Egypt in July: what to expect

July is the hottest stretch of the Egyptian year and the driest. The Nile Valley and the Western Desert bake: Luxor and Aswan sit above 40 °C most afternoons, with Aswan close to 45 °C, and the heat does not drop much before midnight. Cairo and the Delta are milder but still around 35 °C, often with dust haze that flattens the view from the Citadel.

The Mediterranean and the Red Sea are the exceptions. Alexandria and El Alamein get a sea breeze and are where Cairenes go in summer; Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab have air temperatures topping about 38 °C but constant wind off the water, which makes diving and swimming pleasant rather than punishing. Rain is essentially nil everywhere except the Mediterranean coast, and even there July is dry.

July is low season for the antiquities. Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel are quiet, guides and drivers are easy to hire, and Nile cruise prices are at their annual floor. The trade-off is that some Valley of the Kings tombs and smaller sites shorten hours or close early because of the heat, and a few West Bank cafés shut for the summer.

The crowds move to the coast. Egyptian families take their summer holidays in July and August, filling Alexandria, the north coast resorts and El Gouna, so beach hotels there charge their highest rates of the year and book out at weekends. Red Sea diving resorts are busy but not at winter levels, and European school-holiday demand builds through the month.

Egypt's calendar is thin in July. The big national and religious holidays fall outside this month, and the main cultural season in Cairo and Alexandria runs from autumn to spring. What July does bring is the summer festival circuit on the Mediterranean: Alexandria's beaches and corniche fill with concerts and family events, and the north coast resorts run their own entertainment programmes for Egyptian holidaymakers.

Check locally for the exact dates of any beach festival or concert series, and for the Islamic New Year, which is lunar and can fall in July in some years (check). Museum and site opening hours in the south are worth confirming the week before you travel, since summer schedules change.

Build the trip around water and altitude, not temples. Alexandria is the classic summer answer: a long corniche, sea breeze, the library and the Qaitbay fort, and seafood on the waterfront. El Alamein and the north coast resorts are an easy add-on from Cairo by road or train.

On the Red Sea, Hurghada and El Gouna are the simplest bases from Europe, with cheap flights and shallow, calm dive sites. Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab suit divers and snorkellers, and Dahab is the cheapest of the four. Further south, Marsa Alam and Port Ghalib have the best reefs but are hotter and quieter in July.

If you must see the pharaohs, do Cairo and Giza only: the Grand Egyptian Museum and the pyramids are manageable if you start at opening and finish by 11am, then stay indoors until evening. Leave Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel for October to April. Siwa and the Western Desert oases are not a July destination.

Pack for heat and sun, not for rain. Loose light-coloured cotton or linen, a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen are the basics; a light long-sleeve shirt and trousers help at midday and in mosques. Bring a refillable bottle and rehydration sachets, and a small towel that dries fast for the beach.

For the coast, add swimwear, reef-safe sunscreen and water shoes for rocky Red Sea entries. For Cairo, add a dust scarf or mask for hazy days and comfortable closed shoes for the pyramids. A light layer is useful for air-conditioned buses, trains and hotel lobbies, which are cold.

June is slightly cooler than July but still too hot for the Nile Valley, and prices are similarly low. August is the same heat with more European holidaymakers on the Red Sea, so resorts cost more. September stays hot but diving is excellent and prices begin to climb late in the month.

The real change comes in October, when the Nile Valley season reopens, cruises restart in full and the Abu Simbel sun festival falls on 22 October. If your trip is about temples, aim for October to April instead.