Egypt

Yes, the Giza pyramids are as extraordinary as the photographs suggest. Perhaps more so at dawn, when the city hasn't yet caught up with them. And yes, the Grand Egyptian Museum has finally given Tutankhamun's collection the home it always deserved. But Cairo is only the opening chapter.

The real Egypt reveals itself on the Nile. Drift the slow stretch between Luxor and Aswan on a traditional felucca or a private dahabiya, and the ancient world reassembles itself around you. Karnak and the Valley of the Kings at one end, the island temple of Philae and the desert's edge at the other.

Then Egypt surprises you entirely. The Red Sea coast is home to some of the most intact coral reefs in the world — the waters off Marsa Alam and the Sinai are a diver's quiet obsession, far removed from the resort strips. Further west, the surreal white-and-ochre rock formations of the Western Desert feel like another planet altogether. Vast, silent, and almost entirely overlooked.

The longest river on earth has been inspiring travellers for thousands of years. Explore our articles about Egypt to find your place in a story that will stay with you just as long.