Most nationalities buy a 30-day visa on arrival for US$25 at the airport, in cash, before immigration; the e-visa costs the same and saves the queue. Bring small US dollars for tipping and change Egyptian pounds for everything else. Cards work in hotels and cities but not on board for tips.
Most nationalities pay $30 for an Egyptian tourist visa — either on arrival at the airport, or online in advance through the official e-Visa portal. Both give 30 days. Your passport needs six months’ validity and a blank page. Bring US dollars in clean, undamaged notes, and get small denominations early because you will need them constantly.
The visa fee rose from $25 to $30 on 1 March 2026, and a lot of older guides still quote the old figure. Everything below reflects the current position, but check the official portal before you travel — this is one of the few things on your trip that can change without notice.
| Visa on arrival | e-Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost, single entry | $30 | $30 |
| Cost, multiple entry | — | $65 |
| Stay permitted | 30 days | 30 days |
| Where | Bank kiosk before passport control | visa2egypt.gov.eg |
| Processing | Immediate | About 3 business days |
| Payment | Cash, USD preferred | Card |
Visa on arrival is available to citizens of more than 45 countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and most of Europe. You buy a sticker at a bank kiosk in the arrivals hall before you reach passport control, stick it in your passport, and queue. It takes a few minutes and there is no drama to it.
The e-Visa is worth doing if you would rather not deal with a kiosk after a long flight, or if you are arriving late at a smaller airport. Apply at least a week ahead through visa2egypt.gov.eg — the official government portal. Numerous commercial sites resell this at two or three times the price for no added value.
A few exemptions exist: some nationalities enter visa-free, and holders of a valid Schengen, US or UK visa can qualify for reduced-cost or short-stay entry in certain cases. Check your own nationality rather than assuming.
Your ship’s reception will usually take your passport at check-in to register with the river authority, and return it within a day. This is normal and required. Keep a copy for the interim.
Egypt’s currency is the Egyptian pound, EGP. The exchange rate has moved a great deal in recent years, so check it close to travel rather than relying on a figure you read months ago.
Bring US dollars in cash. They are the default second currency across Egyptian tourism, they are what you tip with, and they are accepted almost everywhere that matters. Two rules:
Get Egyptian pounds too, for anything small — carriage drivers, felucca captains, a bottle of water ashore, the man who opens a door. Change money at the airport bank or your hotel; avoid street changers.
Because the alternative is standing in front of someone holding a 200-pound note for a service worth twenty, doing arithmetic while they wait.
ATMs in Egypt dispense large denominations almost exclusively, so you cannot rely on them to solve this. Break a large note at a shop or hotel on day one and keep a working float of 10, 20 and 50 pound notes plus $1 and $5 bills. Sort it out at the start and the rest of the trip is frictionless.
How much cash: budget $150 to $250 per person for a week, covering tips, small purchases and ashore meals. The tipping guide breaks down what goes where.
| Where | Cards? |
|---|---|
| Cruise ship account | Yes, Visa and Mastercard |
| Hotels | Yes |
| Larger restaurants | Usually |
| Souks and markets | No — cash |
| Taxis | No. Uber and Careem take cards |
| Tips and baksheesh | Cash only |
| Temple ticket offices | Cash, mostly |
Amex is accepted far less widely than Visa or Mastercard. Tell your bank you are travelling, or your card will be blocked on the first transaction.
ATMs are common in Luxor, Aswan and Cairo, less so at moorings. Withdraw in town rather than at the airport where the rate is worse. If the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline — that is dynamic currency conversion and it costs you several percent.
For Cairo, which is where most cruise passengers land.
If you have booked a package, someone will be there. If you have booked cruise-only, check whether airport transfers are included — they frequently are not, and this is the single most common gap in a Nile cruise booking. See what’s included.
Ignore anyone in the hall who approaches you offering a taxi or help with bags. Some are legitimate; the rest are working on commission.
Ship Wi-Fi exists and is unreliable. Most vessels offer it in public areas, some charge for it, and coverage drops between towns because it runs on mobile networks. Do not plan work around it.
A local SIM is the better answer. Vodafone has the most consistent coverage along the river; Orange and Etisalat are cheaper and slightly patchier outside the main towns. A tourist SIM with a useful data allowance costs roughly 100 to 500 EGP depending on the bundle — a few dollars to around ten. You need your passport to buy one, and there are official vendors at the airports.
An eSIM is easier if your phone supports it: buy before you fly, activate on landing, no queue and no passport. Expect roughly $4 to $25 depending on the data allowance.
Coverage along the Luxor–Aswan stretch is decent in the towns and intermittent mid-river. Download maps, books and anything you need offline before you sail.
Fixed prices apply on the ship, in hotels and at ticket offices. Everywhere else is negotiable, and visitors either overpay badly or make the whole thing adversarial.
The workable version: ask the price, offer around half, settle somewhere near two-thirds, and be prepared to walk. Walking away is not rude here and frequently produces the real number. If you would happily pay what they asked, pay it — nobody is obliged to haggle.
Rough guides, so you have an anchor:
| Item | Reasonable |
|---|---|
| Bottled water, 1.5L, ashore | 15 – 30 EGP |
| Coffee or tea in a local café | 25 – 60 EGP |
| Meal in a local restaurant | 150 – 350 EGP |
| Short taxi across town | 50 – 100 EGP |
| Felucca, 1–2 hours | 300 – 600 EGP for the boat |
| Scarf or small souvenir | 100 – 300 EGP |
These move with inflation and the exchange rate, so treat them as orders of magnitude rather than fixed. If someone quotes ten times these figures, that is the tourist opening bid and not an insult — just start low.
Everything else you need before travelling is in our complete Nile cruise guide, or ask us directly.
$30 for a single-entry tourist visa, whether bought on arrival or online as an e-Visa. Multiple entry is $65 through the e-Visa portal. Both allow a 30-day stay.
Yes, for citizens of over 45 countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and most of Europe. Buy the sticker at a bank kiosk before passport control, in cash.
Either works. The e-Visa saves a queue after a long flight; apply at least a week ahead at visa2egypt.gov.eg. Use the official portal — resellers charge two or three times as much for nothing extra.
Six months beyond your entry date, plus at least one blank page for the visa sticker.
Both. Dollars for tipping and larger payments — clean notes issued 2009 or later. Egyptian pounds in small denominations for everything else.
$150 to $250 per person for a week, covering tips, small purchases and meals ashore. Cards work on the ship and in hotels but not in markets or taxis.
Usually in public areas, sometimes charged, and unreliable between towns because it runs on mobile networks. A local SIM or eSIM is far more dependable.
European two-pin, types C and F, at 220V. UK and US travellers need an adapter.
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Written by
Magdy Fattouh
38 guides published on this site
Magdy Fattouh is a Cairo University history graduate and the writer behind the guides on this site. Over 13 years he has researched and written about Egypt's history, its monuments and how to travel to them — from the pharaohs and the temples to month-by-month planning, ship comparisons and day-by-day itineraries. He speaks English and Arabic, and reviews every guide here for accuracy before it is published.
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