Egypt and Petra
 

I am in the early stages of planning a trip that covers both Egypt and Petra, Jordan in June 2004. Do you have any advise or insights on how to go about doing this? The plan is to spend 3 nights in Cairo, 3n/4d Nile cruise and 1 night in Petra. For Fodorites who have done this trip, what would you do differently knowing what you know now?

We cancelled our portion to Egypt because of security issues, but absolutely LOVED Petra. It is truly amazing.

When you come around the corner and see the treasury you feel like you are in the movies, only better because you are really there.

We only spent one night, but wished we had spent 2 nights. Jordan as a whole is a most interesting country, the people are friendly and the most interesting and varied.

We flew in from Zurick.

We leave for Cairo March 4th, spending 3 nights there, then on to Amman. We plan to rent a car at the AMM airport, drive to Petra, spend 2 nights at the Petra Marriott (giving us one full day). Then a night at the Marriott Dead Sea & a night at the Marriott Amman (yes, we're Marriott fans).

Finally, we go to Bucharest for two nights with a 9 hour stopover in Istanbul that we'll use for a short day-trip.

Hertz tried to jack us around on the car rental rates in Jordan ($100 US a day) so we settled on Payless for one-third of that.

Let us know if you have any questions we might be able to answer or check on when we get there.

Dale & Kathy
Baton Rouge

dddick.at.bellsouth.net (obviously change it to "@")

We spent a week in Jordan earlier this year but have not visited Egypt so can't comment on how best to combine them.

I would include time in Amman from which you can visit Jerash (I was amazed by the extent of these ruins) and also the desert castles of the region.

Also agree that two nights in Petra is best - you'll want as full a day within the Rose City as possible.

We also enjoyed a short trip to see the orange-red sands of Wadi Rum though we didn't overnight there.

I'd completely skip Aqaba myself.

Thanks for the input everyone. Highly appreciated.
Regards.

I'd endorse what Kavey says: Jerash is a must and you will want AT LEAST two nights in Wadi Mousa (the village adjacent to Petra valley) so that you are able to spend an entire day - at the very least - there. Wide range of hotels (we stayed at Taybet Zaman, a converted village a little distance away and truly magical and later at the Panorama Hotel...a five star 200+ roomer overlooking the valley in which we were the sole guests)in the area to suit all tastes.

Wadi Rhum is a fair drive from Petra but if you're a fan of Lawrence, it's obligatory.

You didn't mention whether you're doing it alone or planning on using a tour operator: if the latter, Petra Tours looked after us and we can't praise them highly enough. It's certainly easier using the local operators and with the tourist industry there on its knees it's a great time to visit.

I actually live in Cairo, so let me give you some Cairo-tips!
June is hot, and crowded, so go see the Giza pyramids & Sphinx early in the morning before it gets too hot and crowded. Watch out for the camel/horseride folks, they over-price, so bargain hard. (If you horseride, I strongly suggest the Pyramids horseride, but better by night if there's a full-moon.)Not sure if your Nile cruise is in Cairo (I doubt, Cairo Nile cruises usually dont last longer than a dinner/lunch) - so it seems to me you're cruising in Luxor-Aswan. Now thats a mind-boggling amount of site-seeing. Its extremely hot as thats south of Egypt, so bring sun-screen, something to protect your head, and light colored clothes (carry lots of water). If its a cruise, then you have a set-program of things to see (usually the most important), and if you like it, you can always come back and do a road-trip version and see all the off-the-track sites. Most important thing, BARGAIN a lot when buying souvenirs. Dont drink tap water, and dont believe all that crap about safety, this is one of the safest countries I know. Enjoy your trip (by the way, Jordon Petra is also breath-taking, the dead-sea is a blast due to the fact that you float!)

We are considering the same trip in November. Check with Misr, they have Egypt packages with add-ons to Jordan.
www.misrtravel.org

we did same trip in april 02. except spent 2 nights in petra. in june it is going to be brutally hot. we had a great time.

To pgmargate: Did you do that trip with Misr? What did you think of that company?

To P M: WE TRAVELED INDEPENDENTLY. 3 NIGHTS CAIRO, CRUISE ASWAN- LUXOR, 2 NIGHTS O.W. PALACE, FLEW TO AMMAN WENT DIRECTLY TO PETRA 2 NIGHTS. WE HIRED A DRIVER TO TAKE US TO WADI RUM AND WE HIRED BEDOUIN GUIDE W/ 4 WHEEL DRIVE TO GO IN DESERT, WENT TO RUINS OF LAWERENCW OF ARABIA HOME. WAS GREAT HISTORY LESSON FOR OUR KIDS.