Egypt in Dec. Which Tour to take?
 

I am thinking of traveling to Egypt in December over Christmas, by myself. Would like to inclulde Alexandria and the major sights as well as the Nile byship. Any sugggestions on a tour operator? I would perfer a small group

Lady Egypt and Egypt Highlights, both in-country outfitters get good reviews. You can design your own itinerary, routing, sights, Nile cruise (or not), hotels.

For groups, consider OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel... avg age 50+, small groups of 16/pp max); or Gate 1 out of Penns, or Isram out of NYC.

If not located in the US, not familiar with operators in Europe or elsewhere.

I used Lady Egypt last December and it was great. I was also traveling alone and I thought the single supplement was reasonable. If you do not wish to pay the supplement they will match you with a roommate of your same gender.

One caution on a Nile Cruise in December. The Esna locks close in June and December for maintenance. If you are going during the closure, usually the first half of December, your itinerary could be disrupted with motor coach travel as opposed to river boat. We went with Grand Circle in November of 2001, and it was a fantastic trip. The River Anuket had a capacity of 140 passengers divided into groups of up to about 40. Grand Cirle's sister company Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) runs smaller group tours on the River Hathor with 32 passengers divided into 2 groups of 16 or less. We have traveled 8 times with Grand Circle and once with OAT, with another OAT booked and another planned. Obviously we are very satisfied with the company. They have a roommate matching program that can save single supplements, if you wish. In our many trips with them we have had very compatible groups with the single travelers mixing well with the couples. On our last trip, to Israel and Jordan, with OAT, we had 4 single women, 2 single men and 5 couples. We would be glad to answer any questions.

Jack and Ann

Another tour company good for singles is www.imaginative-traveller.com. We took them to Japan and we had a mix of singles and couples. They also do roomate sharing if you would like. They have a range of trips from very inexpensive to more exclusive. Our trip was well organized and a good balance between group and independent travel with lots of free time.

I took the OAT trip to Egypt last year and it was wonderful. On the four-day Nile cruise there were two groups of less than sixteen and most in the second group were in their 40s. Our group ranged from 40s - 70s, a mix of singles and couples, all active and interesting.

The larger grand circle group was there at the same time and I met a few people on the way home and they said they loved everything about the tour. OAT stays in more hotels than GC. We stayed in hotels in Aswan and Luxor while the GC travelers stayed on their boat.

Both OAT and Grand Circle have roommate matching or a reasonable single supplement if you prefer your own room/cabin. When I haven't traveled with a friend I've paid the supplement and I didn't find it unreasonable.

The OAT tour has a pre-trip extension to Alexandria and I enjoyed it very much. We rode by train from Cairo to Alex and stayed in a wonderful hotel overlooking the Mediterranean and enjoyed a leisurely tour of Alexandria before the busy main trip to Cairo, Aswan, Luxor and the Nile cruise.

Web sites if interested in OAT or Grand Circle:

www.oattravel.com
www.gct.com

If you should decide on OAT or GC you would get a $100 discount when registering if you give the name and number of a previous OAT or GC traveler. I'd be happy to provide my number if you don't have a family member or friend who has already traveled with the company. They, or I, would get a $100 referral credit after you return from the trip.

Jackandann, that's very odd becuase I was there in early December 2007 and I saw no such closure. But that is a good question to ask of the tour company. Maybe I got lucky and missed it. :-)