Christmas and New Year in Egypt: dates, weather and what is open

When is Christmas in Egypt?

Coptic Christmas is on 7 January. The Coptic Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind the Gregorian one, so 25 December Julian falls on 7 January. Egypt adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1875, but the church kept its own (Al-Ahram Online).

Coptic Christmas is a paid public holiday. The State Information Service reports that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s decision of 4 January 2025 made Tuesday 7 January an official paid holiday for employees of ministries, government bodies, public sector companies and private sector companies. OkayAfrica reports that 7 January became a national holiday in 2002.

For 2027, OfficeHolidays (a secondary source, checked 28 October 2026) lists Coptic Christmas on Thursday 7 January as a national holiday. We found no official 2027 decision yet. The 2025 decision came three days before the day, so confirm it nearer your trip.

The western date, 25 December, is not a public holiday. It does not appear on the 2027 list of Egyptian public holidays at OfficeHolidays (secondary source), so shops and offices work as usual.

How do Egyptians celebrate Coptic Christmas?

The celebration starts with a 43-day fast. In 2026-27 it runs from 25 November to 6 January (Coptic Church calendar) and excludes meat, poultry and dairy, while fish is allowed. On 6 January Copts fast completely from 3 pm until midnight (Gulf News, 2018 report).

Midnight Mass is held on the night of 6 January and lasts about two and a half hours, in Arabic and Coptic (OkayAfrica, 2025). Families then break the fast with eggs, meat and poultry.

The main dish is fatta: rice, crisp bread and meat with a garlic and vinegar sauce. Families also bake kahk, small round biscuits, and share them with neighbours. On 7 January people wear new clothes, go to church, visit relatives and picnic, and children receive cash gifts (Gulf News, OkayAfrica).

Shops put up lights and some homes have a tree. A church service is a religious event, not a show. If you want to attend, ask your hotel or guide first about dress and where visitors are welcome.

What is the weather in Egypt in December?

December is mild by day and cold at night, especially in the desert south and in Siwa. The table gives 1981 to 2010 averages published by the World Meteorological Organization’s World Weather Information Service, which takes them from the Egyptian Meteorological Authority. Siwa is the exception: that service lists no Siwa station, so its row comes from Wikipedia (1991 to 2020) and is a secondary source.

Alexandria is the wettest of these: 46.7 mm of rain in an average December, against 4.5 mm in Cairo. Its sea is about 20°C in December (Wikipedia, secondary), so most visitors do not swim there at this time of year.

Pack layers. The Valley of the Kings and Karnak open at 6:00, and a morning at 8°C feels colder than the daytime average suggests. By midday in Luxor or Aswan you will be in a T-shirt.

How busy is Egypt at Christmas and New Year?

Expect it to be busy in the holiday weeks, though we cannot put a number on it.

No current official occupancy figures turned up in our search (28 October 2026). The only figures found were old: in December 2018 hotel managers and a Red Sea guides’ leader told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Hurghada and Marsa Alam were about 90 percent booked for Christmas and New Year, and that Al-Gouna and Sahl Hasheesh were full. Treat that as a sign of the pattern, not a forecast for 2026 or 2027.

In practice, book flights, hotels and any Nile cabin early, and plan to reach the big sites at opening time.

What is open at Christmas and on 7 January?

Sites and museums follow their normal schedules unless they announce otherwise. We found no published holiday closures, so confirm on the day. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities schedule (a 2024 file) lists these hours:

The Grand Egyptian Museum lists hours for every day of the week and no closing day. On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday the complex runs 8:30 to 19:00 and the galleries 9:00 to 18:00. On Wednesday and Saturday the complex stays open until 22:00 and the galleries until 21:00. Visitors are admitted until an hour before the galleries shut.

On 7 January, expect offices and many businesses to be closed, since public and private sector workers have the day off. Churches are at their busiest around midnight on 6 January.

What happens on New Year’s Eve?

Hotels and Nile ships may hold New Year’s Eve dinners. We found no official source for what any given property offers, so ask for the programme in writing when you book.

Check whether a dinner is compulsory before you book. OfficeHolidays’ 2027 list for Egypt does not include 1 January, so confirm what is closed on 1 January before you plan a day around it.

Who suits Christmas in Egypt, and who does not?

It suits travellers who want comfortable sightseeing weather in Luxor and Aswan, where the summer heat has gone. It also suits families who want to see how Copts keep the feast.

It is not ideal if you want empty temples, low hotel rates or a Mediterranean swim. Early starts are the rule: most Luxor sites open at 6:00.

For ideas, see our day tours from Cairo and Giza, the Nile cruises between Luxor and Aswan, and the notes on sailing at Christmas. For other months, see when to visit Egypt.

Which Christian sites can you visit in Cairo around Christmas?

The two easiest are in Coptic Cairo, in the old part of the city: the Hanging Church and the Coptic Museum. Both are listed on the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities website (checked 29 October 2026).

The Ministry has an older “visit” page for the Coptic Museum that gives 9:00 to 16:30 and a lower price. The main museum page is the one that looks current, but confirm at the ticket window. The Hanging Church page gives no ticket price.

What is the Holy Family trail?

It is a pilgrimage route of about 25 sites linked by Coptic tradition to the flight of Jesus, Mary and Joseph into Egypt. Religion Unplugged reports that nine of the sites have no archaeological evidence, and gives the length as 3,220 km across eight of Egypt’s 27 governorates. Other published accounts give different figures, so treat the numbers as approximate.

The article names three stops in the Cairo area. Abu Serga, in Old Cairo, is a church built over a cave where the family is said to have stayed for three months. Maadi has a church of the Virgin Mary at the riverbank, where tradition says the family boarded a boat. Mostorod has a church and a well. The same article calls Christmas and the cool winter months the ideal season for the pilgrimage and says the drive to the final station, the Monastery of Saint Mary, requires a police escort.

Can visitors attend a Christmas service?

You can ask, but go as a guest of the church, not as a spectator. Services are crowded around midnight on 6 January, and the larger churches control entry. In 2018 the first Midnight Mass at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital was led by Pope Tawadros II and attended by the president and foreign ambassadors, according to Ahram Online. That gives you an idea of the security around the big cathedral service.

The UK Foreign Office warns that religious sites and large public gatherings can be targets and advises vigilance in crowds. It also says to dress modestly and notes sensitivities about photographing religious buildings. Ask your hotel or guide whether a specific church allows visitors that night, and do not photograph worshippers.

How do you plan the week around Christmas?

1. Decide the city order first. The Egyptian Museum and the Coptic Cairo sites open at 9:00, while Karnak and the Valley of the Kings open at 6:00, so the second half of the trip is the one with early starts.
2. Put Coptic Cairo on a weekday morning. The Hanging Church closes at 16:00, earlier than most Cairo monuments.
3. Keep 7 January free if you can. Offices and many businesses close, so errands, bank visits and appointments are better done on another day.
4. Put the Grand Egyptian Museum on a day when you are not flying. Its galleries stay open until 21:00 on Wednesday and Saturday.
5. Carry your passport or a copy. The UK Foreign Office says police check ID regularly and may detain you if you cannot show your passport and visa.

This order is a planning suggestion, not an official itinerary. It is built from the opening hours and holiday rules listed above.

What should you pack for a Christmas trip?

Pack for two different climates: a cool morning and a warm afternoon, and a different feel in the north and the south. Experience Egypt gives winter averages for the whole country of about 20°C by day and 15°C at night, but the city table above shows how much that hides. Luxor’s average night is 7.8°C, and Siwa’s is also 7.8°C.

• A warm layer for dawn starts at Karnak and the Valley of the Kings.
• A scarf or light cardigan, which Experience Egypt also recommends for places of worship, along with covered shoulders and legs.
• Closed shoes for uneven temple floors.
• A light jacket for evenings on a ship’s deck.

What are the common mistakes?

• Booking late. Holiday weeks can sell out, as the 2018 Red Sea reports above show.
• Expecting 25 December to be a day off. It is not a public holiday, so shops and offices work.
• Visiting a church after 16:00. The Hanging Church closes then.
• Packing only for the Cairo daytime average. Upper Egypt is colder at night.
• Treating a service as a performance. It is a religious event.

What can you skip, and what could not be confirmed?

You can skip chasing a New Year’s Eve party if you dislike late nights. Any ship or hotel dinner is an optional extra, and nothing makes it compulsory unless a booking says so.

We could not confirm sunrise and sunset times for December from an official source, and we found no published holiday closures for 2026 or 2027. We also could not verify the Hanging Church’s entry fee. Treat the hours in this article as the last published schedule, and ring ahead for anything that matters to your day.