Cairo and traveling Egypt in December?
Oct 5th, 2009, 07:35 PM
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Cairo and traveling Egypt in December?
My mom just passed away this past weekend . I am wanting to not have Christmas at home this year as it would be too painful so was thinking that maybe this would be the year that our family(hubs,myself and two adult children) would go to Cairo for Christmas. Before I start running to the library,etc. I was hoping that someone could share their thoughts on a family trip at that time of the year,safety concerns,etc.Could we plan the whole thing ourselves or should we be looking for a packaged tour. Thanks for your help!
Oct 5th, 2009, 09:39 PM
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It is a fine time to come to Cairo. It will be BUSY with a capital B, but it can be done.
Cairo is safe....safer than most all European large cities.
You can do it yourself, but my advise would be to plan NOW and make ALL airline reservations as soon as possible. Do NOT plan to travel by train if you want it to be easy as the train is the hardest piece of transport to get tickets for during the Christmas season. The planes will be packed too.
It takes work to plan a trip like this, but it can be done. If you don't have the mindset to do it right now after the loss of your mom (My thoughts are with you on that) maybe buying a package tour would be fine. Package tours vs picking what you want to do and how you want to do it, are two different trips.
Have fun planning though.
Cairo is safe....safer than most all European large cities.
You can do it yourself, but my advise would be to plan NOW and make ALL airline reservations as soon as possible. Do NOT plan to travel by train if you want it to be easy as the train is the hardest piece of transport to get tickets for during the Christmas season. The planes will be packed too.
It takes work to plan a trip like this, but it can be done. If you don't have the mindset to do it right now after the loss of your mom (My thoughts are with you on that) maybe buying a package tour would be fine. Package tours vs picking what you want to do and how you want to do it, are two different trips.
Have fun planning though.
Oct 6th, 2009, 03:53 AM
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dutyfree - so sorry about your mother. Saw your thread about it, but didn't comment. My deepest sympathies.
I think you should go for it and Casual_Cairo is right about getting it all planned now or (and given the circumstances, this might be the best) go with a packaged tour.
I think you should go for it and Casual_Cairo is right about getting it all planned now or (and given the circumstances, this might be the best) go with a packaged tour.
Oct 6th, 2009, 04:54 AM
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So sorry about your loss and you have my deepest sympathies. Both Casual_Cairo and Grcxx3 know from what they speak with the former living in Cairo and the latter having spent a good number of years there.
Check for flights from your home city to CAI. Then consider a package, most of which consist of:
Day 1 -Arv. Cairo - o/n
Day 2 - Cairo - Giza plateau for pyramids, Sphrinx, visit Saqqare & Memphis - o/n
Day 3 - Cairo - Museum, Khan el Khalili Bazaar, Old Cairo - o/n
Day 4 - Fly to Aswan and onto Abu Simbel (for morning); flight back to Aswan where board Nile cruise boat - o/n boat
Day 5 - Cruise Nile north towards Luxor, visit temples along the way - o/n
Day 6 - Cruise Nile, arriving Luxor; east & west bank visits (Valley of Kings/Queens tombs, other) - o/n boat or Luxor Hotel
Day 7 - Luxor; visit Karnak & Luxor temples, musueum, souk - o/n here or fly to CAI - o/n
Day 8 - CAI - day for last minute shopping, sightseeing - homebound.
If time allows, before departing CAI at the beginning you can plan a visit to Alexandria.
Most any tour operator can provide the above - whether they're in-country or from your home country; just a matter of selecting the hotels and Nile cruise boat.
A search on this board will bring up names of numerous in-country operators others have used with success. If you're in the States, both Gate-1 and Isram get good reviews. You don't necessarily have to do a visit as a "group" of strangers, but rather you are your own group considered independent travel, thus in CAI you'd have private guide/driver for sightseeing. On the cruise boat you can, if budget allows, arrange a private guide to travel with, or use the guide provided by the boat. These guys/gals are very good and take a small group at the various sites and is included in price of the cruise.
You may want to contact Debbie of Casual_Cairo for sightseeing in Cairo, separate from the tour operator you select. She gets great reviews and seems to know everyone and everyone knows her... a special experience.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Check for flights from your home city to CAI. Then consider a package, most of which consist of:
Day 1 -Arv. Cairo - o/n
Day 2 - Cairo - Giza plateau for pyramids, Sphrinx, visit Saqqare & Memphis - o/n
Day 3 - Cairo - Museum, Khan el Khalili Bazaar, Old Cairo - o/n
Day 4 - Fly to Aswan and onto Abu Simbel (for morning); flight back to Aswan where board Nile cruise boat - o/n boat
Day 5 - Cruise Nile north towards Luxor, visit temples along the way - o/n
Day 6 - Cruise Nile, arriving Luxor; east & west bank visits (Valley of Kings/Queens tombs, other) - o/n boat or Luxor Hotel
Day 7 - Luxor; visit Karnak & Luxor temples, musueum, souk - o/n here or fly to CAI - o/n
Day 8 - CAI - day for last minute shopping, sightseeing - homebound.
If time allows, before departing CAI at the beginning you can plan a visit to Alexandria.
Most any tour operator can provide the above - whether they're in-country or from your home country; just a matter of selecting the hotels and Nile cruise boat.
A search on this board will bring up names of numerous in-country operators others have used with success. If you're in the States, both Gate-1 and Isram get good reviews. You don't necessarily have to do a visit as a "group" of strangers, but rather you are your own group considered independent travel, thus in CAI you'd have private guide/driver for sightseeing. On the cruise boat you can, if budget allows, arrange a private guide to travel with, or use the guide provided by the boat. These guys/gals are very good and take a small group at the various sites and is included in price of the cruise.
You may want to contact Debbie of Casual_Cairo for sightseeing in Cairo, separate from the tour operator you select. She gets great reviews and seems to know everyone and everyone knows her... a special experience.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Oct 6th, 2009, 07:56 AM
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My condolences for your loss.
December is a good time to visit Egypt weather wise. I visited Egypt last December for 15 days with my DH and 2 teenage children and found the weather very pleasant. We had the most memorable family time.
We planned the trip ourselves and used private tour guides for a couple of days in Cairo and 1 day in Luxor for the West Bank. Fortunately most things that I arranged worked out smoothly. I felt safe all the time and did not find the hassle that bad as it is described sometimes by other visitors.
My son summarized our trip in a journal which I already posted here. If you are interested, you can find it under my user name. Hopefully the report has some useful information for your planning.
Have a great time planning.
December is a good time to visit Egypt weather wise. I visited Egypt last December for 15 days with my DH and 2 teenage children and found the weather very pleasant. We had the most memorable family time.
We planned the trip ourselves and used private tour guides for a couple of days in Cairo and 1 day in Luxor for the West Bank. Fortunately most things that I arranged worked out smoothly. I felt safe all the time and did not find the hassle that bad as it is described sometimes by other visitors.
My son summarized our trip in a journal which I already posted here. If you are interested, you can find it under my user name. Hopefully the report has some useful information for your planning.
Have a great time planning.
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