My daughter and I are hoping to travel to Egypt in February 2010. We would like to go with a tour company, but which one? I have checked the internet and the number of tour companies is staggering. Do you have any suggestions as to which company or companies is more reliable, etc.?

Also, some tour companies route you by sleeper train south from Cairo, while others fly you. Which is better? Is the sleeper train safe?

Thanks!

INSIGHT offers many good tours.

INSIGHT tours are great Percy.. however they are SO expensive. My husband and I looked at a 14 day 5 star one, with all the regular inclusions, however, from this forum I found a company called Lady Egypt. I have not yet travelled so cannot give you the 100% lowdown but have already paid my deposit and I am very happy. With Lady Egypt, I have gotten a 5 star 15 day tour, with all the highlights, entrance fees, nile cruise, all breakfasts, some lunches and dinners, my own Egyptologist and a driver for HALF the price of a group tour.

Yukon, it's such a hard decision. I too wondered about them being reputable etc. but on this form many people have travelled with Lady Egypt and have found them to be wonderful. I think Lady Egypt Tours is just one subsiduary of their company. I also think they arrange a lot of ground tours for other international companies.

As I have said, I haven't travelled to Egypt yet, but from what I read on this board, the train toilets are a bit gruesome. From what I read here, I would not like to travel on the train due to that.

You'll be going to Egypt before me you lucky thing!!

I agree that Insight tours are too expensive. I looked at alot of different options and found Lady Egypt from these forum posts. I contacted them, and their package was about 45% less than group tours I will be traveling with LE on a private tour, I get to choose hotels, how long I want to spend in each place, etc. I thought of the train to save the cost of a hotel room, just the thought of need to use the washroom and the other negatives I read about the train make me want to take a flight, and that's what i will do. My trip isn't until late next year, so I can't tell anything about my experiences in Egypt.

Misr is a well respected Egyptian company that offers tours of various lengths and there price is reasonable. They can be found on the internet. I took Grand Circle Travel's 15 day tour and very much liked the itinerary and the cost is doable.Gate 1 is another company to look into.

MISR is actually the official Egyptian tour operator, last I heard.

If looking for companies Stateside, there is Gate-1 as mentioned (located in Phila suburb) or Isram Tours (in NYC), both reputable and good pricing.

We really enjoyed our tour with Gap. It was one of their "comfort" tours. It was still pretty moderately priced. Decent but not outstanding hotels. Very nice cruise boat - maybe not the most top of the line, but it ranked right up there with some of the best ones. Excellent tour guide. Good itinerary. Flight to Abu Simbel was included. I thought we got a lot of bang for the buck. We did the overnight train from Cairo to Aswan, and yes, it felt perfectly safe (and was a fun adventure).

And I went with my daughter, too, by the way. (Me - 52 at the time, daughter - 27). We had a fabulous time. My trip report (with more on Gap plus a link to my photos) is fairly near the top if you'd like to check it out. You can also search on Karen and Julie and it should come up.

We went to Egypt last April with Insight and we couldn't recommend them more highly. We didn't find them expensive, although I think we booked 2009 and now they may have increased prices, especially since travel is down internationally. Insight also is using a brand new ship for their Nile cruises which is fantastic. We wanted to go on the trip which was using the new ship, but at that time it wasn't finished yet, so we ended up on the Splendours of Egypt. I'm not sure if they still have the same trip. Ours was 11/12 days and did not include Alexandria, which was fine with us because it's a 3.5 hour bumpy trip both ways and since it is a summer destination for people in the Middle East is largely closed in the winter months. We didn't miss it, even if there is a new library. We had a 7 night cruise and I'm glad we did the entire 7 night one and not a shorter one as it is very hot and hard going sightseeing in Egypt and cruising the Nile every day was wonderful. It's also the best way to see more temples than by land. We stayed at the Marriott at Amalek in the Nile and loved it. I know other people who paid more than twice what we did and didn't get value for money. Insight took care of us and we highly recommend them. Also, we flew to Luxor, so avoided a long train ride. We also added on the flight to Abu Simbel which is worth every single penny. We also allowed an extra day both before and after our trip and that too was a great idea.

Yukon - what is your budget? I looked at a lot of tour operators before settling on one but it's hard to advise you without knowing your budget.

STI Travel in New Jersey has a very good reputation. They can customize a trip for you or you can go on one of their pre-set itineraries. I hope to use them in 2010.

Pat

Globus/Cosmos offer tours with two price levels. We used Cosmos and were very pleased. It was a little fast-paced but I like the fact that we visited Alexandria and El Alamin. Most of the people on the Cosmos tour were British and Australian--some had relatives who had died at El Alamin.

good idea

<<<We also allowed an extra day both before and after our trip and that too was a great idea.>>>

I don't care so much about the end of the trip, but absolutely allow a day at the beginning of the trip. We were so exhausted when we arrived (from the West Coast USA) that we pretty much slept the entire next day!

As for the trains, I agree it depends on your sense of adventure. Luxurious, they aren't. The bathrooms aren't as bad a 'gruesome', but they aren't too nice either. Still, we loved the trip, because we love train travel, and we preferred sleeping on the train to getting up in the middle of the night for a flight (trust me, at least one of our 6-member group would have missed the plane).

Please check out Lady Egypt, they will give you a lot for your money. They are also very flexible and can customize a tour for what you want to see most.

My husband and I are booked to travel on a Grand European Tours "Egypt and the Nile, departing on Jan 6, 2010. We traveled with Grand European in Turkey two years ago and had an excellent experience -- our first organized tour after years of independent travel. We were delighted with our traveling companions and the enormously knowledgeable guide.

GET is considered middle level, not budget, not luxury. We have purchased land only, in order to use frequent flyer miles. Not all tour companies offer a land only price; they say it has to do with the internal flight to Aswan from Cairo. I don't quite understand why this would be a problem, but apparently it is -- or they just want you to use their airline.

GET's prices seem more reasonable than many other companies I looked at... and less than others, like Gate 1. When I looked carefully at Gate 1, I found that all the specific sightseeing tours are extras. On GET the only extras (more money) are Abu Simbel, dinner cruise on Nile, and light show.

I know that other companies may provide more luxurious extras, but all seem to use the same basic itinerary. Our hotel in Cairo will be the Semiramis, which pleases me because we prefer to be downtown and not in Giza. It is a much nicer hotel than we would have booked on our own, but probably not as upscale as higher end tours provide.

Mainly, we are looking for quality in the tour leader and guide. All I can say is that the guide we had with us for the entire tour of Turkey was absolutely first rate. We couldn't have asked for more. My husband is a historian, so he has high standards.

We are actually heading to Cairo on Dec. 30 to give us extra time before the tour begins; we were not able to do this on our trip to Turkey and were frustrated not to have adequate time in Istanbul. So, this time we are giving ourselves six days before and two after the tour. We are currently trying to hire a private guide for two days in Cairo -- to show us sights not included on our tour itinerary.

Obviously, I can't yet evaluate our GET trip to Egypt, but I can tell you that we had a fine experience with this company -- certainly good enough to encourage us to rebook for this trip.
Good luck,
Nancy

Actually, I am getting my tour companies mixed up. I said Insight were expensive, sorry, I meant Scenictours... THEY were expensive. Double what I am now paying.

I can second STI. We used them in 2008 for a 12 day trip to Egypt + 4 day extension to Jordan. Had a first rate trip, loved everything. I thought the price was very reasonable (and included airfare both from JFK and also within Egypt & Jordan).

We loved OAT!

I have just returned home from my trip to Egypt which was planned by Lady Egypt. Their services were first class; and as a result I had the trip of my dreams. I am looking forward to going back to Egypt and will use their services again.