It’s late January and we are blessed with a sunny and warm winter day. I take my coat off in the courtyard and look up to the perfect blue sky. I curse inside a little for leaving my sunglasses in London. The main dining room is glowing under the sunshine streaming through the windows onto the beautiful flower composition and the neutral décor. I spy on the wines, and the excitement begins to build.

The room is empty while everyone is still downstairs enjoying slices of 2018 vintage jamón, which had interestingly been brought to the right temperature using a thermal blanket – a piece of equipment that they had just started using at Joselito. A profusion of pristine wheels of jamón flows through the room: the deep rose hues of the meat with layers of nutty, age-ripened acorn-fed fat promise and deliver luscious complexity. I see José Jr. serve himself again and again. “I would have thought that you are tired of it?” “Me? No. I eat jamón todos los días”, he proclaims with a confident smile.

This stunning aperitivo is completed by what seems like an endless supply of Salon 2013, poured from both magnums and standard bottles. It’s not every day that you get to taste the same champagne side by side from different formats.

Naturally, the wine shows differences, but I hadn’t expected them to be quite so striking. The magnum is beautifully open: rounded acidity, an elegant, fine mousse and a riper fruit profile. Ready, ready-ssimo — which is not a given for a Salon of this age. The standard bottle, on the other hand, almost feels like a different wine altogether: more aggressive mousse, greener tones, a slightly tart edge. Still more than drinkable, but clearly a champagne that would benefit from a few more years in the bottle.

The legendary Bittor rarely offers more than a few words. He is visibly uncomfortable in the limelight, yet he always welcomes visitors into the coveted temple that is his kitchen. Luckily, he has Mohamed, who somehow took over the social aspects of running the show (and even reactivated his Instagram account for the occasion). He is the curator of the epic wine list at the restaurant, and he is one of the few people left in the industry who chooses to keep wine affordable for the crowd of hedonistic repeat diners who, like me, regularly make their pilgrimage to Axpe to satisfy their thirst and protein cravings.

The seating plan has me at a lively table with friends — old and new. Lucky, once again. When the dance starts, a progression of dishes, both classics like the raw chorizo sandwich or the guisantes lágrima, and new creations made especially for the day, is served to us, paired with some of the most incredible wines out there. We sip on Lamy, Keller, Lachaux, Dominio del Águila, Tondonia, Mascarello… and more. On this day, I am grateful that I have quite the tolerance to alcohol.

Were we going to get angulas – baby eels? We wondered for much of the meal. Then the white, lidded chinaware they are always served in appears on the table, and we know. It was happening. Once again, we were about to eat the most delicious angulas in the world. Plump, delicate, coated in an invisible, almost magical layer of Joselito jamón fat. They felt like the ultimate luxury, and no one prepares them better than Bittor. They are in season, but not for much longer: overconsumption has put them at risk, and the Spanish government has stepped in to regulate them. They will likely disappear or become scarce and prohibitively expensive for a few years, while stocks are allowed to recover. We hedonistically drown any lingering guilt in the spectacular Viña Tondonia Blanco 2004 paired with the eels.

Spain had seen days of terrible weather, with snow disrupting supply. José Jr explained that the menu had to be adapted, but frankly everything was so outstanding that I cannot possibly imagine what else they had originally planned for us.

What I love about Etxebarri is that the pursuit of perfection allows for the occasional, tiny inconsistency that makes the meal more perfect, more real. Isn’t it more exciting to be surprised, to pause and dissect, to wonder, “Did I prefer this to last time — and why?”, rather than just passively eating? Consistency is one of the factors that guides lists like Michelin, and I can understand why. Yet, I can’t help thinking I wouldn’t want the same dish, executed in the same way, again and again. I want to taste the season, the weather, the human touch. I find so much beauty in the nuances.

A Catalan chef, discussing Basque cuisine, recently told me “In the Basque region, you just lift a rock and bam - you find something that you can throw on the grill and will taste good”. And it’s somewhat true. As opposed to cuisines from other parts of Spain, which tend to be more elaborate and recipe-driven, Basque cuisine is very much about great quality produce, occasionally cured or smoked, passed over the asador and finished, perhaps, with a collagen-rich sauce.

But not everything can be grilled the same way. Even within the same species, fish, meat and vegetables change throughout the year – with fat, protein and water content shifting with the seasons. Bittor does not grill everything the same way, and instead he personally developed special tools for his kitchen, like the perforated pan used to smoke the caviar and the special pan for the baby eels. The deeper understanding of produce and techniques is what has made Etxebarri the foodie mecca that it has become.

“En este tipo de cocina, todo está basado en el producto. Si el producto no es de primera, entonces la parrilla no hace milagros” – cit. Bittor in “The Art of Cooking with Fire | Bittor Arginzoniz & Etxebarri”, 2019.

No write-up of Etxebarri is complete without mentioning the desserts. The smoked milk ice cream with beetroot juice, widely considered one of the best desserts ever, and the warm chocolate soufflé with its gooey yet cloud-like molten centre are simply iconic. Neither overly sweet, both are luscious yet never feel too heavy, even at the end of a long meal. I love them both, but I’m Team Soufflé.

I found the food, overall, mediocre — with a few exceptions, which I mention below. But the historical sites are so singular and overwhelming that they more than compensate for any culinary disappointment. This is not a country you visit for flavour: it is one you visit for scale, cultural heritage, and astonishment.

At the end of this guide, I have included practical information unrelated to food. While this is not intended as a historical essay, it would be dishonest to say that “the sights are worth enduring the mediocre food” without explaining exactly which sights I mean.

Food

My greatest anxiety while planning this trip was cruise food. The prospect of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner out of a buffet for three consecutive days was terrifying. However, I must admit that food on board our cruise was surprisingly decent. They made a particular effort on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; afterwards, standards slipped back to “just fine”, but still entirely serviceable. There was no finesse and nothing memorable enough to write home about, but we were pleasantly surprised — and, crucially, never hungry.

Egyptian food is not especially varied, and repetition quickly sets in. Day after day, we encountered the same lineup: cold mezze, salads (tabbouleh, fattoush, and variations of these), hummus, tahini, babaganoush, kofta, grilled chicken or beef, and kebabs. These dishes differ little from their Middle Eastern or Levantine counterparts – sometimes only in spelling – so I will spare you a longer description.

Falafels (ta‘ameya): whilst you can find Lebanese-style falafel, Egyptian falafels are different. They are greener inside, and not because of herbs, but because they are made of fava beans, with less or no chickpeas. I tried these several times across the trip and the fact that none of them was skilfully deep fried may affect my judgement, but based on what I have experienced these are not better than classic Levantine falafels…

Balady bread: pretty ubiquitous, this pita-style bread has been delicious when served freshly made and still warm, or dry and tasteless when served cold or – worse – the next day.

Koshary: a national dish made with rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, and tomato sauce, finished with crispy fried onions. We also ate a more refined version at Khufu’s restaurant, which incorporated quail eggs, cherry tomatoes, coriander and crispy fried chickpeas.

Kishk almaz: a traditional dish made from fermented yoghurt thickened with flour or crushed wheat, slowly cooked into a tangy, creamy pudding and typically topped with deeply fried onions for richness and contrast.

Singary: a method of preparing fish, especially used in coastal areas. It involves butterflying the fish from the spine rather than the belly, and grilling it with a mixture of vegetables and spices (cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, black pepper). This method is typically applied to widely available local fish such as grey mullet, tilapia, mackerel or sea bass, and served with rice and salads. I ate grey mullet made in this style at Fish House in Luxor: the technique dries out the fish, and the spice mix – albeit very tasty – covers the natural taste of the fish, but this was a welcome change after three days of buffet on the cruise and introduced much needed variety to our diet.

Mu’ammar rice: this very indulgent dish is made by bathing rice in cream, ghee, and milk, then baking it slowly in the oven until every grain has absorbed its share of fat and flavour. Delicious next to slow cooked meat.

Mulukhiyah: a traditional soup, that I personally found horrendous. It’s a slimy, sticky, clear thickened broth with finely chopped jute (a plant, the same one used to make textiles and ropes, but the leaves and young shoots are edible). Even in Khufu’s, the closest thing the country has to fine dining, it was unappetising. All my European friends shared the same opinion as me, but some Asian friends did not mind this dish – as they are more used to slimy textures. Try at your own peril.

Karkadeh (hibiscus tea and something close to a national drink) was far better than I expected. Bright, tart, and lightly floral, it is usually sweetened and served either hot or cold. I much preferred the cold version, which was more refreshing.

At my resort in Luxor, breakfast included a superb karkadeh jam (alongside an equally good homemade date jam). Made from the same dried hibiscus petals used for the tea, it had a sharp, cranberry-like flavour that cut through the sugar. It was unfortunately not for sale, but it seems easily reproducible at home.

Fruits: fresh dates, strawberries and white fleshed guavas, when ripe, were utterly delicious. Friends who visited the country also enjoyed great mangoes, but I didn’t see any, other than in packed juices.

Desserts and pastries were unapologetically sweet and oddly interchangeable, all relying on the same quartet of honey, semolina, filo pastry, and nuts, merely reassembled into new shapes with identical results. The multitude of shapes and colours invited you to try several, each piece promising a new flavour and delivering the same one.

Wine: I had no idea that Egypt produced wine. For the column I have tried it, so you don’t have to, I ordered a local red — a Bobal-based wine from Omar Khayyam — largely out of curiosity and a sense of duty. I was prepared for disappointment and still found myself surprised. It was wildly fruit-forward, somehow both green and overripe at the same time, with alcohol and tannins that felt entirely unintegrated.

Coffee

I was genuinely appalled to discover that basic Nescafé — basic red-label, not even the better end of the range — is the dominant form of coffee across the country, including in five-star resorts. We did manage to find a decent cup at 30 North inside the GEM (they have several outlets – see here), and I know there are a handful of respectable speciality cafés in Cairo, but they are very much the exception.

I quickly realised that most places use the same all-purpose coffee machine, stocked with instant powder of heroic resilience. To make it drinkable, I developed a survival strategy: the machine’s so-called double espresso, topped up with extra hot water and fixed with two or three spoonfuls of hot chocolate, to mask the bitterness. This kept me functional through the week.

Restaurants

Cairo & Giza

• Khufu’s Restaurant – Nazlet El-Semman, Al Haram, Giza

Opened in 2022 as part of the Pier88 Group, Khufu’s Restaurant is led by executive chef Mostafa Seif, whose modern reinterpretations of Egyptian classics produced the best meal of our entire trip. The restaurant has earned several accolades and was most recently named best restaurant in the Middle East & North Africa on the 50 Best MENA 2026 list.

At the time of our visit, the clever menu began with four to six small cold mezze (the same selection for all guests), followed by a choice of six mains and two desserts. Savoury courses were accompanied by excellent bread: soft and fluffy, and quite addictive. The cooking focuses on cold mezze and slow-cooked meats, meaning many elements are prepared in advance, which makes the restaurant unusually well suited to both time-pressed tourists and unhurried diners.

We ate at Khufu’s twice over two days and worked our way through the whole menu. With the exception of the mulukhiyah (which, to be fair, was still the best version I encountered in Egypt), every dish was consistently balanced, deeply flavoured, and far more refined than anything else we ate on the trip.

Recommended by friends but not visited:

• Abou El Sid Restaurant – 157 26th of July Corridor, Mohammed Mazhar, Zamalek, Cairo

• Kababgy El Azhar Farahat – 7 White Nile - Gamayt Karmoti Sabkan, Mit Akaba, Agouza, Giza

• Zooba – The Grand Egyptian Museum, Kafr Nassar, Al Haram, Giza

Aswan

• Porto Sonu – Abu AR Rish Qebli, Aswan

You would not give this place a second glance. On Google Maps, it is labelled a “western restaurant” (it is not), and it looks thoroughly unremarkable. We were taken here for lunch by our tour guide and ended up loving it. We ordered kofta and kebabs from the menu and helped ourselves to an excellent spread of salads from the buffet, alongside endless rounds of warm bread. A casual local spot with solid, genuinely tasty food.

Luxor

• Fish House – Corniche el Nile, Luxor City, Luxor

A great little spot by the Nile, with a focus on fish, as the name suggests. This was the most distinctive meal we had, and while mezze were still present, the flavours leaned more boldly towards fragrant spices. We had good Singary-style grey mullet and very good mezze, but the standout was the tomato salad - unlike anything else we ate in Egypt. Dressed in a punchy sweet-and-sour, lemon and chilli sauce, it was so good we ordered seconds (and then some).

• el Tarboush – Khaled Ibn Al Walid, Gazirat Al Awameyah, Luxor

A Lebanese restaurant inside the Steigenberger Hotel, serving familiar staples — falafel, salads, mezze and kofta — in their Lebanese incarnation. The menu overlaps heavily with what you’ll find elsewhere, but the bread is exceptional and worth the visit on its own.

• Restaurant El-Kababgy Luxor – Kornish Al Nile, Luxor City, Luxor

We liked the salads here, but the meat-based dishes were not great. I would not recommend.

Recommended by friends but not visited:

• Sofra Restaurant & Cafè – Luxor City, 1362352, Luxor

• El Hussein Restaurant – Khaled Ibn Al Walid, Gazirat Al Awameyah, Luxor

My Itinerary

I travelled to Egypt during the Christmas break, and while this implies crowds and higher fares everywhere, the weather and temperatures are perfect for sightseeing, ranging from 10C at night to 26C during the day.

I spent a total of 8 days / 7 nights in Egypt: 2 nights in Giza, followed by a flight to Aswan for a 4-day / 3-night Nile cruise to Luxor, and finally 2 extra nights in Luxor. Luxor offers more to see and just slightly better dining options than Aswan, so I would recommend spending more time there if your schedule allows.

I also suggest starting in Giza and Cairo, then heading south to Aswan and Luxor. The temples and tombs in Upper Egypt are more colourful and monumental, and the cruise provides a smooth transition between sites.

At first, I hesitated about doing a Nile cruise, but it turned out to be an excellent decision. There is little advantage in organising the visits independently: all major attractions were included in our package, and the guide handled logistics and tickets in advance, saving time and queues.

Compared to staying in hotels, a cruise also avoids constant packing and unpacking, and hopping from one hotel to the next. The ship stays anchored in Aswan on the first night and Luxor on the last, while guests disembark for guided visits during the day. This also means you spend far less time being driven around, as the longest distances are covered by boat rather than by road.

Sites I visited

Giza

• Pyramids Complex & Great Sphynx: no photo of the Pyramids can do them justice. Unless you are claustrophobic, do visit the inner part of the Great Pyramid: it’s a unique glimpse at the internal architecture of these ancient buildings. Allocate one day.

• GEM (Great Egyptian Museum): don’t miss this, and do go with a guide. Allocate at least half a day for this.

Aswan

• High Dam: you can safely skip this unless you have a specific interest in large-scale engineering or modern infrastructure. It is historically significant for flood control and power generation, but architecturally unremarkable and less compelling than Egypt’s ancient sites.

• Unfinished Obelisk: interesting to hear the explanation of how these large structures were built before modern machinery existed, but the views are otherwise unremarkable.

• Philae Temple: a beautifully preserved island temple dedicated to Isis, reachable by small boat. We had a private boat as part of our tour.

• Nubian Village: see “Optional detours” below.

Kom Ombo

• Double temple dedicated to Sobek and Horus (Haeroris)

Edfu

• Temple of Horus: one of Egypt’s best-preserved temples, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, with towering pylons and richly carved reliefs.

Luxor

• Valley of the Kings (we visited three royal tombs): royal burial ground with decorated underground tombs, where many colours are still vividly preserved.

• Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut: a striking terraced temple set against limestone cliffs, built for Egypt’s most powerful female pharaoh.

• Colossi of Memnon: two massive seated statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, standing guard over what was once his vast mortuary temple.

• Hot air balloon ride over Luxor: see “Optional detours” below.

Optional detours

Nubian village: A vibrant and colourful community reachable by small boat or felucca. You can visit local homes, shop for spices and handicrafts, and even see pet crocodiles. We enjoyed this visit.

Abu Simbel: Some longer cruises include this stop, or it can be reached by road from Aswan. We skipped it because it would have meant over three hours of driving each way. It’s undoubtedly spectacular, but logistically it felt too demanding alongside the rest of our itinerary.

Hot air balloon ride over Luxor: Highly recommended, especially the sunrise flight. It is slightly more expensive than the later flight but far more rewarding in terms of light and colours. Book in advance. During high season (December 2025), prices varied significantly; the best offer we found was 3300 EGP for the sunrise flight and 2500 EGP for the second flight. Contact: Hot Air Balloon +20 111 1109080

Accommodation

A “five-star” rating in Egypt does not correspond to European standards, and photos are often more flattering than reality. That said, it is worth splurging on hotels and cruise ships, as comfort varies greatly and you will spend a fair amount of downtime there. We liked The Zen Wellness Resort in Aswan and Jolie Ville Hotel & Spa on Kings Island, Luxor.

Daily life and other tips

Expect to negotiate and to encounter inefficiency and poor communication. This can be frustrating, but the sights more than compensate for it.

Always reconfirm everything you book. Even after payment, attempts are sometimes made to raise prices.

That said, people genuinely want visitors to have a good experience. When problems arose (for example, a different cruise ship than the one booked or last-minute schedule changes), staff usually went out of their way to resolve them.

Communication with hotels and agencies can be slow, especially weeks or months in advance. WhatsApp is the main channel of communication; email is used less frequently, and phone calls are often unsuccessful due to language barriers. Our local guides were far more effective when calling using Egyptian numbers.

Hassling is widespread and can be extreme. In some places, even children swim out to boats to sell souvenirs or ask for tips. The best strategy is to ignore them and keep walking. Even our guide advised us not to engage, and not support this hassling culture, especially when it comes to young children.

You will find relief inside ticketed attractions and within resorts, which offer green areas, restaurants, and a break from street pressure.

Getting around

I have seen creative driving in southern Italy, but Egyptian driving is on another level. Despite this, it felt surprisingly safe: cars were rarely visibly damaged, suggesting a certain local logic to the chaos.

We always used pre-booked drivers through hotels or tour agencies. Even at five-star hotels, vehicles can be old and not particularly clean. Most drivers speak little or no English.

Friends who used Uber reported that drivers sometimes tried to negotiate a higher fare than shown in the app.

In Luxor, we found a reliable and honest English-speaking driver.

Contact: Ahmed +20 106 6919208

Pollution

Many cars are decades-old imports with Egyptian plates fitted over the original ones, traffic is heavy and air quality poor. Although security is high and tourist areas are well patrolled, I do not recommend walking around the urban areas because of pollution.

We cancelled our planned day in Cairo and spent an extra day at the pyramids instead, due to the visible pollution in the city and the intensity of street harassment. The enclosed Giza plateau offers respite from both once past the visitor centre and camel area.

Tour guides

I strongly recommend hiring guides rather than relying on audio guides. A knowledgeable local guide adds essential context and storytelling. Do ask for an Egyptologist. However, quality varies widely: two out of three of ours were poor, superficial, and frequently tired, which forced us to slow down and rush parts of the visits, when we would not have needed to.

One guide advertised as Italian-speaking had only basic language skills. Explanations sometimes contradicted one another, as each guide focused on different narratives or hieroglyphs.

If you need an Italian-speaking Egyptologist, I recommend: Mido +20 100 6428425

We used Sun Pyramids Group to book our cruise and all the tours that came with the package. Despite minor issues, they were professional and I would still recommend them.

Health and safety

Only drink bottled water and avoid ice, unless it’s made with filtered water.

Brush your teeth using bottled water (good hotels and cruise ships provide small bottles for this purpose).

Most sites are sandy and dusty. Wear comfortable layered clothing and washable shoes. You will often need to touch shared handles (for example inside pyramids), which can be unpleasant. Bring sanitising wipes or hand gel.

A few comments on airports

Cairo (domestic terminal): Limited food outlets and no Priority Pass lounge. Only the EgyptAir business-class lounge is available, which is basic and often overcrowded.

Luxor Airport: Priority Pass can be used to skip the departure queue, but you must write your name and passport number in a register twice. Mobile boarding passes are not accepted, so you must queue to print your boarding pass. Even business-class queues can be slow, so allow an extra 10–20 minutes.

Pearl Lounge First Class (Luxor): A staff member escorts you through the second security checkpoint. Wi-Fi (a hidden network) is unreliable, similar to the public airport network. Food is mainly local rather than international; pastries are similar to hotel breakfasts. Bottled water and packaged juices are provided — the guava juice is excellent. Coffee, though made with the same machines as elsewhere, was noticeably better here.