12 days in Egypt
 

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Egypt, and we will be there for 12 days in late February. We love ancient history and wildlife, and we don't care about beaches or shopping. Based on what I have read so far, it looks like an organized tour may be the best way to go, and we have not tried that before. Does anyone have any recommendations? We are looking for quality accommodations but don't need top of line and cost is a factor. I really want to avoid guides who try to steer us toward merchants.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

www.ladyegypt.com good personal experience in the past

licensed locals guides all have 4 year Egyptology degrees

In addition to main sights might also might consider adding

Petra in Jordan and St Catherines Mt. Sinai

if time and interest...amazing places

www.affordabletours.com other options

Globus good value right now 40% off also Trafalgar for budget.

Happy Hunting,

Thanks Qwovadis. Right now we are thinking about 3 nights Cairo, 2 nights Alexandria, 2 nights Luxur, 2 nights Nile cruise, 2 nights on sleeper train and 1 overnight desert safari. I have heard from Ramses travel, Emo tours and Egypt Magic, and have also emailed Delta Tours. If anyone has any knowledge of any of these groups please let me know. I will look into Lady Egypt as well. We are very excited about our trip!

Believe the shortest Nile cruise is 3/nts. of which 1/nt has you overnighting on the boat in Luxor or Aswan rather than at a hotel... so ask.

Make the trip yourself. You'll pay more for plane tickets, but will save some money when booking your own hotel through online bookings (short cut here: http://bit.ly/gBttAU). On sight you can go on sightseeing trips with hotel groups or on your won. You are not limited by any group, schedule or anything really, for that matter. In the end it should cost you a bit less, but you will see more, and get to know Egypt better.

Check out http://www.casualcairodetours.com/

Casual_Cairo, the owner, posts here frequently, giving advice and recommendations. She is an American who has lived in Cairo for over 10 years.

Thanks for the responses, I may follow Peter's advice and try to plan the trip myself. Here's what I'm thinking: arrive 4 am in Cairo on a Monday, spend that day and night in Cairo. Tuesday night, overnight train to Aswan. Two nights in Aswan, with a flight to Abu Simbel for day trip on Thursday. Friday to Monday, Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor. Then 2 nights in Luxor, 3 in Alexandria and last night in Cairo. Hopefully, we can line up local guides in the cities. Any thoughts? Is there enough to see and do in Alexandria to spend 3 nights there? We are also thinking about trying an overnight desert safari in place of one of those nights.

Most people do Alexandria as a day trip, and occasionally as an overnight. I would think 3 days would be way too long.

I think you have too much time in Alexandria and not enough time in Cairo. You need two full days in Cairo to see the main sights -- you are arriving at 4 a.m., from where? Do you really expect to do a whole day of sightseeing that day? (We arrived at 9:30 p.m. from California, and slept that night and the entire next day). Sure we could have gotten up and about, but we had planned a jet-lag recovery day, and we needed it!

Sf, you are right, we've decided to do only one night in Alex. The latest plan is to replace one of those nights with a night in Marina, to see Leukaspis. It looks like the best way to get there is by train from Alex. I think we will do it all without a tour operator and hire guides for the day. I have been quoted a price of $100/day for a Cairo guide who was recommended by a friend. Is that about right? Also, we want to go to Dahshur - any thoughts on how much time would be right to really get to know that site? Would also be interested in hearing from anyone who has been to Leukaspis and whether there is anything else interesting in that area. Thanks!

We are a group of 14 who have planned our own customized trip. We start Feb 17th in Cairo followed by a 4 night Nile cruise (including Abu-Simbel), Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh (with a day excursion to hike Mt Sinai), Petra and finally Amman. The point is that you can do it yourself with the aid of a reputable Egyptian travel agency. Have a wonderful trip. What you put into your adventure is what you will get out of it.

<<<(with a day excursion to hike Mt Sinai)>>>

Silverstar, I certainly hope that's a NIGHT excursion -- most people leave Sharm late (10 p.m.-ish) and drive to Mt. Sinai (about a 2 hour drive), then climb in time to see the sunRISE.

Choose a travel agency and get a tailor-made itinerary. Dahshur: I don't think you will need to spend more than a couple of hours there. We went inside the Red Pyramid and walked around the Bent Pyramid, which is not open for tours.

Yes, we are doing the sunset climb at Mt Sinai. Thanks for asking.

Redpanda:

My DH and I went to Egypt in February 2010. We had STI Travel in Hackensack, NJ customize a trip for us. I studied the trips outline on their website, added a couple additional places that we wanted to visit (Dashur and Abydos/Dendera)and contacted them for a quote. After a couple e-mails back and forth about hotels, we accepted the quote and all the arrangements were made. We had a wonderful time. In our case, we went on a cruise from Luxor to Aswan. I enjoyed it very much. During part of the trip, we were with another couple and for the rest of the trip we were the only ones with our guide. It was great. Have a good time!

Pat

silverstar10,

Are you going to be camping outdoor at the top of Sinai? That sounds really cool.

I did the sunrise climb in November. Got to the summit at around 4am and waited until 6:10am for the sun to make its appearance. It was windy and cold :) The dark sky in the early morning was lined with thousand of stars. It was gorgeous. It would have been great to be able to see the sunset also like you'll be doing. Have a great time.

Camping out on Mt. Sinai was always a highlight of the year for the Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts in Cairo. They would climb during the day, sleep overnight, and then get up and watch the sunrise.

re: price. I booked a private tour of Egypt & Jordan for 3 weeks with Lady Egypt which was nearly half the cost of the Scenic Tours version. It may be cheaper for you to book through an Egyptian company. I luckily found that out on here.

The tour company we are working with is Treasure Egypt Tours and Travel - specifically "Roauf", who came recommended via this forum. To date he has been both accommodating and professional. This is not a plug - make your own decision based on your contact with the various companies/tour operators. We also did reference checks.

Thanks for the suggestions! Has anyone been to el Alamein? We are thinking of visiting the war museum and cemeteries. Our cruise is with presidential, on the Nile admiral. We are also considering a horseback riding trip with recoub al sorat. We are really enjoying the trip planning!