Accommodation: Since I traveled for 5 weeks in Egypt and also because I am not fussy at all about where I stay, I always chose the cheapest accommodation possible. I was spending between $5-10 USD/night for a private room with shared bathroom in either a hostel/basic hotel/guesthouse. This was an upgrade for me since I usually stay in a dorm room in most other countries. When traveling with my partner we stayed in 3* hotels for $40 USD/night. We were taking a flight out of the resort town of Hurghada, so for 2 nights so we decided to “ splurge” and stay in an all-inclusive 4* resort for $120 USD/night.
Food: All over the country, I was able to find freshly cooked, filling, and decently healthy meals for $1-4 USD. My go to meal was shish tawook which is a grilled half chicken, rice, cucumber and tomato salad, tahina, and bread. Hold the bread and tahina if you want to watch the calories. In more expensive countries I usually buy groceries and cook, but for such amazing meals for so cheap, it wasn’t worth the effort.
Entrance Fees: You need to pay for entrance fees at each site and for each tomb. If you want to take photos there is usually an additional photography ticket price, anywhere between $5-35 USD, and realize you may see multiple sites a day which can add up. There is a price for locals and one for foreigners. If you are under 30 and have a student card, you can get the foreigner ticket for half price. I suggest getting the Luxor pass if you will be there at least 5 days. As for the photography ticket, if you take a photo and do not have the ticket, the guard will threaten to get the police to arrest you but they are just looking for a bribe, and if you just give the guard $1 then they will even do a photo shoot for you. I am definitely not saying to do this, but it just is an example that it is a corrupt system, welcome to Egypt.
Transportation: While traveling solo, I took the train between cities. From Cairo to Luxor roundtrip was $20-30 for a first class ticket. Each way took 11 hours, but honestly after non-stop sightseeing everyday I enjoyed some down time! Someone asked me why I didn’t just save time and take a one hour flight……well the roundtrip flight was $250. To some, $250 is well worth the time saved, but for me I had plenty of time and would rather save $230 (that pays for 46 more nights in a hostel!). To see all the sites I wanted to see, I hired drivers since most of the tours did not go to the places I wanted to see. I usually just ask at my hotel for a driver for the next day or ask the taxi drivers around town. If you like to plan and want a guide and a driver, I suggest using Happy Egypt Tours while in Luxor. Once my partner arrived, we decided to fly from Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh instead of taking the 13 hour bus ride because we didn’t want to waste time with the many checkpoints along the way.