Advice on upcoming Egypt trip
 

on again, off again, now ON again! June 10-21. We are two young 50s women traveling and want suggestions on where, what, etc. Will be in Cairo for 3 nights, plan to go to Luxor and Aswan. Debating Abu Simbel. Don't think time for much else. Have to be in Cairo last night so may do Cairo last. Not really interested in Nile cruise, but would enjoy feluca ride on Nile at some point.
Have read some posts and gotten a few suggestions for guides but would welcome any more. Don't know whether to go with one tour guide for entire trip or find someone in Cairo and again in Luxor and Aswan.
Any tips appreciated.

I used Lady Egypt for my trip and it was great. They are very good at customizing a trip to meet your needs and your budget.

If you only want a guide in Cairo please check out Casual Cairo. She is an American who has lived in Egypt for many years. She comes highly recommended from this and several other travel forums.

casualcairodetours.com

I would reconsider the Nile Cruise. It is really nothing like an cruise ship. Many of them are like floating middle class hotels. It is much more pleasant to cruise along slowly that to be a road passenger in Egypt. Our guide was on the ship with us although he ate his meals with the other guides and did not socialize with us on the ship. We did fly to Abu Simbal from Aswan-don't miss it. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I really advise you to let a good travel company make your hotel and other travel arrangements, we used STI Travel, an Egyptian company with an office in Hackensack, New Jwersey. Others here used Lady Egypt with good success. These
companies are well known in Egypt and will handle everything for you. Otherwise, you could waste a lot of time on details of travel and not enough on sightseeing.

Pat

t was one of the highlights of our trip. I really advise you to let a good travel company make your hotel and other travel arrangements, we used STI Travel, an Egyptian company with an office in Hackensack, New Jwersey. Others here used Lady Egypt with good success.
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In these uncertain times for a short tour.

www.affordabletours.com like Globus

with a group would be your best bet safety and cost wise

usually www.tucantravel.com good small group budget tours.

insuremytrip.com would be a must.

Good deals booking independently but travel on your own

a little riskier would choose top Hotels of quality

in Cairo and Luxor divide my time between the 2.

betterbidding.com otel.com booking.com

good booking sites for great deals for this.

Happy Journey either way remeber to monitor

consular advisories and registerv with your embassy.

Things are stabilizing there a bit but are by no means normal.

Abu Simbel was awesome, a highlight for us. The Nile Cruise was also a highlight, we were on the Sonesta St. George I boat for three nights (with only 7 other tourists) and it was fantastic. We debated about the cruise but are so glad we did it. Never felt confined like we thought we'd feel (we're not cruisers) and seeing the Nile from the ship was so relaxing and interesting. The food was fantastic! Well, everything about it was fantastic, honestly. We will definitely cruise the Nile again on a return trip, probably for four nights instead of 3 though.

We also loved our day trip to Sakkara and Dahshur outside of Cairo--we had the Red Pyramid pretty much to ourselves and seeing the countryside was fabulous. We used Ahmed Hamed Yousif ([email protected]) for our trip and he was beyond awesome! We couldn't have asked for a better trip.

Good luck with your planning. Egypt is a fabulous place to visit!

upgrade to five star in cairo, and i used luxorforyou.com for my other tours, there were great! ask for ahmed he will take care of all your details and add onto anything else u might want to do, i wanted to buy spices, and oils, he took me to some good places and what a bargain they were, so have fun ladies and take wipys and extra tissue with you.

It won't hurt to contact a few tour companies and see what they can do to arrange hotels and guides. Compare prices and accommodations, then decide. It's a great time to get a good deals and I agree with 5 star accommodations. FYI, I loved the Zamalek area in Cairo (we stayed at the Marriott) - lots of good restaurants, some shopping, nice tree lined streets.

We were there in January. I would spend the time extra in Luxor rather than Aswan - so much to see. Valley of the Nobles, Valley of the Queens. Nile cruise was the least interesting - most of the temples are rebuilds and not as old as other items. Abu Simbel was really fabulous, the sound and light show was the best we saw, and seeing at dawn was good too. But another time I would fly in and fly out the same day and spend the extra time elsewhere. The Nubian Museum was a highlight in Aswan, but interesting temples too.

Have to add my 2 cents about the cruise. Of all the experiences I've had in Egypt (and I've been there 7 times), the cruise is my favorite. There is something about floating down the Nile, seeing the sun rise and set, watching the birds and seeing the fishermen casting nets, the women washing pots, etc. If you absolutely cannot do that, DO take a long felucca ride, as it will give you a somewhat similar experience. Although I like Luxor far better than Aswan, the felucca rides in Aswan are superior. It's great to sail around Elephantine island. You can also walk on the island, through Lord Kitchener's botanical gardens, but given the choice I just do the sail. Peaceful gliding along the water. Ahh, wish I was there right now.