Hello,
I am looking into a trip to Egypt in June. I know it will be sweltering hot, but I have also heard there are fewer tourists.
How brutal is the weather along the Nile in June?
Is it worth saving the $500-$1000 for going in the off-season?
How "empty" will the main tourist areas be?
This is the tour I am looking into: https://anoushdahabiya.com/our-trips/9-nights-10-days-cairored-sea-and-nile-dahabiya-including-tours-from-cairo-airport
It would take a lot more than $500 savings for me to travel to Egypt in the summer! The thing about seeing the main sites in Egypt is that group tours go on certain days so unless you can travel with a private guide, you're going to be there with other groups.
I agree with annemargaret. It will be sweltering, and much of what you see and do is outside. Even to save $1000.00 I wouldn't go then. We did a Trafalgar tour in February 2019. There were 39 people on the tour and we did NOT feel like we were in a horde. It was a very reasonable price and we loved it. It was in February and called "Wonders of Ancient Egypt". 12 days long including a 7 day Nile cruise. Abu Simbel was extra and well worth the cost of the flight. My only regret was using them for flight arrangements. Lufthansa flights, every leg, were horrible. Next time I will arrange them myself.
Egypt was my #1 bucket list item and I was thrilled with our tour there. Check out other cruise companies before you commit to a June tour.
Best of luck!
Oops! Other tour companies, not cruise companies.
If highs in hi 90s to 100s and lows only in the mid 70s is tolerable to you for the coat difference, then do it.
The hotel and buses probably are air conditioned but to see the sights you need to be outside.
Easy enough to do a search for 'Cairo weather'. "Luxor weather", and the other destinations the tour goes to. and see what the historical norms/ranges are.
If cost is critical, I would save longer to be able to go when the trip can be enjoyed, not just survived/endured.
I wouldn't do it. I hate crowds, and I would rather endure the crowds than the heat. Cairo will be hot, and it's just going to get hotter as you go south. Most of the attractions are outside with very little shade anywhere.
Here are the average temperatures you will be looking at in June:
I have sailed on dahabiyas twice. Although I am a huge fan of dahabiyas, I wouldn't do it in the summer. You will likely spend most of your time during the day on the top deck, which will not have air conditioning. In addition, a lot of dahabiyas don't run electricity, or only very minimal electricity, during the day because all the electricity comes from generators.
One more thing about dahabiyas. I would recommend a southbound dahabiya from Luxor to Aswan instead of a northbound dahabiya from Aswan to Luxor. The winds favor the southbound dahabiyas. The southbound dahabiyas are much more likely to travel by sail, and the northbound dahabiyas almost always have to be pulled by a tugboat.
One of the good things about dahabiyas is that they usually try to time the stops to miss the crowds from the big cruise boats. We were the in shoulder seasons, March and October, and we pretty much avoided crowds. Karnak Temple in Luxor was crowded, but the dahabiya stops -- Esna, Edfu and Komombo --- were not crowded at all. (The Giza Pyramids will almost certainly be crowded. We inadvertently missed crowded at the Pyramids because we were there in March 2020, just before the great Covid shutdown.)
We went in early May last year and it was extremely hot. I’m normally not one to get very bothered by heat but even I was struggling a bit, so can imagine it would be even worse in June. In terms of crowds, as of last year they were actually worried about how much tourism had diminished due to ongoing Middle East conflicts and the guide told me even in high season he was having much less work than usual. Our Nile cruise got upgraded to a luxury boat at no extra cost to us because there were so few tourists.
I did a tour to Egypt, including dahabiya, in early to mid September which I think is comparable to June, and it was certainly hot, but I thought it was a fine time to visit. You just need to be sensible (as the guides should be) about big hat, sun screen and sunglasses, plenty of water, and pacing and scheduling to avoid too much time under direct midday sun. Regarding dahabiya, I think what matters is the luxury level of the boat and professionalism of crew more than which direction you go or the time of year. Southbound perhaps the winds will be more favorable, but you will be sailing against the current. Either way most of the time you will be towed rather than under sail, but that’s fine, the tug is far ahead and unobtrusive. On ours the top deck was sun screened and there was always a nice breeze when under way. It was great to relax up there with a pair of binoculars to observe the river bank life and other passing boats. This was an Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip and they have their own 16-passenger dahabiyyas which are wonderful.
I have been to Egypt three times. Once in July for a short visit in 1983, then again in 1985 and 2023 in the Winter.
When I visited in July, I was on my way back to Saudi Arabia (where I worked). The heat in July could easily reach 120 degrees F if you were standing on the desert or a road.
It is doable, but you must wear a hat, also, cover your exposed skin and drink lots of water.
I am from South Georgia and used to Summer heat in the 90s, but if you are from colder climates, you probably won't like it.
I know from the places that I visited in Egypt that you will need to be outside a fair amount of time. You won't be outside all the time, but if heat bothers you, don't do it.
