A few other comments:
* The pyramids at Saqqara & Dashur are worth visiting. Many tourists skip them but these were the first pyramids and you can see how they got better at pyramid building. Step Pyramid, Bent Pyramid, Red Pyramid

* We took a book that had illustrations of what the temples and sites looked like originally, or at least what they are thought to have looked like. This made a big difference in bringing things to life and literally helps you visualize when you are there. Everything looks brown and sand colored now but that was not the case originally. Of course, the inside of many tombs still reflect the amazing color.

* Go with at least a bit of ancient Egyptian history knowledge. Know that the pyramids are 4500(!) years old and that what you see at Luxor was built over 1000 years later. And then the temples you visit between Aswan and Luxor (Philae, Kom Ombu, Edfu Temple of Horus) are from yet another time. The amazing sites you see in Egypt are not just from one point in time, they were built in different periods/eras spread over 2000 years.