We send a short list matched to your itinerary. Below is the common core — then Nile, desert, Red Sea and eclipse extras. Travel light: hotel laundry exists, and cabin bags often suffice for a week’s circuit.
1. The core kit
- Light cotton or linen, pale colours — stone reflects, synthetics cling.
- One warm layer (thin jumper, light jacket) for winter evenings in Cairo, a balloon dawn, and the air-conditioning on buses and boats.
- Brimmed hat, sunglasses, high SPF, lip balm. Egypt is bright even in January.
- A bottle: we provide bottled water on touring days; a flask cuts the plastic.
- Small pharmacy: plasters, your usual painkiller, rehydration salts, antihistamine if you need it, regular medicines in original packaging.
2. Temples, mosques, walking
Broken-in closed shoes for Giza, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings: sand, uneven paving, steps. Sandals are enough in the evening and on board. Shoulders and knees covered for mosques (Citadel, Muhammad Ali) and St Catherine; a light scarf for women fits in a pocket.
Long trousers and a sleeved shirt spare you sun as much as stares. This is not ceremonial dress — it is comfort and respect at places of worship.
3. On the Nile
On board, dress is hotel: shorts, a light dress, a shirt. A jumper for winter dinner when the deck cools. Swimwear if the boat has a pool. Power: Egypt is mostly type C / F (230 V). A universal adaptor and a power bank help on photo days.
Cabins are compact. Two “town” outfits are enough; the rest rotates. A soft day-bag (passport copies, cream, water) is better than a hiking pack.
4. Desert and oases
Nights are cold even in spring: fleece or light down, a hat, warm socks for camp. By day the sun is hard — sleeves, hat, cream. Shoes that cope with sand. Siwa is conservative: covered dress in the oasis, swimwear only at the salt lakes if local custom allows (we will say).
Biodegradable toiletries if you can. A head torch. The 4x4 is bumpy: a lumbar cushion helps sensitive backs.
5. Red Sea
Swimwear, a UV shirt for snorkelling, reef shoes if your feet dislike coral. Reef-safe sunscreen (no oxybenzone): marine parks increasingly care. Mask and snorkel come on our boat days; bring your own if you are fussy about fit. Dive certification and logbook if you dive.
6. Luxor, August 2027 — eclipse
Midday heat, the sun overhead, possible crowds. A parasol or shade cloth, plenty of water, electrolytes, the lightest clothes you own. We supply ISO-certified solar viewers on our eclipse stays; do not buy improvised filters. A camera is optional — watching with the naked eye during totality only, as the morning briefing says, is already the event.
7. In the cabin, not the hold
- Passport, printed visa / e-visa, tickets, insurance policy, emergency numbers.
- Paper copies and phone photos (passport, prescriptions).
- Cards and a little cash in euros or dollars for the first exchange.