My friends and I are considering several places for a group vacation. We want somewhere warm, exciting, beautiful, interesting, and also fun. The caveat is that we have to go in February, which leaves most of European cities too cold. We are interested in Cairo but I don't know if this is too difficult of a place to visit for only 4 days. Any advice or opinions on this?
Looking for relaxation, culture, fun, in Cairo
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Most people visiting Cairo as part of their overall Egypt tour don't normally stay in Cairo for more than 4 days, so that should be plenty of time. Do you have in mind what you would do in Cairo? How about visiting one of the Red Sea resorts for some fun in the surf and sun ?
Cairo is not the first (or last!) place I would think of for relaxation....
It is a great place to visit for history/culture.
Well I guess we don't need relaxation really. We would like a wonderful experience that expands our minds and creates great memories. We are not really into going out, but we like to experience a new place and see beautiful sites. I guess we would not want to be too stressed while doing all of this though, to be honest. How far are the Red Sea resorts from Cairo? Thank you!!
Relaxing,,,,maybe not Cairo. We are in Cairo for 3 nights in February. The first full day we are touring/shopping at the Khan El Khalili Bazaar and Al Muizz street. The second day we are touring the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx and then The Egytian Museum (somewhere in there we are going on a camel ride). The next day we fly to Luxor to begin our Nile Cruise....then it is off the Sharm El Sheikah for a little r&r (....and snorkelling, climb Mt Siani and a evening Bedouin dinner). Have fun with your planning.
Well we're definitely going to Cairo now. Any advice? We're excited!!!
I think you'll have a great time in Cairo. With 4 days - you have plenty of time to see all the sights, shop, and enjoy the city without rushing. Yes, it's chaotic - but that's part of the fun! A sense of humor is a key ingredient to traveling in Egypt!
To make things easier on you, I would recommend getting a guide to take you to the sights. Debbie of Casual Cairo Detours (Casual_Cairo on this forum) may be able to help out. Her website is -
http://www.casualcairodetours.com/index.html
The Red Sea resorts (Sharm, Hurghada are the main ones) are a quick flight away, but I wouldn't try to fit that into your schedule unless you MUST have a beach component. There just isn't time.
hpluss1 - where are you coming from? (I ask because we suffered absolutely terrible jet lag coming from the W. Coast of the USA, so the first day was a complete loss -- fortunately, we had planned for that!).
My advice, hire a tour guide/driver -- do the Great Pyramids/Sphinx/Saqqara(sp?)/Memphis tour one day, city of Cairo another 1 or 1-1/2 days - Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo, Khan al Khalili market, Egyptian Museum.
Relaxing... I enjoyed relaxing by the Mena House Pool EVERY day!!! If I could click my heels like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, I'd be back there this instant!
ok great advice. thank you! we'll book a tour guide definitely. we're coming from east coast u.s. but we'll arrive at 11pm, so I think we'll just go to bed when we arrive, and sleep off our jet lag.
I went to Egypt last February and had a wonderful time. Stayed at the Mena House, so close to the Pyramids, in fact, climbed all the way up the ladder to the top, exhausting, but I loved it. Make sure to spend at least a half day at the Egyptian Musuem, I wish I did, we went straight to Tut's Floor, which was awesome, but had to leave to go onto the other sights, but as I was walking thru the museum, I just wanted to stay for a couple of hours, you'll love it. Buy your papyrus right outside of the museum, very cheap and authentic.
Sharm El Sheikh was so Beautiful, nothing like the rest of Egypt, like going to the islands, fish galore. We stayed at the Renaissance and just didn't want to leave. We were suppose to climb Mt. Sinai, but when we heard we leave at 11 at night get there at 2am, to start the climb, arrive around 4 or 5 to see sunrise, and then come down again, we decided to stay at the Renaissance and get much needed massages.
You'll love whatever you choose, though. I especially loved the Nasser River Cruise from Abu Simbel down to the Nile. We were on the Eugenie Ship, beautiful. I wasn't too happy with the Nile Cruise, 80% on the ship, including my husband, got sick. So don't eat salad, or have ice cubes, eat only cooked items if your going on the Nile Cruise. The Nasser cruise no one was sick though, and Abu Simbel, Unbelievable! A Must in my Books!