What to check is included in an Egypt tour quote: a line by line list

What does a typical private Egypt tour include?

A private tour usually covers the ground arrangements from the arrival hall to the departure transfer, and leaves the flight to Egypt and the visa to you. None of the sources we opened gives a fixed definition of “all-inclusive” for a tour, so treat the word as a label and read the list that follows it.

The standard list for our private packages is below. Each package page adapts it to the real trip, so a desert safari lists a camp or a hotel and a local guide, not a cruise.

• Meet and assist at the airport.
• A private air-conditioned vehicle for all transfers.
• Hotel nights with breakfast.
• Full board on the Nile cruise, if the package has one.
• Internal flights or the sleeper train, as listed.
• Sightseeing and entrance fees, as listed in the itinerary.
• A private Egyptologist guide.
• Bottled water, taxes and service charges.

The phrase “as listed” matters most. It means the inclusion applies to the sites and flights written in the day-by-day text, and to nothing else.

What is usually not included in an Egypt tour?

International flights, the Egypt visa, extra-ticket tombs and other optional tickets, optional tours, drinks and tips are usually not included. These are the lines that surprise travellers at the end of the trip, so ask about each before you pay.

Entrance fees and optional trips are where quotes differ most. The Ministry sets the ticket price for each site, and a site such as Abu Simbel may sit in one quote and be missing from another. Gratuities, optional excursions and drinks beyond water are the other lines that tend to be left out of a base price, so confirm each one before you book.

How do you read an Egypt itinerary line by line?

Read each day as five questions: where you sleep, what you see, how you travel, what you eat and who is with you. A good itinerary answers all five on every day. A vague one answers one or two and hides the rest behind words such as “enjoy” or “free time”.

1. Find the nights. Count the hotel nights and the nights on the ship. A “9-day” trip with one night on a train or ship is a different product from 9 hotel nights.
2. Find the transfers. Each arrival, departure and change of city needs a line. Check that the first and last days include the airport transfer.
3. Find the transport between cities. A flight, the sleeper train or a road day each change the shape of the day.
4. Find the sites and the fees. The day should name the sites. Then check whether entrance fees for each are included.
5. Find the meals. Breakfast with the hotel night, all meals on the ship. For lunch and dinner on land, look for a line that says included or not.
6. Find the guide. A private Egyptologist guide is part of the standard list. Check that the guide is with you on the road days, not only at sites.
7. Find the empty hours. A free afternoon is fine once. If every day has a gap, you are paying for hotel time.

Look at how hotels are described. If a quote says “or similar”, the hotel may be replaced, so ask for the level and the area of any substitute in writing.

Which entrance fees are included, and which are not?

Fees are included for the sites the itinerary names. The cost to the visitor is set by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and some areas inside a site have their own ticket. These Ministry figures were checked on 29 October 2026:

• Karnak: an inclusive foreign adult ticket covers the temple and the Open Museum. The Mut Temple is a separate ticket.
• Valley of the Kings: the site opens daily 6:00 to 17:00, and the foreign adult ticket price is on the Ministry page.
• Great Pyramid: the pyramid carries its own foreign adult ticket, and an area entry ticket is required in addition.
• Abu Simbel: the foreign adult ticket is higher on 22 February and 22 October than on other days. Vehicles pay at the gate, and the fee depends on whether it is a car, a taxi or a bus.

The Ministry pages we opened did not list the extra tickets for the tombs of Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramses VI. Our standard list treats them as optional extras, so ask for the current price from your guide or the Ministry on the day you plan to visit.

Experience Egypt, the tourism board’s site, says tickets are sold at the door or online at the Ministry’s website. Whoever buys the ticket, the fee still belongs to someone, so ask whether it is in your price.

Why are some museum tickets different?

The Grand Egyptian Museum sells timed tickets, which makes it different from an open-door temple. Its official website says entry is by timed slot, that tickets are valid only for the date and time chosen, so you must arrive within your slot. It also offers a guided-tour ticket in English or Arabic, separate from the admission ticket.

For a package this means two things. The visit is fixed to a slot, so a long delay on the day before can cost the ticket. And a museum fee may sit under a different line from the temple fees. Ask whether the visit is included, at what time, and what happens if your arrival is late.

What about meals and drinks?

On a Nile cruise, meals are full board, and drinks are paid on board. On land, the standard list covers hotel breakfast only, so lunch and dinner are the lines to confirm. If an itinerary says “lunch at a local restaurant”, ask whether the meal is in the price or is a stop where you pay.

Bottled water is in the standard list. Drinks other than water, and alcohol, are not. Experience Egypt says Egypt is still a cash-based society, so keep cash for small shops and taxis even if cards work in hotels.

What do you pay for on a Nile cruise?

On a Nile cruise, the cabin and meals are in the rate, and sightseeing is not unless the package includes it. Our rate sheet states that sightseeing is not included in the cruise rate on its own, and that drinks, tips and other extras are paid on board. When you book a package, the sightseeing and entrance fees are added as listed.

• Check-in is from 12:00 and check-out is at 8:00 a.m.; late check-out is on request, with a charge.
• The ship sails on fixed weekly days, 4 nights from Luxor to Aswan or 3 nights from Aswan to Luxor.
• Children under 6 sharing a parent’s cabin are free, 6 to 11 pay half fare with one child per cabin, and 12 and over pay full fare.
• A traveller who takes a cabin alone pays a single supplement of 70%.

The early check-out affects your last day. If your flight leaves in the evening, ask how the hours between 8:00 a.m. and the airport transfer are handled. Our Nile cruise pages list the ships by category so you can see what each carries.

What is the visa, and who pays?

You pay the visa yourself, and it is not part of a standard package. The UK government says a visa on arrival costs $30 in cash at approved kiosks before immigration, and is valid for up to 30 days. A digital visa on arrival at Cairo International Airport costs $36 including a $6 service fee, from 1 August 2026, and is paid by card. Tourist e-visas are valid for up to 3 months.

The same page says you do not need a visa agent, and that agents often charge more than the official $30 fee. For more detail, see our guide to the entry visa to Egypt. Whichever route you choose, ask your company to confirm the date it expects you at the airport so you can plan the visa step.

Which extras are worth asking about?

Ask about extras by name, not by category. Six are common.

1. The extra-ticket tombs. Which ones, what they cost on the day, and who pays.
2. A sunrise balloon over Luxor. Whether it is part of the package or an optional extra, and what happens if it is cancelled for weather.
3. A felucca sail. Whether it is included or optional, and how long it lasts.
4. Optional tours. What is on offer and whether you book before or after arrival.
5. Tips. Who receives them, in what currency and how to hand them over.
6. A late check-out or a day room. Whether the hotel gives it and whether there is a charge.

The Government of the United Kingdom notes on its health page that some hotel doctors have overcharged for treatment and medicines and that pharmacies outside hotels often sell medication more cheaply. It is a reminder to ask what is included for health needs, and to keep the company’s emergency number with you.

How do you compare two quotes fairly?

Put both quotes in one table with the same rows, and mark each row yes, no or not stated. Then ask the company to fill the blanks in writing. Compare nights, transfers, transport between cities, ship category, entrance fees, meals, guide, water, taxes, tips, drinks and visa. A lower total with more blanks is not cheaper until the blanks are filled.

Our guide on how to choose an Egypt tour package covers the decisions before this step. When you are ready, send your dates and party size through the plan my trip form and ask for the full list of inclusions and exclusions with the quote, or browse the Egypt tour packages first.