Egypt · Travel journal
Egypt
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Long-form articles, history, and the real decisions you make before buying a ticket. All free.
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If you want to keep going.
Egypt · 18 September 2026
Where to stay in Cairo: a neighbourhood guide for independent travellers
Cairo is a city of 20 million with accommodation in every range. The key isn't the hotel but the neighbourhood. An honest guide by area.
Egypt · 11 September 2026
Solo travel in Egypt: what nobody tells you
Solo travel in Egypt is perfectly possible but requires preparation that standard guides don't give. Vendor pressure, baksheesh, transport and real safety considerations.
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Egypt · 4 September 2026
Abydos: the temples the standard circuit skips
Abydos was the most sacred place in Ancient Egypt: where the god Osiris was buried, where pharaohs made pilgrimage, and where some of antiquity's most extraordinary painted reliefs survive.
5 min
Egypt · 28 August 2026
Egypt in two weeks: temples, desert and river
Two weeks in Egypt lets you go beyond the classic circuit. This route includes Cairo, the Nile, Alexandria and a night in the White Desert.
5 min
Egypt · 21 August 2026
Photographing Egypt: monuments, light and people
Egypt is one of the world's most photogenic destinations, but also one of the hardest to photograph well. Light, angles, permits and people skills make all the difference.
5 min
Egypt · 14 August 2026
Egypt's Western Desert: sand, silence and unexpected oases
Egypt's Western Desert covers 68% of the country and almost nobody visits it. Four major oases, the White Desert, the Black Desert and one of Africa's most surprising ecosystems.
5 min
Egypt · 7 August 2026
Fayyum: the oasis that Rome loved and the world forgot
Fayyum produced antiquity's most extraordinary portraits: panel paintings of Romano-Egyptian citizens from the 1st-3rd centuries AD that have a disturbing modernity. Today the oasis is a weekend escape for Cairenes.
5 min
Egypt · 31 July 2026
Nubia: the Egypt that the standard circuit doesn't reach
Historical Nubia was flooded by Lake Nasser in the 1960s. The Nubians were forcibly displaced. What remains: a millennial culture, colourful villages south of Aswan and temples rescued from the water.
5 min
Egypt · 24 July 2026
The Red Sea: diving one of the world's finest underwater environments
Egypt's Red Sea has visibility of up to 30 metres, pristine coral reefs and a constant temperature of 22-26°C. Why it is one of the world's best diving destinations.
5 min
Egypt · 17 July 2026
What to eat in Egypt: the food that nobody knows outside Egypt
Egyptian cooking is one of the Arab world's most overlooked cuisines. Kushari, foul, molokhia and Egyptian falafel (yes, different from the Lebanese) are dishes unlike anything on the usual tourist circuit.
5 min
Egypt · 10 July 2026
Egypt in 10 days: the itinerary that actually works
Ten days in Egypt lets you see the essentials with good transport planning. An honest route: Cairo, the pyramids, Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, Aswan and Abu Simbel.
5 min
Egypt · 3 July 2026
Egypt visa: how to get it and what to expect at the border
Most Western tourists can get an Egyptian visa on arrival or via e-visa online. The process is straightforward if you know what to expect.
4 min
Egypt · 26 June 2026
Karnak: the temple that took Egypt 2,000 years to build
Karnak is not a temple: it is a 100-hectare religious city that 30 different pharaohs expanded over 2,000 years. The scale makes the Parthenon look like a small building.
5 min
Egypt · 19 June 2026
The Valley of the Kings: what the pharaohs' tombs conceal
For 500 years, New Kingdom pharaohs hid their tombs in a desert valley west of Luxor. The history of robberies, discoveries and what remains to be found.
5 min
Egypt · 12 June 2026
Aswan: where the Nile becomes African
Nine hundred kilometres south of Cairo, the Nile crosses its first cataract and Egypt begins to be something else. Aswan is the gateway to Nubia and to an Egypt the pharaohs already knew as the edge of the world.
5 min
Egypt · 5 June 2026
Alexandria: the city that was once capital of the world
For nearly a thousand years, Alexandria was the most important city in the Mediterranean world: home of the Great Library, capital of the Ptolemies and Cleopatra's last court.
5 min
Egypt · 29 May 2026
A walk through Islamic Cairo: eight centuries on one street
A narrative walking guide through the medieval heart of Cairo — from Bab Zuweila to Bab al-Futuh, through mosques, madrasas and markets that span eight hundred years.
13 min
Egypt · 19 May 2026
What to pack for Egypt: a practical, no-nonsense list
Everything you actually need to pack for a trip to Egypt — and what you can leave at home. Based on real experience, not generic travel advice.
10 min
Egypt · 12 May 2026
How much does it cost to travel in Egypt: a real budget breakdown
A detailed, honest cost breakdown for travelling in Egypt in 2026 — accommodation, food, transport, entry fees and extras, with example budgets for 7 and 14 days.
12 min
Egypt · 3 May 2026
Siwa Oasis and the White Desert: Egypt beyond the Nile
A guide to Siwa Oasis and the White Desert — two of Egypt's most extraordinary landscapes, far from the temples and the tourist circuits.
12 min
Egypt · 26 April 2026
Abu Simbel: is it worth the trip?
The honest case for and against visiting Abu Simbel — what makes it extraordinary, what the journey involves, and whether it justifies the detour from Aswan.
11 min
Egypt · 19 April 2026
Luxor's temples: understanding the open-air museum
A narrative guide to Luxor's temples — Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and more. Not what to photograph, but what you are looking at and why it matters.
14 min
Egypt · 13 April 2026
Nile cruises: what's worth it and what's a tourist trap
An honest guide to cruising the Nile between Luxor and Aswan — the different options, what to expect, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
12 min
Egypt · 9 April 2026
Three days in Cairo: how to make sense of the chaos
A narrative guide to spending three days in Cairo — not a checklist, but a way of understanding the city through its layers of history, its streets and its rhythms.
13 min
Egypt · 5 April 2026
The Pyramids of Giza: what you're actually looking at
A narrative guide to the Pyramids of Giza — not just what to see, but what they mean, how they were built, and why four thousand years later they still demand your attention.
14 min
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