Egypt - Travel Books

Reviews and recommendations only get you so far. When I'm not sure which travel books I want, I head to the public library ( hard copy or ebook) and I shop at thrift stores for used copies. Once I find the format/ brand I like then I'll buy my own newest version. Thrift store versions are handy since I'm fine with tearing out the pages I want to take with me. RS recommends doing that with his guide books but I can't bring myself to do that to a new book.

Fodor’s has a decent one as does DK Eyewitness Guide. Egypt is a fabulous destination.

I got back from an amazing trip to Egypt in March, and I have been meaning to do a lengthy trip review, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe your question will provide the motivation to get it done. I didn't use a guide book --- just a lot of time on TripAdvisor and various websites. I know you didn't ask for a history book, but I highly recommend Barbara Mertz' "Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs." It's very readable without skimping on the details, and having that context before I visited gave me a much better foundation for all of the information I was bombarded with while I was there. By the way, her mystery books, written under the pseudonym of Elizabeth Peters, are also very good if you like that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, my trip was cut short because of Covid, but I am planning to return as soon as is reasonable. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I visited Egypt twice in the early 1980s. It was fantastic.

This was prior to the internet and I did use a guidebook, but can't remember the name.

What I did that really helped understand a lot of the history of Egypt was read a couple of books on the history of Egypt.

It is a very long history, going back 5000 years. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt

The dynasties were broken up into the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. It helps to understand the history when visiting a specific tomb or a pyramid. Also, it helps to study the Egyptian religion, which changed a bit over the centuries and of course is extinct now.

Some of the ancient sites I visited were built in the periods of the Macedonian and Roman periods that are way more recent than the original three pyramids at Giza that were old kingdom period.
When the Romans conquered Egypt those pyramids were ancient, 2500 years old and the Sphinx was older.

Are you planning on taking a tour or trying to do it independently? Tours come complete with a well trained, university educated guide who usually does an excellent job. When I took a regular tour I went with Insight Tours and was very pleased with it. My second Egypt trip was a three week tour organized by a major Museum and along with a tour guide, required by Egyptian law, we also had a tour manager and a US university professor. What a wonderful trip that was!

I too have enjoyed Tombs, Temples, and Hieroglyphs and can also recommend Mertz’s Red Land Black Land. These books were published decades ago so don’t know if they are still in print, but certainly should be available through a secondhand vendor, Fodor for hotel and general info or Lonely Planet

The Eyewitness guide is great particularly for maps and graphics of the monuments. A Traveller’s History of Egypt was recommended to me by a friend who was married to an Egyptian and lived in Cairo. It includes the full history of Egypt until 2007 when my copy was published. People have been writing about Egypt for thousands of years. Herodotus was writing about it in 440 BCE and it’s always fun to compare his experiences with modern day travels in the country! Some things don’t change that much! One book I very much enjoyed was a Thousand Miles Up the Nile by Amelia B. Edwards. She was an English woman who did the journey by boat in 1873. Well illustrated by her own drawings it is an interesting book to along on your trip, I enjoyed reading on the boat trips from Luxor south.

I have to ask, are you planning on traveling alone or with companions? In either case I strongly recommend going as part of a tour group or working with a tour operator in Cairo to set up a personalized itinerary. Spring Tours handled the arrangements for The Insight trip and they do individual tours. unfortunately cannot remember the company that did the arrangements for the museum tour.

Here are just a few suggestions of things to see; Cairo - Egyptian Museum. The Citadel, Kahn al Kahalli - souk, tourist trap shops, great fun. Trip out to visit the pyramids and Sphinx. I did a tour booked at my hotel to these sites. Sakkara - stepped pyramid and temple. Site of old city of Memphis....largely unexcavated but open air museum if you want to see more statues.

Luxor - temples of Luxor and Karnak. Trip to Valley of the Kings. Many tombs and temples there. I particularly liked Hatshepsut’s temple. Be aware there are usually long queues for Tutenkhamen’s tomb. Mummification Museum.

Cruise Nile from Luxor to Aswan. See Edfu and Kom Ombo

Aswan. The two Aswan dams. Philae Temple, beautiful. Was first temple to be moved away from the rising waters. The Nubian Museum. Visit to Nubian village. Camel rides along sand dunes. Felucca rides around Elephantine island. Stay at old Cataract Hotel, surprisingly reasonable at present due to tourism being down. Do day trip by flying to Abu Simbel.

Egypt remains unsettled politically and for safety I would not consider traveling there by myself except as part of an organized tour. On both trips I have done we had armed guards on the buses, and had to do trips as part of a convoy with armoured vehicles.

Look for tours organized by museums, or companies like Andante Travels, a UK company that has an office in New York. Also Archaeological Tours or Far Horizons do specialized tours. Archaeology Magazine has ads for various companies.

DK Eyewitness. Physically heavy to lug around, but great info, photos, maps.

We docked right at Abu Simbel on our Lake Nasser boat. It was an amazing opportunity to view the site as we sailed in.

I lived in the Middle East for five years. Don't do Egypt on your own. Use a tour.

Security is very important in Egypt. Also, never eat any food from a street vendor, or even small restaurant. Only eat in 4-5 star hotels or comparable restaurants.
Never drink the tap water there.

As mentioned, review your library's collection and choose the one that works for you. If you only want the highlights Eyewitness does a small Top 10 Pocket Guide of cities. Maybe it has one for Egypt. I did a tour, so can't remember using any more than the library book for pre travel research and leaving it at home. I did a tour and was glad I did. I know it reduces some of the time in locations, but I appreciated the guide who could keep track of the dates and relevant details of all the different places we went. With a history that long, it is easy to lose track of when and why it came to be.
Keep in mind that something like the Top 10 Guide loses some content to keep it small. I needed my glasses to read the fine print, and had to research opening times online and add a Post It to the relevant page and event.
Check whether Cairo or other cities have a Time Out magazine. It might be online as well. They are weekly or monthly productions listing current activities.
I recommend the night visit to Luxor. A bit touristy, but I was there just after Arab Spring, so not a lot of people. Walking through the buildings in the dark with just the uplighting was a bit like stepping back in time.
A little off topic, Barbara Mertz - mentioned above- wrote mystery novels under the pseudonym Elizabeth Peters. They start in the late 1800's with an Englishwoman visiting Egypt and being captivated by the history - and an archaeologist. It has humour, romance, a lot of Egyptology and mystery. There are about 20 books that spans 30 or so years of their and their family's lives. I remember when I visited the Valley of the Kings stepping back and looking at the terrain remembering where their dig used to be and how the travelled to the Valley by foot or horse. It added something to the trip for me.