want to book a trip to Egypt or elsewhere through them, you can call Shashank on +91 9309792531 and give him our coupon code ” TWMLYK ” for a 5% discount or if booking through their website add the code TWMLYK in the coupon code section.
The tour cost us about Rs. 95,000 for 12 days including airport-hotel transfers, transport to tourist attractions in a spacious SUV, and an Egyptologist guide who explained each tourist attraction in detail. Destinations covered on our tour were attractions in Aswan, Luxor and Cairo, Abu Simbel Day Tip, transfer from Aswan to Luxor with 3 temples on the way, Hot Air Baloon Ride, and the White Desert.
Total Cost for two: EGP 19,000 or Rs. 95,000 approx.
Per Day Cost: EGP 1600 or Rs. 8,000
Attractions
In addition to the tour above, you still have to buy the entry ticket for each and every attraction you visit. Given here are the entry fees of all the attractions we visited.
| Attraction | Entry Fee Per Person |
| Aswan | |
| Aswan High Dam | EGP 100 |
| Philae Temple | EGP 180 |
| Unfinished Obelisk | EGP 80 |
| Abu Simbel | EGP 255 |
| Kitchener Botanical Garden | EGP 35 |
| Aswan -Luxor Route | |
| Kom Ombo | EGP 140 |
| Edfu | EGP 180 |
| Esna | EGP 80 |
| Luxor | |
| Temple Of Queen Hatshepsut | EGP 140 |
| Valley of Kings (Entrance: 240 , Tomb of Tutenkhamun: 300, Tomb of Ramses VI: 100) | EGP 640 |
| Colossi of Memnon | EGP 0 |
| Medinut Habu | EGP 100 |
| Luxor Museum | EGP 140 |
| Luxor Temple | EGP 160 |
| Karnak Temple | EGP 240 |
| Cairo | |
| Egyptian Museum | EGP 200 |
| Pyramids of Giza (Complex Entry: EGP 200 , Entry into Khafre Pyramid: 100) | EGP 300 |
| National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) | EGP 200 |
| Salah El-Din Citadel | EGP 180 |
| Total | EGP 3350 |
| Total for two people | EGP 6700 (Rs. 33,500) |
If you want to see prices for all possible attractions, see this list by Egypt Tailor Made. Some of the entry fees given in the link may have increased slightly.
We also spent EGP 220 on tripod charges (standard of EGP 20 at all monuments) and EGP 300 on camera charges at Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel was the only temple that charged a camera fee. Museums charged for camera usage as well so we chose to not use our camera at museums. We are not including this in total cost however as this may not be incurred by you.
Total Money Spent By Us: EGP 6700 or Rs. 33,500 (approx.)
Per Day Cost: EGP 450 or Rs. 2,200
Extra ACTIViTIES
In addition to our tour inclusions we did a few other activities for which the charges were as follows:
| Nubian Village + Kitchener Island Tour in Aswan | EGP 550 |
| Felluca Ride in Aswan | EGP 200 |
| Camel Ride in Giza | EGP 210 |
| Snorkel + 1 Dive Each for two people in Sharm El Sheikh | EGP 850 |
Total cost for two: EGP 3,620 or Rs. 18,000 (approx.)
Per Day Cost: EGP 240 or Rs.1,200
Tipping
Tipping is mandatory in Egypt and you should account for this in your Egypt travel budget. When I say tipping is mandatory, expect to pay a tip to anyone who even clicks a photo for you, gives you snippets of information and directions, etc. Literally everybody. Being aware of people trying to forcefully help you for tips. We tried to avoid most such situations and never asked anyone for any help unless necessary.
Typically you will give tips as follows:
| Toilet Use | EGP 5 per use |
| Tour Driver | EGP 50 per day |
| Tour Guide | EGP 80 per day |
| Waiter | 20% of the bill amount |
| Short Duration Services: Porter, Cab Driver | EGP 20-30 |
| Anyone offering help | EGP 10-20 |
We gave at least EGP 100 or more to our daily drivers and guides and were generally pretty liberal with tips. We genuinely wanted to help people in the tourism industry that has seen such low business for 2 years.
Total Money Spent on Tips: EGP 3000 or Rs. 15,000
Per day cost for two: EGP 200 or Rs. 1,000
Miscellaneous
You would obviously buy some souvenirs from Egypt of which options are many. For example, cartouche with your name on it, alabaster products, antique lamps, magnets, perfume, papyrus paintings etc. So accounting for it is necessary.
In addition, we’ve added the cost of a COVID test, travel insurance, sim card and a few Ubers we took in Cairo.
Total Money Spent on Misc Items: EGP 4,000 or Rs. 20,000
Per day cost for two: EGP 270 or Rs. 1,350
Total Cost
Adding total costs without flights and miscellaneous expenses as they would be more or less fixed despite the number of days.
| Particulars | Cost in EGP | Cost in INR |
| Hotel | 18,000 | 90,000 |
| Food | 4,000 | 20,000 |
| Tour (Guide + Aiport Transfers + Driver + Car) | 19,000 | 95,000 |
| Attraction Entry Fees | 6,700 | 33,500 |
| Extra Activities (Diving, Camel Ride, Felluca Ride, Nubian Tour) | 3,600 | 18,000 |
| Tips | 3,000 | 15,000 |
| Total for 2 people – 15 days | 54,300 | 2,71,500 |
| Total for 1 person – 15 days | 27,150 | 1,35,750 |
| Per person per day cost | 1,810 | 9,050 |
| Average per-person cost of 7 day-trip (without flights, misc expenses, e-visa) | 12,670 | 63,350 |
| Average per-person cost of a 10 day-trip (without flights, misc expenses, e-visa) | 18,100 | 90,500 |
Per person cost of a 7-day trip (all expenses included): Rs. 63,350 + Rs. 45,000 for international flights from India + Rs. 10,000 (assuming you’d only take two domestic flights in 7 days) + Rs. 1900 for e-Visa + misc. expenses of 15,000: Rs. 1,35,250
Per person cost of a 10-day trip (all expenses included): Rs. 90,500 + Rs. 45,000 for international flights from India + Rs. 10,000 (assuming you’d only take two domestic flights in 10 days) + Rs. 1900 for e-Visa + misc. expenses of 20,000: Rs. 1,67,400
To reiterate
- The above costs analysis is based per our experience of travelling in the peak travel month of December.
- Please note that these expenses will go down when travelling to Egypt in months other than December & January by at least 10-15%.
- The lesser attractions you visit or activties you do, the lesser will be the cost
- You could further reduce expenditure by staying at budget properties and not taking an organised tour for the whole trip.
Tip: You could also reduce some expenditure by taking a mid-range/budget Nile Cruise. These usually start at Aswan and end at Luxor or vice versa. They’re for 3 or 4 nights depending on your route. You’ll get meals onboard, transport to tourist sites, an Egyptologist guide and entry fees is usually included too. Why these turn out to be cheaper overall is because everything is done in a group. And that is exactly why we didn’t go ahead with a cruise – we dislike group trips because there is zero freedom and because being stuck on a cruise appeals to neither of us. That being said, we know plenty of people who loved the cruise and you might too.
wrapping up
Hope the above cost breakdown helps you understand approximately how much a trip to Egypt from India would cost you. If you’re planning a trip to Egypt, you’ll get all the information for it on our Egypt Travel Guide. Do go ahead and read it as well to make the most of your trip.
Drop your questions below and we will try our best to answer all your queries.