Egyptian site tickets: Cairo Pass, Luxor Pass, extra-fee tombs

Buying online or at the ticket office

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities sells tickets for its sites and museums through three channels: its platform egymonuments.com, the Experience Egypt app, and the ticket offices or kiosks at the sites. Visa and Mastercard are accepted everywhere, ticket offices included. One basket can combine several sites and be paid in a single transaction.

Tickets are dated. They are non-refundable, cannot be cancelled and are not replaced if lost or stolen: choose the date carefully, especially for a site visited at the end of the trip. Buying online avoids the ticket office queue; buying on site keeps flexibility if plans may change. If a ticket does not arrive, customer service answers on +20 2 35 31 73 44.

The Grand Egyptian Museum has its own ticketing, described in the guide "Visiting the Grand Egyptian Museum".

What the main sites cost

Prices for a foreign adult, in Egyptian pounds (EGP), checked on 14 October 2026. Times are local: for most of the year, Egypt is 2 hours ahead of London; the gap changes for a few weeks in spring, between the switch to summer time in Europe, in late March, and in Egypt, in late April.

The rules are the same at every site: free entry for children under 6; student rate up to age 24, with a valid card; phone photography free and without permission; arrive at least one hour before closing. At Giza, the plateau ticket does not include the inside of the pyramids, sold separately; at Karnak, the Temple of Mut costs extra.

For a sense of scale: the six main sites of the trip idea "Cairo and Luxor in 7 days", Grand Egyptian Museum included, cost EGP 4,440 per adult, without supplements.

Passes: who they are worth it for

The ministry sells two five-day passes, reserved for foreign visitors. Prices from the latest grid published by the ministry, updated in 2023:

Passes are sold only at the ticket offices of six sites: the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, the Giza pyramids, the Saladin Citadel in Cairo, the Qaitbay Citadel in Alexandria, Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. You need a copy of your passport and a passport photo; the student rate requires being under 30 with a valid student card. A second pass bought in the same calendar year costs half price, on presentation of a copy of the first.

The maths. Luxor's five main sites, the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Luxor Temple, Hatshepsut and the Valley of the Queens, cost EGP 2,510 at individual prices. Compare that total with the price of the pass converted into pounds at the day's rate. The pass pays off for a five-day stay that adds the less-visited West Bank sites, such as Medinet Habu, Deir el-Medina or the Ramesseum, and, for the Premium, the tomb of Seti I; for two or three days focused on the main sites, individual tickets are generally enough.

Extra-fee tombs and closed tombs

In the Valley of the Kings, the general ticket gives access to several tombs; the ticket office shows each morning which ones are open. Three tombs charge a supplement, at the prices displayed on site in August 2026:

• Tutankhamun: EGP 700;
• Seti I: EGP 2,000;
• Ramesses V and VI: EGP 220.

Nefertari's tomb, in the Valley of the Queens, has been closed since March 2024: the ministry is monitoring its humidity levels to assess reopening under controlled conditions, with no date announced. The Valley of the Queens ticket covers the other open tombs.

Abu Simbel on 22 February and 22 October. On these two days, the rising sun lights up the sanctuary of the great temple; the ticket rises to EGP 1,200 at the ministry rate, EGP 1,272 on the online ticket office, and the site is very busy. Sabaro's Aswan page explains how to plan for it.