Ash2012

I am finalizing my short trip to Egypt and would appreciate your thoughts. I will be there for 3 full days, arriving in Cairo at 6:00pm, three days, and flying out the next moring at 4am. So far, this is my plan.
I will arrive go through customs and get my visa. (I plan on hiring an airport transfer service so I can work out these plans before hand) Since I am interested in visiting Luor I am looking at going from the airport to get diner then to the train station for the overnight train to Luxor. Once I arrive there in the morning my guide for the day will pick me up and I will see the sights and be droped off back at the train station for a return train to Cairo that night. The second day will be spent in Cairo where I have a guide that will take me to see the pyramids of Giza, to the local market, museum, and around the city. Then for my last full day I was thinking about taking a taxi to Ain Sukhna for a day trip because I would really like to snorkel in the Red Sea and relax on the beach. In the evening I will hire a taxi back from Ain Sukhna to the airport to check in for my flight.

What do you think about this plan? I know it is a lot for 3 days, but I was hoping that if I planned it right it wouldn't be a problem. I am a female travelign solo and I don't know the language, which is why I will be hiring guides. Also I decided to add on the vist to Ain Sukhna after I kept hearing how amazing snorkeling and dving in the Red Sea can be and since I will not have time to travel to Sharm or Dahab I found out that Ain Sukhna is a good alternative for a short get away from Cairo.

A few more things. I am really interested in getting a moroccan bath where they cover you in clay and everything. Any recommendations on places to have this done? What about a Nile cruise or a show with belly dancers and dervish? Also when would you suggest fitting this in? I was thinking after the airport my first night (there are train leaving for luxor every hour, 8, 9, 10, and 11:15pm) and maybe my last night after I get back from Ain Sukhna but before going to the airport.

Thank you for any help!

Casual_Cairo

WOW! I hope you are in your 20's or 30's to maintain a schedule like that. It would kill anyone else. LOL

Here are my thoughts about the challenges you will face if you try this like this:

1 - There are NOT trains that leave every hour to Luxor as you say. If there are, they are NOT all first class and they will not allow a foreigner to purchase a ticket on them. If they are not first class, you also might not arrive in Luxor for some time after you need to....certainly NOT the next morning.
2 - IF your inbound flight arrives on time, your best bet would be to have a ticket on the Sleeping Train purchased in advance so you could just get on that train, but even with an on-time arrival at 6 p.m. you probably won't be out of the airport until 7 at the earliest and managing with traffic to get to Ramses Train station by 8 to catch that train would be nearly impossible. Certainly there is NO time for dinner, but IF you did manage it, there is dinner served on the train.
3 - Consider spending the first night in Cairo and doing your Cairo tours the next day. Then that night taking the train to Luxor. This gives you the luxury of buying a ticket for the train you want to take and being sure you get on that train. Come back the next night and be picked up at the train station (it arrives VERY early)for a drive out to Ain Sukhna if that is really on your radar of something you think is most important for you. If you do it your way, you arrive back in Cairo so early that you will sit around and wait 2-3 hours until sites open up.
4 - You will need to hire a private driver to take you to Ain Sukhna. Don't think you are going to hire a taxi one way and find another one out there that will bring you back when you want to come. You need to hire a driver for the full day to take you there, wait for you, and bring you back. If you come back in the evening, he could take you directly to the airport to wait for your 4 a.m. flight, OR to a hotel near by to clean up, rest and then use their transport to the airport.
5 - I don't mean to be pesimistic about your plan, but I think Ain Sukhna will be a HUGE disappointment to you if you are going for snorkeling. It is too close to the Suez Canal and there are several ships carrying oil through that area. While Ain Sukhna is lovely to look at, it is not a place I want to go swimming in the sea very much. There is no coral there, or much to look at.
6 - Going to the Whirling Dervish Show is a possibility, even if you can't get to a hotel to clean up for the show (no one will care if you have sand in your shorts from being out at Ain Sukhna all day) on your last day, providing that final day is on a Saturday or Wednesday. Depending on when you are planning this trip, they may dance on Monday too.
If you want to see a Belly Dancer, you will need to clean up and put on better clothes probably for a Nile Dinner Cruise (the only belly dance show that starts before midnight). I guess you could maybe plan to do this, but it could be difficult if you stay out at Ain Sukhna too late.

I don't know where you are coming from for this trip, or where you go to after Egypt, but if you can spend more time here, it would be MUCH better considering everything you think you want to do.

Good luck.

sf7307

I'm curious where you're arriving from. When we came from the West Coast of the US, we lost our entire first day in Cairo (planned, fortunately) to jet lag.

Also, since you're flying into Cairo anyway, why not just fly to Luxor? (or CC, is that not possible at night?)

BTW, I'm exhausted just reading your itinerary, and I am NOT a "slow" traveler

geetika

I agree with Casual Cairo, spend the first day in Cairo and take the sleeper train down to Luxor the next night. And I'd seriously consider spending the last day in or around Cairo instead of going all the way to the Red Sea; besides, snorkeling in Ain Sukhna isn't too exciting. But Egypt's a fascinating country and you're sure to love your visit, short as it may be!

Casual_Cairo

sf7307 - Luxor is an International airport, so sure she could fly in there from some places, but that would mean having to get back down there for departure from Egypt, I suspect. Same problems, different day. If you are suggesting she fly via Egypt Air from Cairo, that is possible except for the chance that her inbound flight could be late - same issue if she plans to catch a plane. If the flight is late, she will have to move to Plan B. It would be wiser to go down the next night after seeing what she can of Cairo.

sf7307

<<<It would be wiser to go down the next night after seeing what she can of Cairo.>>>

Always -- anywhere in the world

dutyfree

Casual Cairo lives and works in Cairo so heed any and all information she shares with you!
We did a two week trip to Egypt two years ago and I cannot believe how much you are trying to stuff into three days there-seriously wonder about your itinerary.Personally I would dump the snorkeling part;possibly FLY to Luxor to save time and energy so you aren't doing all of this back tracking,etc.

Ash2012

Thanks everyone! I am flying in from Athens and I have already booked that particular flight and I also have my main return flight booked out of Cairo. I'll drop the snorkeling. I was going to include Luxor for the extra sights. I'm not sure when I'll be able to go back to Egypt, so I figured I'd try to see more. I don't want to get back home and think that I missed so many other things. I plan to explore around Cairo to see the little small things too. So, what about...arrive in Cairo on the 9th stay the night see the pyramids, market and museum the 10th, then take the night train to Luxor for the day on the 11th then take the night train back and then have the 12th as a day for small things like the Whilring Dervish show (it'll be a Saturday), maybe a moroccan bath, and other "local" things. That way I will be less woried about being delayed and missing my final flight.

Also could you help me figure out the train schedule? Like Casual Cairo said I might not beable to take certain trains, I've heard that but also that I could have my hotel or someone buy them for me or if I buy the tickets online I can take any train. I mentioned that the train leaves every hours because I was on https://enr.gov.eg/ticketing/public/smartSearch.jsf any ideas on what trains I can take that are not the sleeping compartments? You have to create an account to buy the tickets on the website and its letting me go all the way to the end, but it won't show dates past May 1st.Tthe latest train shows to be leaving Cairo at 11:15pm and arriving in Luxor at 9:00am. and its only LE94

Also I have been quoted $150 for a day tour of Luxor (both banks) this is a one-on-one tours because I am traveling solo with the guide and it includes pick up and drop off at the train station but all site entrance fees are extra. Does this sound like a right amount or is it too much?

Thanks again for all the help!

Casual_Cairo

Forget the Moroccan Bath. Do that somewhere, where you have time to relax and enjoy it. You will be too hurried, ergo stressed to really take advantage of it. If you want to try though, here is one that may be OK to try - www.larosespa.com

Pay little attention to what time the train schedules say they will arrive. Plan for Plan B in all cases if you are using the train as ANYTHING can happen to delay the train, and frequently does. If you are scheduling your time so tight that you'll be upset if you are late and have to miss something, DON'T.

$150 may be more than you HAVE to pay if you shop around. $150 is less than I charge. So given that info, I say you get what you pay for. If you are paying too little you will spend your time in Alabastor Factories (or other over priced souvenir shops) instead of at the sites. Of course you will see the sites, but you could spend more time there or see more sites.

You don't tell us, but it seems you are arriving in May. Be aware that Thursday is THE Worst day of the week to try to see so much of Cairo. Traffic is the worst. You can probably still do it, but in Egypt, plan for everything to take 3 times as long to do as it would in the USA or most of the civilized western world. This is because of the traffic and "insha'alla" (God Willing) factor.

You can have (maybe) some one from the hotel buy your train ticket for you, but the police can also forbid you from taking that train...and they won't be able to tell you why they aren't allowing you to not take the train, so you WILL NOT get your money back for the ticket, nor will you be in Luxor on time. It's best to buy a ticket yourself and not have to deal with that. Remember, even if you buy the ticket ON LINE and then get pulled off the train because it is "forbidden" for foreigners to ride that train, no one is going to understand your English enough for you to try to explain that you bought the ticket on line and they should not sell them on line if they don't want to allow you to use that ticket. If I didn't mention it before, keep in mind you enter the LFZ (Logic Free Zone) once in Egypt.

Again, good luck.

Casual_Cairo

Quick train story - a girl was here visiting and she wanted to take the first class day train to Luxor. They want tourists to take the first class night train or the Sleeping Train pretty much exclusively, but she got her ticket through a travel agency in town so they didn't know who they were selling the ticket to. She knew she might have trouble, so she bought an abayia and hejab to wear on the train and at the train station so she would not stand out as a foreigner. She got on the train just fine, but when the ticket man came along and checked her ticket, he clearly saw she was a forigner, and at the next stop 3 policemen got on the train and took seats surrounding her for the duration of the trip to Luxor. That was probably the best she could have hoped for. By the time they left Cairo they couldn't/wouldn't toss her off the train, so they escorted her instead.

Grcxx3

OMG - I'm exhausted just thinking about your plans!! So, for what they are worth, here are my thoughts....

- Glad to see you skipping Ahn Soukhna. LOVE the place. Have been there many times. But not where I would go for diving/snorkling. If you don't have time to do something in the Sharm area, skip it.

- Do you have the budget to fly to Luxor, rather than take the train? It IS possible to do Luxor on a LONG day trip. It's tiring, but it is do-able.

- To be honest (and I LOVE Luxor), with the short time you have I would focus your energies on Cairo. There is more than enough to keep you interested for 3 days. Yeah, you miss the Valley of the Kings/Queens, etc - but there is SOOOO much in Cairo itself.

Just my humble thought...............

dutyfree

One of the reasons why I went with a tour when we went to Egypt was it was next to impossible to buy tickets for the train and flights from out of the country.
If you haven't already done so, may I recommend that you contact Casual Cairo off this board and have her take you on various tours of Cairo and/or Luxor? Three days is not alot over there and you can easily spend the entire time doing Cairo or even go up to Alexandria for the day. The train to Luxor from the people we met was long,tiring and very boring! Everyone that we met in Luxor at our hotel mentioned to us that they had wished that they had taken the airplane there to save time and energy.
The Hotel Longchamps that Casual Cairo was gracious enough to share with me to stay at in Cairo was amazing and very safe.It is in a real neighborhood and the owner is from Germany (formally worked with Lufthansa airlines) and runs a top notch 3 star hotel with everything you would want.
Are you American and doing this as a last minute trip from a study abroad semester? If so-use your time and energy well.

geetika

Good you've decided to cut out Ahn Soukhna, spend that day seeing Coptic Cairo.

We took the "sleeping train" down to Aswan and then back to Cairo from Luxor, it was very comfortable and we had absolutely no problems at all. The dinner was basic, but we'd picked up some fruit from the market and were perfectly fine.