Best Time to Visit Egypt

Egypt is simpler to time than most countries because almost everything turns on one thing. It is a desert, the sites have no shade, and the difference between January and July at Luxor is the difference between a pleasant morning and a genuinely dangerous afternoon.

Winter, and why everyone goes then

Roughly November to February is the high season, and it is high season for a reason. Days in Upper Egypt are warm and clear, the light is good, and it is possible to spend five hours on your feet among stone without suffering.

The costs are crowds and prices. The Valley of the Kings in January has queues at the popular tombs, and the Nile cruise boats are full. Nights are cold, which surprises people, and the Mediterranean coast is wet.

Summer, and who it is for

June to August in Upper Egypt is severe. Sites are quiet and prices fall, which is a real attraction, but the working day shrinks to early morning and late afternoon and the middle of it is spent indoors.

It is manageable for a traveler who plans around it and it is not the trip most people imagine they are booking. The Red Sea and the Mediterranean coast are more forgiving than the interior.

The shoulders, and the wind

March to May and September to October are the compromise, and many regular visitors think they are simply the best of it: warm rather than punishing, and thinner crowds.

Spring carries one caveat worth knowing. The khamsin is a hot dry southerly wind that blows sand across the country in spring, sometimes for days, and it can flatten visibility and close things. It is not a reason to avoid the season, only a reason not to plan the one unmissable thing for a single fixed morning.