So you’ve just booked your flight to Egypt and secured your spot in a tour. You’ve got the Nile, the pyramids, and Pharaohs on your mind but before you take off, you have to figure out what you’re actually going to bring on this trip. I faced this exact problem a few days before leaving home on my recent trip to Egypt with Djed.
Before I left, I captured everything that I brought with me and so I wanted to share with you a practical Egypt packing list that covers things that I found as must-haves, things I could’ve done without, and tips that I learned from being in the country.
What kind of trip to Egypt are you on?
To tee things off, it’s first worth discussing what kind of trip to Egypt you’re doing. For almost everyone, your trip is going to include the Ancient Egyptian sites. How much of it you do will depend on how your itinerary is organized but that’s guaranteed. What some of you may or may not have included is that trip out to the Red Sea.
For this Egypt packing list specifically, a trip out to Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh was not included so beach vacation items weren’t included but if they are for you, make sure you factor those things in there.
With any classic trip to Egypt, there are a couple of things that make it challenging:
- The climate is dry – it is mostly desert out there.
- It is hot – Even in the high season of travel in Egypt (October – March) it is still hot. We’re talking about the middle of the day hitting close to 40C/104F temperatures with no cover. Heat exhaustion is real as I learned quite quickly.
- Conservative wear – Being mindful of Muslim culture means being more covered up but that might be something you want to do anyways.
- Lots of sand – Sand kind of gets everywhere and while there’s not much you can do about it, it can affect what you pack and what you wear.
- Tight quarters – If you plan on entering the pyramids, get ready for tight quarters, a serious squat work out, buzzing flies, and humidity from all the other bodies inside.
- Thirsty – Your guides should have a near unlimited supply of water but one thing you’ll notice is that you’ll be constantly thirsty so make sure at least one of your travel partners can carry water.
Read the full 10 Day Egypt Itinerary
As a companion piece to this packing guide, make sure to head to the full breakdown of our entire trip to Egypt including what we did, where we ate, and where we stayed.
Read
- Is Egypt safe now?
- Full review of the dahabiya experience
- 3 day Cairo itinerary
- Why Dahabiya is the best way to cruise the Nile
Looking for a local tour operator in Egypt?
- If you’re looking for a reliable and highly rated local tour operator, my recommendation is to look at Djed Egypt Travel. I’ve travelled with them twice and I wouldn’t go to Egypt with anyone else. With Djed you get excellent local guides on the ground, a company that owns the best fleet of Dahabiya cruise ships, and are going to be much more affordable than working with companies outside of Egypt that simply contract work with locals on the ground.
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What kind of traveller are you?
If you’re regulars on Going Awesome Places and you’ve seen other packing lists such as for Ethiopia, New Zealand, or Inca Trail, you’ll know that I try to pack light and minimal but my camera gear and some personal comforts always manage to bulk things up.
It’s worth noting this because every person travels differently and packs in a certain way. As a guy, my set up is totally different than my wife’s but at the same time we are the kind of travellers that make sure we never bring too many pants, that most of our clothes are easily hand-washable, we bring versatile clothes and with that, leverage layers as a way to keep things warm if we need to.
If this isn’t you, that’s totally fine. This Egypt packing list is meant more as a starting point if you’re looking for ideas of what to bring and also to be reminded of things you might not’ve thought of.
Without further ado, let’s jump into what to pack for a trip to Egypt.
How many days will you be gone for?
The duration of your trip shouldn’t matter but it does in terms of counting how many sets of things you need to pack or how aggressively you need to hand wash your underwear and clothes.
For our 10 day trip to Egypt, what mattered was that we’d be moving pretty swiftly from city to city but also that we had a different type of way to travel in the Dahabiya Nile cruise.
Book with Djed Egypt Tours
Djed is a local tour operator that also has a full fleet of Dahabiya Nile cruise sail boats. They are a full-service operator and truly a fantastic crew of people from the office down to the Egyptologists and drivers. I’d recommend them in a hearbeat!
The Egypt Packing List
The Bags
For the past year, I’ve been travelling with this awesome combination of bags that really satisfies my needs as a traveller and photographer/videographer. The key for me is that it’s versatile. The backpack can be used as a day pack if I need to carry a lot of things and the sling can fit inside when commuting. In situations where I need something light and portable, the 5L Sling was perfect.
I learned quickly in Egypt that more than anything having something that is light and not bulky makes things a lot easier because heat exhaustion can hit you pretty hard.
- Peak Design Travel Backpack – This is my carry-on bag and large enough to store my documents, laptop, all my camera gear, the 5L Sling, Tech Pouch, and additional personal items. It gets large and heavy but it’s worked well for me. Ignore the drone that’s in here though as I’ll get to that later on.
- Peak Design Large Camera Cube – This sized camera cube is great because I can still do side-access but also has a ton of divider space to store everything from lenses, drone, microphones, clothes, or anything else. It keeps everything organized.
- Peak Design Capture – The metal do-hickey attached to the strap is what I use to clip my camera on for quick-access.
- Peak Design 5L Sling – The latest addition to my set up and pairs so well with the Travel Backpack. It’s big enough to fit my camera attached to a lens, additional lens, extra batteries, and personal items which is more or less all you need when you’re exploring ancient sites in Egypt. While I wasn’t able to carry water with this set up, luckily my wife had a good backpack (Marimekko Kortteli Backpack) to keep us hydrated.
Backpack vs suitcase? In the end, we decided that travelling with a suitcase to Egypt would work just fine because this was the kind of trip where we didn’t need to be incredibly mobile. Travelling with a tour company that was full-service like Djed Egypt Travel, you have the luxury of travelling with a bit more bulk because there is a level of service where your luggage is transported from hotel to van, van to Dahabiya, Dahabiya, back to van, and to and from the airport, etc. You don’t need to worry about this sort of thing.
- Standard check-in size expandable suitcase – 4-wheel 26″ roller suitcase.
- Travel-size sports towel – We knew that there would be towels at each accommodation but felt that this was an easy throw-in in case since we heard that there was a swimming opportunity on the Nile.
- Photocopy of important documents – Something you always want to travel with in case you lose something like your passport, credit card, or other important document. Leave this in your suitcase and separate from your day-use bag.
- Stuff sack for dirty clothes – This is a standard 20L/medium stuff sack that I use to throw in things that need to be hand washed.
Clothes for Egypt
When it comes to what to wear in Egypt, this is honestly my typical set up for trips. You’ll find that it’s t-shirt heavy but what may be a bit unique is that I brought along more of my “safari”-type of clothing in the buttoned shirts which are great because they’re more conservative and also well-ventilated.
- Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube – This is the medium size and perfect for rolled up t-shirts. I do prefer this over the Peak Design packing cubes because of simplicity and matching size to t-shirt width. I can easily fit up to 8-10 t-shirts in here.
- Assorted t-shirts – I packed a total of 7 t-shirts for a 10 day trip.
- Pistol Lake long-sleeve henley and t-shirt – I reviewed them here and it’s been a staple in my travel setup. These are super light, easy to wash, and simple shirts that go with any travel scenario.
- Columbia PFG long sleeve shirts – Two long sleeve “PFG” shirts that are Columbia’s line of “fishing shirts” that are perfect for safari’s and hot climate trips such as Egypt. They’re well-ventilated, light, and blocks UVA rays.
- Mesh stuff sack – A medium stuff sack.
- Calvin Klein white linen shirt – While not completely necessarily, this was a nice clean shirt to be able to switch to at the end of the day on the Dahabiya.
- Mountain Hardwear short sleeve shirt – Similar to the Colmbia shirts, this is the long-sleeve version that has all the same benefits.
Pants are always hard to decide because you’d love to bring more but you have to be resigned to the fact that you’re just going to wear the same few pants over and over. Nobody’s judging! The key here is that jeans just don’t make a lot of sense (ever) and to bring a mix of things depending on what situations you might run up against.
- Mesh stuff sack – A medium stuff sack.
- Swim trunks – Didn’t think we needed this but we learned that swimming in the Nile was part of the Dahabiya itinerary and so I packed this really for that one activity.
- Shorts – Knowing that temperatures would get close to 40C, this was a late addition.
- Capris – Mixing things up for variety.
- Casual pants – These are great pants by Uniqlo that are light, comfortable thanks to the drawstring waist and quite breatheable.
- Khakis – One pair of more technical khakis by Columbia that were perfect for dessert conditions and again light, washable, breatheable, and comfortable.
Here’s what I packed in terms of undergarments.
- Exofficial Boxer Brief – 5 pairs of underwear to use for the 10 day trip. Hand-washing of course was key!
- Various socks – I mainly brought short sport socks but also brought 2 pairs of longer socks and 2 pairs of hiking socks. I’ll get into down below what worked out well and what didn’t.
- Mesh stuff sack – A medium stuff sack.
For PJs, I brought two tank tops in case I could use them at some point on the trip.
To round this out, here are a few additional layers and shirts that I packed for Egypt.
- Columbia Jackson Creek half-zip fleece – You’ll definitely want at least one warm layer for evenings on the Dahabiya.
- J. Crew shirt – A nice layer to have for dinners on the Dahabiya and in case you need something a little nicer in photos.
- Switchfoot light windbreaker – A super thin outer layer in case it’s needed.
Okay probably a little bit extra but I brought two hats and a buff for this trip. The full-brimmed hat was what I was feeling for Egypt and something I was looking to use in photos.
- Columbia hat – You’ll definitely want a basic hat for a trip to Egypt with how much sun you’ll be facing.
- Full-brimmed hat – Functionally not the smartest thing to bring but wanted a bit of a different look for this trip.
- Buff headwear – Something I bring as a versatile piece of gear great for wiping sweat, as headwear, to clean things, or anything else you can come up with.
Lastly, is footwear. This is also another challenging part of packing because it’s easy to get carried away here and that can be a problem because shoes are very bulky. I may have gotten carried away here but here goes.
- Slippers – These are easy to throw in on the outside compartment of the suitcase. Thanks Marriott!
- Rainbow sandals – Useful to have to use in the hotel
- Keen Glenhaven shoe – A more formal shoe but is also good for hiking and is waterproof.
- Keen Explore Vent – In Merlot, this was my primary shoe for the trip and it did incredibly well. The fact that it was ventilated meant that my feet stayed relatively cool but that also did mean that sand could get in.
- Peak Design shoe pouch – A small accessory by Peak Design but nonetheless quite useful as a lightweight bag to store shoes while keeping your suitcase clean.
Toiletries
I won’t bother listing out everything that I have here but this is everything that I am able to fit in the Sea to Summit TravellingLight Hanging Toiletry Bag minus the Braun shaver.
Personal Items
The below are a few miscellaneous items packed as well that are going to be important for a trip to Egypt.
- Swiss Card – With knife and scissors removed, just a few items here that I keep in my kit in case.
- Nail clippers – You’ll definitely need these especially with how dry it gets in Egypt.
- After Bite – In-case especially for those that are easily bitten.
- Sun Bum 50SPF sunscreen – There’ll be LOTS of sun.
- Strepsils – I get sore throat easily so a pack of these is always in my bag.
- Hand-sanitizer – Always handy to have especially at restaurants and spontaneous snacking.
The usual important travel documents and cards should be packed.
As far as other personal items, these are some of the things that were usually on me or in my pocket.
- Croakies eyewear retainer – Not the coolest accessory I have but almost mandatory because I always have to take off my sunglasses to use my camera and I’ve dropped my sunglasses way too many times clinging to my shirt collar.
- Maui Jim Chee Hoo sunglasses – As I’ve said many times before, once you go Maui Jim, you can’t go back.
- Burt’s Bee’s lip balm –
- Sea to Summit wallet –
- OCS dive watch – Not that we were going to be diving on this trip but this is my only rugged sports watch so it usually comes with me.
- Travel insurance paperwork – Using Kanetix, I purchased another year of multi-trip annual travel insurance and this slip is just a small “cheatsheet” of my policy and coverage provided by Allianz.
- iPhone 11 Pro – A recent upgrade of tech that has been totally worth it. The extra battery life and wide angle lens has been so incredibly useful for travel.
Camera Gear
For this trip to Egypt, extra gear had to be packed because I knew that I’d be filming video as well. That said, most of what you see here are part of my standard photography and videography kit.
Starting from the top and working my way down:
- Sirui T-024X carbon fibre tripod – With the Peak Design tripod not out yet until December 2019, I still travel with this lightweight tripod.
- Ikea 9V battery – I’ve learned over the years to always bring backup batteries. This is for the shotgun mic.
- Eneloop AAA battery – This is a backup battery for the lav mic.
- Olympus microfibre cloth
- Peak Design Leash – While I don’t use this very often, in situations where I need my camera to sit around my neck, this is always available in my backpack.
- TASCAM DR-10L portable lav – Not something I normally bring but I knew I needed something to record good audio for interviews.
- Rode VideoMic Pro – Shotgun mic for those same interviews as better back up audio.
- Formatt Hitech filter set – This is primarily used for long-exposure photography and consists of the Elia Locardi Signature Edition set.
- B+W circular polarizer filter – Great for sunny skies and water reflections from the Nile.
- Giottos Rocket Air Blaster – With all the dust and sand from Egypt, this is something that you’ll need to clean your lenses.
- Lenspen – Another lens cleaning tool.
- Olympus 4o-150mm lens – Telephoto lens that I envisioned to be using it for portrait photos and from the Dahabiya.
- Olympus 7-14mm lens – Wide angle lens especially for the temples and pyramids we’d be close up to.
- Think Tank Photo SD Pixel Pocket – Memory card carrier with tons of SD and MicroSD cards.
- Peak Design hex key –
- Extra batteries for the camera
- Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark 2 – My primary camera body for photo and video for the past 3 years and honestly the perfect set up for someone like me.
- Olympus 12-40mm lens – This is the lens attached to the camera body.
- Instax Mini90 – I brought this for kicks because I knew we’d be travelling with friends and this is a great way of creating mini memory keepsakes.
- Extra film for Instax
What about the drones? Well I planned on bringing them to Egypt but on the night before, I did some research to find out what the rules were and it turns out that drones are completely not allowed in the country. As I dived deeper into research, there were many stories of drones being confiscated at the airport, never to be seen ever again because of the hoops they’d put you through to get them back from the airport.
Electronics
This is the last section of this Egypt packing guide and we get to some of the electronics that I brought with me on the trip. While a laptop certainly isn’t necessary, I usually bring mine because I can do work if something arises and it also allows me to back up my photos and edit photos on the fly much more easily than through my phone. The Tech Pouch is also another key part here and I basically don’t travel without it now because it keeps all of this gear nice and organized.
Starting from left to right:
- Apple 13″ Macbook Pro (2018) – Powerhouse machine that I use for all of my blogging and vlogging content creation.
- KableKard – A Kickstarter project out of Singapore that I usually have in my Tech Pouch that’s handy for storing SIM cards, adapters, SIM card pin tool, and also acts as a stand.
- Samsung T5 2TB SSD – The perfect external hard drive where I store all of my photos and videos. I back up my photos onto here as the trip goes on.
- Various adapters – The reality of things with Thunderbolt/USB-C.
- Anker PowerCore II 10000 – While the iPhone 11 Pro has excellent battery life, this is a good back up incase of heavy usage.
- Apple AirPods – Primarily for watching Netflix on the plane.
- Pen – For filling out custom forms
- Business card holder
- Power blocks for the Macbook Pro and iPhone
- Ultimate Ears UE900 – Old earbuds that I use for airline entertainment systems.
- Peak Design Tech Pouch – I do a full review and breakdown of the tech pouch. This is a great organization system especially when you have a lot of small gadgets that need to be kept together. This bag is perfect for all the things you see above (minus the laptop of course).
Lastly are the various chargers for all of the camera gear and electronics for the trip. Of course, the big DJI charger to the right was removed because the drone didn’t come with me.
- Dual charger for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark 2 – Since I go through at least 2 camera batteries a day, single battery chargers just don’t cut it anymore so having a dual charger is mandatory.
- European outlet adapters – Got a bunch here but the most best of the bunch is the Skoss Europe adapter. That said, the outlets in Egypt don’t have the circular receptacle that you find in most parts of Europe so even something as simple as the black one here work fine.
- Eagle Creek sac – This is an all-purpose travel pouch (medium size) that I turned into a bag for my chargers.
What I missed in the photos
- Bug spray – We knew October wasn’t mosquito season but just in case
- Bag for single day clothes – Something I learned to do is always pack a separate bag that comes with you with an additional day’s worth of clothes in case the airline loses your bag.
- GoPro – Since I had to pull out the drone, I ended up replacing it with my GoPro Hero 5, grip, battery and charger
Real-life feedback from the trip
So of course all the photos were taken prior to going to Egypt but thinking what you’ll need is often different from what you end up using or realizing you wish you had on a trip. So the below is a quick breakdown of the things that I picked up on from our 10 day trip to Egypt.
What was absolutely necessary
- Sunscreen – At one point we thought we’d run out but between the two of us we were constantly applying and re-applying especially on those intense days in Cairo and Luxor where there was no cover at all and we were bouncing between ancient sites.
- Sunglasses – Goes with the sunscreen above
- Long-sleeve shirts – The warmer layer is helpful but what I wanted to say here is that most people on the Dahabiya put on their nice clothes for dinner and so it was actually good that I packed a few nicer long sleeves for the evening.
- Half-zip fleece – Now I don’t mean to say that a lot of warm layers are needed but the Dahabiya does get cold at night and at sunrise when I was on the deck so I either threw this
- Hand sanitizer – You’ll get super hungry on those long days in Cairo and Luxor so this is good to have when you want to snack in the car or while on the go.
- Hats – A must-have. The sun is so intense in Egypt.
- Peak Design 5L Sling – So thankful that I had this with me on this trip. I don’t know if it was heat exhaustion but at times when I had the heavy backpack, it was really slowing me down. The 5L Sling was perfect for those situations where you’re running out of the van or Dahabiya to see something.
- Sandals/flip-flops – Let’s just say we had a unique bathroom situation in Luxor with our “open concept” bathroom.
- Imodium – Unfortunately I and a few others did end up getting some stomach issues along the way so always come prepared.
- Chapstick – Glad I had mine as I definitely felt the dryness almost immediately when arriving in Egypt.
- Moisturizer – Whether it’s hand, face, or body moisturizer, you’ll need it all. For some reason my fingers started getting extremely dry and resulted in hang nails and peeling skin.
What I didn’t use or barely used
- Telephoto lens – I used this a handful of time while on the Dahabiya because we had more free time and I could shoot animals and fishermen along the Nile but while we were in Cairo or Luxor, there was never a moment where it made sense to lug it around since I was mostly travelling with the 5L Sling while the Travel Backpack stayed in the van.
- GoPro – This has always been the issue with the GoPro where it’s only useful for water-related activities and POV type of shots.
- Peak Design Neckstrap – The only scenario where I thought I could’ve used it was on the camel but because of how rushed the whole thing was, the 5L Sling ended up being ok.
- Sports towel – We use this after taking a dip in the Nile but we totally could’ve just used the Dahabiya’s bath towels.
- Formatt Hitech long exposure filter kit – Didn’t get any use at all because there just weren’t any opportunities to do any serious shooting
- Windbreaker jacket – This stayed in the suitcase the whole time because the half-zip fleece was the only thicker layer I needed.
- Tank tops – It was hot but considering the more conservative dress in Egypt, it was just never a good idea.
- Hiking socks – Those thick hiking socks I had to wear because I was running out at one point but they were just a bit too thick in this climate. Stick to the low-ankle, thin socks if you can
What I wish we had
- More European plug adapters – We managed to charge all of our different devices since I had my laptop but with 4 outlets in the Dahabiya cabin, I think we could’ve used another adapter to charge more devices while the power was on.
- Toilet paper – More for the ladies or #2s but you’ll find that most public bathrooms will not have any toilet paper so it’s a good idea to have a roll or tissue paper packs with you
- SPF Chapstick – In retrospect, SPF protection on the lips would be helpful to have.
- Headlamp – Not absolutely necessary but with power out on the Dahabiya, this can be useful although I just ended up using my phone’s flashlight.
- More cash – We certainly underestimated how much cash we needed for this trip. We budgeted $500 USD in cash for the two of us but ended up converting some extra CAD we had with us to supplement. What you’ll end up spending more on is not so much the shopping but the tipping. More on this on the Egypt 10 day itinerary.
- Snacks and granola bars – Our time in Cairo and Luxor was amazing but we had to skip a ton of meals because our schedule was that packed. I’d recommend packing a bunch and keep them in your backpack or in a bag in the van.
What to Wear in Egypt
Something that’s worth noting in this Egypt packing list is a breakdown of whether there’s a “dress code” in Egypt. Even as a seasoned traveller, you’ll want to tailor your packing to the country and make sure you’re respecting customs and dressing smart.
Let’s dive into what to wear in Egypt.
The “rules”
The combination of hot climate and conservative Muslim culture makes it challenging when deciding what to wear in Egypt. You’re probably wondering, “can I wear shorts?”, “are dresses ok?”, “are sleeveless shirts allowed?”, and “do I need to cover my hair?”
In general, Muslim culture is conservative so the overall rule of thumb is that you should limit the amount of skin you show and curves especially if you’re a woman. That said, the question I’m sure you’re asking is “how much” you should limit your skin showing? Legit question!
For travellers to the country though, there’s no imposed Muslim dress that’s applied and so when you’re trying to figure out what to wear and what to pack in Egypt, it’s all about dressing for comfort but also not blatantly being rude.
As a woman, do you need to cover your hair or wear a hijab? – The answer is no. There are some thoughts that as a solo traveller it’s a good idea especially if you’re travelling without a guide in the big city but as a non-Muslim, it’s not something that people will impose on you. At the end of the day, wear what’s comfortable for you. The only exception is when visiting mosques where you’re expected to cover yourself up with a scarf.
Do you have to wear long sleeves? – No absolutely not. With such hot climates, you’ll want to wear t-shirts but the part you want to know about is whether tank tops and anything revealing shoulders or cleavage is okay. Showing elbows isn’t a problem. Tank tops revealing your shoulder is frowned up and you’ll probably get some looks but that’s certainly not to say that I didn’t see people wearing this.
Can you wear shorts or capris? – For women, it’s expected you cover your knees so capris are perfect. I’ve read that shorts are okay for men but it’s still preferable to cover the knees and so capris are perfect. What you wear instead should be also then balanced by what you’ll be looking for in terms of sun cover and keeping your legs clean from the sand and dust.
Are tight clothes ok? – There’s no rule here for this but again especially if you’re a woman that you’ll get looks and unwanted attention if you do but a lot of that is because you’re a foreigner. On my latest trip to Egypt, I saw tons of locals wearing tight jeans and ripped jeans as well so those styles have definitely made their way over. Just like the above, use your best judgement here. Loose clothing has the benefit of not drawing too much attention but also helping you stay cool.
Are flip flops and sandals allowed? – Actually most locals wear these so you’re in the clear. I did want to point out that one thing to consider about any type of sandals or flip flops. I didn’t wear them while on the road (mine were exclusively used in the room as slippers), because I didn’t want to be covered in dust and sand. On the Dahabiya this means rinsing your feet every time you get back on the boat but of course the advantage being that you have full ventilation while you’re exploring temples or walking through a village.
The reality
The truth of the matter is that while in large crowds and throughout our entire trip to Egypt, I saw people dressing the whole range of clothes. No matter what you wear, when you’re walking through the street of souvenirs, you’re going to get hassled and it’s not because of what you’re wearing but because you’re a tourist.
Dressing respectfully is a good idea but as you’ve seen from my recommendations above, a lot of it is paired with being smart with the climate.
The other thing to consider is that you’ll most likely be travelling through Egypt fully guided like we did. If that’s the case, you’ll never be put into situations where you’ll get awkward stares or aggressive attention. On the Dahabiya Nile cruise, it’s even more easy going because you’ll be spending a ton of time on the boat and on deck, you can wear anything you want.
Hotspot Wifi vs SIM Card
For my latest trip to Egypt, I had two choices – I could either get a local SIM or use my Skyroam. Since our tour guide, Djed Egypt Tour, said that they’d be taking care of our data needs for us, I ended up leaving Skyroam at home.
When we landed in Cairo, we picked up a Vodafone SIM card at the airport. Their “tourist bundle” packages are pretty straight forward and are laid out below.
That said, I think we could’ve easily brought our Skyroam as well and used their day passes for unlimited usage that is also shareable with your friends and family because it’s a wifi hotspot and no SIM card is required. You can read my full review of Skyroam to decide for yourself whether it’s something you want to pick up before you go to Egypt.
(As a reader of Going Awesome Places, you can save 10% on Skyroam products by using the code SKYROAMINGAWESOMEPLACES!)
Alternatively, also take a look at the competitor to Skyroam which is Pokefi. Their starter bundle is $194 USD but by using code GAP23200 you save almost $25 USD off of that. It comes with an extra battery and 5GB of data already built in. For extra data packages, theirs is only $15 USD for 5GB which beats most other packages in the market. Watch my unboxing of PokeFi on YouTube!
Travel Insurance
Another top question that I had and what I’ve gotten the most questions about is “is Egypt safe?”. To answer that question will require another blog post. That said, I’ve been to Egypt twice post-revolution and on both trips I’ve always found Egypt to be safe.
Now does Egypt have some quirks in terms of being hassled by souvenir shop owners and locals finding creative and aggressive ways to ask for tips? Yes but unlike in Athens, I never felt like there were gangs of pickpockets or general thieves ready to pounce. It’s not that kind of country and the Egyptian people are very friendly and welcoming.
With that said, I never travel without travel insurance these days because you never know what might happen. Politically, Egypt is unstable and I’m not going to lie, there have been incidents in the country so even more reason to have at a minimum basic medical travel insurance coverage.
In Canada, I typically go through RATESDOTCA to make sure I can find the cheapest rates for travel insurance. Another place I’d recommend buying coverage is through World Nomads.
Have specific questions about your own Egypt packing list as you prepare for your trip? Don’t hesitate to drop a comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!