We visited Egypt in early April with our 6 kids and had an absolutely amazing time. It had been on our bucket list for years, and felt absolutely magical finally being there and seeing sites we’d read about in books … Read More
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I’m getting so excited to head off on this absolute bucket list trip. I’ve wanted to visit Egypt for as long as I can remember and I’m just over the moon that it’s finally here. Clothing is NOT something I … Read More
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We visited Egypt in early April with our 6 kids and had an absolutely amazing time. It had been on our bucket list for years, and felt absolutely magical finally being there and seeing sites we’d read about in books and seen. in movies since Dan and I were kids. One of the biggest forms of prep, though, was figuring out our Egypt packing list, especially with kids. We weren’t totally sure on exactly what would be appropriate when considering what to wear in Egypt, how much we’d be outside and walking, and what extras we would need.
Overall, Egypt felt less conservative than I anticipated. It was absolutely fine even for women to wear short sleeves and shorts/dresses in tourist areas. Head and arm coverings are only needed for mosques. Unless you’re planning to go to more conservative areas, you likely won’t need to pack anything in particular, though I think it’s a good idea to have either a scarf or a jacket with a hood for convenience.
I hope this Egypt family packing list is helpful to make your pre-trip planning a little smoother and more straightforward. First, I’m sharing our full packing list of what we actually took and recommend. Then, I have some more detail for several categories with specific links, so keep scrolling down if you’d like to see. And if you’re looking for an easy way to help your kids be more independent with packing, check out our free visual packing list!
You can find my full list of first aid travel items with kids right HERE.
We packed 5 outfits for each family member, including the ones we wore on the plane. We wanted items that would be lightweight and cool, that would also dry fairly quickly (we knew electric clothes dryers would be rare), and could also handle the inevitable dirt and dust. We did also pack a few extra items for the baby, knowing that she was likely to get dirty.
Here’s what we took:
I won’t bother to link all my kids’ and Dan’s clothing as they’re mostly basic t-shirts, shorts, & pants from Target & H&M, ha. But here’s the clothing I packed for myself!
I also packed along this button down tie waist navy dress – it’s one of my favorite travel dresses for women because it’s so comfy, soft, long enough for religious places, is great for hot weather, has pockets, and is nursing-friendly with functional buttons. Plus, the tie waist makes it very adjustable. It’s also really nice packing along a one-piece outfit!
Since we were only packing one pair of jammies, we wanted ones that would wash and dry quickly. I took this pair (in a different print) and they were super comfy and dried in a flash.
I usually prefer traveling with a modest two-piece swimsuit since they tend to dry much faster for packing. Mine is old, but this suit is by the same brand and also has a lovely floral print. I also brought the matching suit for baby S!
We always try to minimize shoes if at all possible because they’re bulky and heavy! We didn’t do any fancy dinners as a family or anything, so we were just fine with casual shoes. Most everyone took one pair of shoes, but K (my 11 year old daughter) and I each took two pairs (one being a very lightweight pair of sandals). We each wore our sandals 95% of the time in Egypt, but wanted the sneakers for our longer travel days.
The ones who packed just hiking sandals (Dan + 3 kids) just wore socks with those on longer travel days and it worked great. The hiking sandals worked great for being super comfy to walk a ton, while also being sturdy and durable and easy to wash off if they got dirty or sandy. And helpful since we played in pools a number of times!
While we had plenty of vans picking us up and dropping us off, it definitely made it easier to pack light and to be prepared to carry our own stuff quickly when needed. We also loved not needing to check any luggage on our smaller flights between cities.
Dan, 2 of our kids, and I each packed one of the 4 40L kids backapacking packs we own, and they worked great. Plenty of room for all our stuff and more, and worked within the personal item limit of airlines. (It’s technically a touch big for several, but we haven’t ever had an issue.) I love that the top part easily unbuckles if I need items in there to keep at my seat while the main part of the pack is in the overhead compartment. It also has a sleeve perfect for a laptop.
Then we had one child take their old school backpack (since we don’t own 5 of the 40L ones above, and this school backpack is super sturdy), our 6 year old took the 18L version of the backpacking backpack, and our 4 year old took the 12L version of the backpacking backpack. We obviously absolutely love those backpacks and love how durable, comfortable, and functional they are, and that there are sizes to work for every family member.
Since Dan packed our photography equipment + other electronics in his suitcase, it was tricky to fit all his clothing in his bag, as well, and we needed space for baby S’s packing cube as well as 4yo M’s packing cube (since we put the activities case in her backpack). So we decided to take one carry on suitcase with those 3 packing cubes, plus the lightweight travel bed for baby S.
We found we didn’t need much when out and about, especially since our tour guide company always had water available for us. Each day, we usually took our big camera, water/a few small snacks, our baby carrier, our stroller (if in an area where it made sense – mostly helpful for carrying our water and snacks!), and my beloved minimal diaper belt bag. I loved that it had room for diapers, a zipper pocket for wet wipes, a fold out changing pad, money slots, space for sunblock, and some small candies (for listening to our guide ;)). It was perfect! K also brought along her little belt bag to carry her Kids Kindle and some snacks (a couple of my boys just carried their Kindles in their pockets – they rarely leave their sides!).
