Is Egypt Expensive? What We Spent in 15 Days
Is Egypt expensive? We found everyday food and accommodation surprisingly affordable, but moving around the country raised the total. Our recorded on-the-ground cost was A$2,249.01 per person for 15 days, including 14 nights of accommodation, food, activities, groceries, cash spending, our domestic flight and private transfers. International flights are shown separately because we used points to reach Egypt.
This is not a sample Egypt budget assembled from current hotel searches. Dan tracked his allocated one-person spending in TravelSpend, and we matched it against our actual accommodation, flight and transfer bookings. Couples travelling in a similar way should begin by doubling the per-person figures.
All figures are in Australian dollars and per person unless I clearly say otherwise. These are our October 2025 costs, not a promise that the same hotel or tour will cost the same today.
Is Egypt expensive for tourists?
Egypt can be very affordable once you are there, especially for apartments, local meals and everyday transport. What made our trip more expensive was the route. We travelled from Giza to Siwa, back to Cairo, down to Luxor and across to the Red Sea before finishing in Dahab. That involved long private transfers and a last-minute domestic flight.
We were not travelling in luxury, but we were not trying to make Egypt as cheap as possible either. We chose private drivers for difficult travel days, stayed in spacious apartments, paid for tours and still treated ourselves to an anniversary dinner, a Red Sea boat day and the experiences we had travelled all that way to see.
The result was a trip that averaged A$149.93 per person per day before international flights. That includes accommodation and the major transfers between destinations, so it is not directly comparable with blogs that quote only food and everyday spending.
Our total Egypt travel cost for 15 days
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| Cost | Per person | For two people | What it covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day-to-day spending | A$1,455.15 | A$2,910.30 | Food, activities, groceries, cash, shopping and local transport |
| Accommodation | A$473.86 | A$947.72 | 14 nights across six stays |
| Domestic flight and private transfers | A$320.00 | A$640.00 | Cairo to Luxor and the long overland travel days |
| On-the-ground total | A$2,249.01 | A$4,498.02 | Everything above, excluding international flights |
| International flight cash amounts | A$627.43 | A$1,254.85 | Arrival fees and our onward flight |
| Complete recorded cash total | A$2,876.44 | A$5,752.87 | Plus 195,128 points used for the inbound flight |
Our inbound Warsaw-to-Cairo flight used 195,128 points plus A$975.64 in fees for two people. The onward flight from Sharm El Sheikh to Jeddah was A$279.21 for two. I have kept those outside the main Egypt daily cost because an international flight using points is not a useful airfare estimate for someone starting in Australia, Europe or anywhere else.
Our 15-day Egypt itinerary shows exactly how the route fitted together.
What our Egypt budget included
The TravelSpend portion contains 38 transactions recorded from 6 to 18 October. It includes restaurants, activities, groceries, shopping, drinks, local transport, coffee, our visa and the cash we withdrew as we moved through Egypt.
Cash needs a little explanation. We counted the withdrawals as spending because that money was used during the trip, but we did not then record every small cash purchase again. That means the cash and general category is real money that left our account, not a perfect list of whether each pound later bought food, a ticket, a tip or a taxi.
The total does not include a cash value for the 195,128 points used on our inbound flight. It also does not pretend the hotels we recommend now are what we personally paid. Our recorded accommodation came from our actual Airbnb and hotel bookings.
How much our Egypt accommodation cost
We paid A$947.72 for two people across 14 nights, or A$473.86 each. That averaged A$67.69 per room per night, which is where Egypt felt especially affordable for us.
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| Stop | Nights | Total for two | Average per night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giza and Cairo | 3 | A$180.94 | A$60.31 |
| Siwa Oasis | 2 | A$268.72 | A$134.36 |
| Cairo stopover | 1 | A$63.80 | A$63.80 |
| Luxor | 4 | A$174.78 | A$43.70 |
| Hurghada | 2 | A$75.84 | A$37.92 |
| Dahab | 2 | A$183.64 | A$91.82 |
| Total | 14 | A$947.72 | A$67.69 |
Our first Giza apartment looked straight towards the pyramids, while the Luxor stay gave us a kitchen, plenty of space and breakfast on the quieter West Bank. Having a kitchen is part of how we create some home normality while travelling full time. We genuinely love cooking, and it also means we do not have to eat out in holiday mode every night.
We personally stayed at Hotel Talid in Siwa and loved the team, included breakfast and how easily they organised our day around the oasis. In Giza we stayed in an Airbnb, but The Stay Pyramids Inn is the researched option we would compare for that same wake-up-near-the-pyramids feeling. Our full Egypt accommodation breakdown has the stay we used and the Booking.com option for every stop.
Our everyday spending by category
The A$1,455.15 day-to-day total is Dan's allocated one-person spending. Cash and general is the largest category because Egypt was far more cash-heavy than many of the countries we had visited.
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| Category | Per person | Share of day-to-day spending |
|---|---|---|
| Cash, general and visa | A$810.93 | 55.7% |
| Restaurants | A$365.93 | 25.1% |
| Activities | A$143.37 | 9.9% |
| Groceries | A$68.22 | 4.7% |
| Shopping | A$37.92 | 2.6% |
| Drinks | A$18.00 | 1.2% |
| Local transport | A$8.19 | 0.6% |
| Coffee | A$2.59 | 0.2% |
How much food cost us in Egypt
Restaurants came to A$365.93 per person, plus A$68.22 for groceries. That works out to roughly A$28.94 per day for restaurant meals and groceries together.
Some of our favourite meals were also the ones that made Egypt feel like such good value. Our anniversary dinner at Saffron in Luxor came to just over A$30 for both of us. In Dahab, a dinner with four entrees, a full meal and a drink each was around A$20 per person.
We did not cook as much as we do in some destinations because breakfast was included at several stays and local food was affordable. Still, having kitchens in Giza, Luxor and along the Red Sea gave us the option when we wanted a quieter night.
How much transport cost us in Egypt
Our separately booked domestic flight and private transfers came to A$640 for two people, or A$320 each. Three long private transfer bookings accounted for A$540 of that couple total. The remaining A$100 was the flight recorded from Cairo to Luxor.
The transfers were a deliberate convenience rather than the cheapest possible way to travel. Siwa is around eight hours from Giza by road, and getting from Luxor across to the Red Sea and then towards Dahab also consumes most of a day. Splitting private vehicles between two people kept the route manageable, but shared transport or buses can reduce this category.
Our everyday tracker also contained A$8.19 per person of local transport. In Luxor, one of our little boat crossings over the Nile was around 100 Egyptian pounds, roughly A$3 at the time, before the tip.
One place we would spend differently is the Nile. We only had time for a shorter boat experience, but if we planned Egypt again I would seriously compare this four-day Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor. It would change the budget, but it also combines accommodation, meals, transport and several major sights. Check the selected option carefully because inclusions can change.
How much activities cost us
TravelSpend shows A$143.37 per person directly categorised as activities. Some additional cash-paid experiences sit inside the cash bucket, so I would not use A$143.37 as a complete current ticket budget for the pyramids, museums, Luxor and the Red Sea.
We spent on the things that made the route worth doing: a private Giza guide, the Siwa salt lakes and desert stops, Valley of the Kings, Nile time, snorkelling and a Hurghada day searching for wild dolphins.
Our Hurghada day included snorkelling and a beautiful lagoon. We eventually saw dolphins from the boat but did not swim with them, because wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. If you are pricing a similar experience, this highly rated Hurghada dolphin, snorkelling and island trip is a comparable option rather than the exact provider we used.
Cash, cards and the ATM that kept our card
We withdrew A$612.69 per person in cash across the trip. Cash was essential for our private driver, small purchases, tips and places that did not reliably take cards.
The most stressful money moment happened just after we reached Siwa. We needed cash to pay our driver, inserted an Australian card and the ATM kept it. The attached bank was closed, so we had to wait until the following day while travelling with one fewer card.
That was our experience with one machine, not a claim that every ATM in Egypt will keep foreign cards. But it completely changed how careful we were. If contactless withdrawal is available, use it. Carry at least two cards, keep them separately and avoid waiting until you urgently need cash.
I use Wise as one of my travel cards, but I would never rely on one physical card in Egypt after what happened in Siwa.
How much should you budget for Egypt?
For our travel style, I would begin with around A$2,300 per person for 15 days on the ground, excluding international flights. For two people, that is approximately A$4,600.
That starting point suits a route with apartments, local meals, paid historical sights and several private transfers. You could spend less by choosing buses, shared transfers and fewer paid experiences. You could spend much more with Nile cruises, luxury Red Sea resorts, premium guides or last-minute flights.
The destination mix matters more than a simple daily number. Seven days divided between Cairo and Luxor will not cost the same as seven days that also includes the long journey to Siwa or a resort stay on the Red Sea.
How we would spend less next time
We would not remove Siwa, Luxor or the Red Sea. Those contrasts are exactly why the trip felt so rewarding. The realistic savings would be:
- Book the Cairo-to-Luxor flight earlier.
- Compare shared transfers with private drivers before locking the route.
- Keep apartment kitchens for breakfasts and quieter dinners.
- Withdraw enough cash without repeatedly paying ATM fees, while still carrying a backup card.
- Confirm what tours include before paying separately for transfers, tickets or meals.
- Leave some space in the route instead of paying to solve every tight connection.
Egypt is not a trip where I would chase the absolute cheapest option on every travel day. The distances are large, the heat can be intense and a reliable guide or driver can be worth paying for.
Was Egypt worth what we spent?
Completely. In 15 days we stood beside the pyramids, floated in salt lakes in the desert, walked through ancient tombs in Luxor and finished beside the Red Sea. Very few trips deliver that much contrast.
The spreadsheet says A$2,249.01 per person on the ground. What it cannot show is how it felt to wake up looking at the pyramids, have our Siwa hotel cook dinner for us or cross the Nile on our ten-year anniversary.
If you are building the same route, start with our honest 15-day Egypt itinerary, then open the free day-by-day Egypt guide for the stops, stays and map links.
Watch our Egypt trip
Our numbers show what Egypt cost us, but the vlog shows what those first few days actually felt like. We landed in the middle of the night, woke up looking towards the pyramids and spent 72 hours exploring Giza, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum. This is the first video to watch if you are planning a similar Egypt route.
Watch our 72 Hours in Giza vlog on YouTube and subscribe to Ell's Passport to follow the rest of our Egypt trip through Siwa, Luxor, Hurghada and Dahab.
Frequently asked questions
Is Egypt cheap or expensive?
We found Egypt affordable for accommodation, local meals and everyday transport. A multi-stop trip becomes more expensive when you add private drivers, domestic flights, guides and Red Sea activities.
How much did 15 days in Egypt cost you?
Our on-the-ground cost was A$2,249.01 per person, including accommodation, day-to-day spending, our recorded domestic flight and private transfers. The complete recorded cash total including international flight amounts was A$2,876.44 per person, plus the points used for the inbound flight.
How much did you spend per day in Egypt?
Our on-the-ground total averaged A$149.93 per person per day across 15 days. Day-to-day spending alone averaged A$97.01 before accommodation and separately booked route transport.
How much was accommodation in Egypt?
Fourteen nights cost A$947.72 for two people. That averaged A$67.69 per room per night, or A$33.85 per person per night.
Do you need cash in Egypt?
We did. Cash was important for drivers, tips and smaller purchases, and we withdrew A$612.69 per person. Carry more than one card and keep them separately because an ATM in Siwa retained one of ours.
How much should a couple budget for two weeks in Egypt?
For a route similar to ours, A$4,600 for two people on the ground is a sensible starting point before international flights. Add more for luxury hotels, a Nile cruise, premium tours or last-minute transport.
