Egypt in January: Weather, Holidays and What to Pack

Yes, January is a good time to visit Egypt, especially for long days at the temples. It is the coolest month: Cairo averages a high of 19°C (66°F), Luxor and Aswan 23°C (73°F), and Luxor's nights average 6°C (43°F). Coptic Christmas on January 7 and Revolution Day on January 25 are public holidays, and the New Year week is still busy.

Egypt in January: how cold does it get?

January is the coolest month of the year in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan, by day and by night. The days are mild; it is the mornings and evenings that feel cold, and in Luxor the gap between afternoon and night is the widest of the three cities. The figures below are averages from the WMO World Weather Information Service.

In Luxor, the average swings from 23°C (73°F) in the afternoon to 6°C (43°F) at night. That swing shapes the day more than the cold itself: a West Bank visit that starts when the Valley of the Kings opens at 6:00 a.m. begins in jacket weather and ends in shirt sleeves. Alexandria, on the Mediterranean, has the coolest days of the six places, at 18°C (64°F).

Holidays in January: Coptic Christmas and Revolution Day

Coptic Christmas is the main event of the month. The Christmas Eve liturgy is held on the evening of January 6, and January 7 is a day off for most of the country, with schools and most businesses closed. It stays on its date: since 2020, most mid-week national holidays are moved to the nearest Thursday, sometimes a Sunday, to make a long weekend, but Christmas and the two Eids are not.

Revolution Day on January 25 is the other national holiday. In 2026 it fell on a Sunday, and the paid holiday was moved to Thursday, January 29, by the Prime Minister's decree. In 2027 the date falls on a Monday.

Coptic Christmas also makes January a natural month for Old Cairo. The Hanging Church was built towards the end of the fourth century between two towers of the Roman fort known as Babylon, 13 meters above the ground, and became the seat of the papacy in the eleventh century. The Five Private Days in Cairo journey includes the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue with a private guide.

Is January busy?

The first days of January belong to the holiday peak, the Christmas and New Year vacations that lift occupancy in Luxor and Aswan's hotels and on their Nile cruises. All of winter, from about October to April, counts as peak season, but the busiest dates are those holidays, and Easter, so the weeks after the New Year holiday are high season without that rush. For a trip that starts in the first week of January, settle the Nile vessel first, as for Christmas; later in the month, the ship and the hotels can be settled together.

January can also bring weather that grounds flights. On Friday, January 9, 2026, EgyptAir suspended all flights to and from Aswan and Abu Simbel because of a sandstorm and low visibility, until the weather improved. Domestic flights are not included in any journey and are booked separately, so it is worth leaving slack around them rather than planning a tight connection to the flight home.

What to pack for January's cold mornings

Pack as for a mild spring with cold edges. The essentials are a warm sweater or fleece and a jacket for the mornings, when Luxor averages 6°C (43°F) and Aswan 9°C (48°F), plus a scarf and layers that come off as the day warms to 23°C (73°F). A balloon flight over Luxor starts with a pre-dawn hotel pickup, roughly 3:15 to 4:45 a.m., and spends about 45 minutes to an hour in the air, so dress for the coldest hour of the day.

Modest dress still applies: shoulders and knees are covered at temples and holy sites, and official travel advice is that women prefer knee-length or longer dresses and long sleeves and that men do not wear shorts outside tourist areas. Comfortable closed shoes help in the royal tombs, which are entered down corridors and stairways cut deep into the hillside. A fuller list is in what to wear in Egypt.

The Red Sea in January

January is cool on the Red Sea: Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh average highs of 22°C (72°F), and the sea averages 23°C (73°F) at both. A few days at a resort make a quiet end to a Nile trip, but this is a month for the spa and the terrace more than for long swims.

Journeys that fit January

January's mild days suit journeys with full touring days. The Cairo and the Nile in Style, 7 Days journey adds a guided visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum to a 3-night cruise from Aswan to Luxor on The Oberoi Zahra. The Egypt by Dahabiya, 10 Days journey spends 4 nights on the Akhnaton Dahabiya from Esna, with a dinner by a campfire on the riverbank, where a warm layer earns its place.

All the journeys are on the luxury Egypt tours page, and each can be adjusted in length, hotels and pace before you confirm, subject to availability. For the year as a whole, see the best time to visit Egypt. Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin in February, with sources differing on the first day; how it shapes a spring trip is covered in Egypt in March.