I'm going to Cairo for work, and will have from the evening of Nov 9 Nov 16 to travel. In my earlier post, I asked if it was possible to tour some Nile Valley sites and desert sites in the same 7 day tour. I've contacted two guides, and here are the itineraries they've come up with. Your opnions are much appreciated!!


<u>ITINERARY 1</u> <i>I will likely ask to have the Day 2 on the beach in Mersa Matrouh removed to shorten this by one day</i>

DAY 1; Alexandria, visit the Roman theatre, Catacombs pompey's pillar, Qaitbay Castle &amp; Montazah palace, turkish palace. Then transfer to Mersa Matrouh, overnight

DAY 2 ; Free day on our best Beaches, Overnight

DAY 3 ; Transfer to Siwa Oasis, discover the area, overnight.

DAY 4 ; Visit Amon Temple, Alexander temple, Cleopatra bath, Old Shali, Siwan houses, Climb the mountain of deads; Transfer back to Cairo, overnight train to Aswan

DAY 5 ; Aswan, visit High Dam ,Philae Temple, Cruise to visit Elephantine Island and Kitchner Island; sail towards Kom Ombo. Overnight on board.

DAY 6 ; Visit Greco Roman Temple of Kom Ombo. Visit Edfu temple. Overnight on boat.

DAY 7 ; Visit the East Bank of Luxor, Karnak temple. Overnight on board

DAY 8 ; Start early to visit West Bank of Luxor, The Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshepsut's Temple,Colossi of Memnon. Transfer to train station and Return back to Cairo.


<u>ITINERARY 2</u> <i>Not quite as specific as the first, sorry!</i>

If you want to spend 3 days in the desert that will leave you another 2 full days, assuming you start the program on the morning of the 10th since no visits are done in the evening.

I would suggest you start with the desert part, Bahariya and the White Desert for instance, then do the classical Fayoum (the city part not the desert); there are some &quot;minor&quot; pyramids as well as the old town of Karanis, all in a typically rural environment. Then you can do the Cairo visits: the Egyptian Museum and, Islamic sites in Cairo in one day, and Coptic Cairo with the synagogue (provided it is open) on
another.

Since you are going to Cairo to work I am assuming that you can see whatever you want in Cairo at your own leisure while you are working there . Right !

Then I would do Intinerary # 1

Percy

I won't have a ton of time during my work week to see Cairo. We're staying at the Mena House, so I imagine I'll get a chance to see the pyramids. I'll also likely get to the market. But other than that I'm not sure how much of Cairo I'll get to see. I'm coordinating a big conference, so it will probably be a crazy week!

Does this information change your recommendation?

Well In Cairo you should do:

1. The Cairo( Egyptian ) Museum

2. The Pyramids ( of course!)Sit on a camel here and have your picture taken with the Pyramids as a backdrop!

3. The El Khalil Bazaar

I would stilldo Itinerary #1

Have Fun
Percy

Percy is right - you need to allow at least 1 day (apart from what you might do during your work time), to make sure you have hit the major Cairo sites.

Since you mentioned the desert and the Nile valley - I would focus on those places. With the time constraint - if it were me, I would skip Alexandria.

If I remember correctly, I don't think you can make it to Siwa in 1 day (current Cairo folks - is this correct???), so an overnight somewhere along the Med coast would be needed. You need to make sure you understand how much time you are spending in a car/bus/whatever to get all the way to Siwa - it's a long way. Bahariya might be a better option.

I don't know what your budget is, but I would fly to Aswan and then fly back to Cairo. The train takes up a lot of time.

Just some thoughts.....

I think that you can't cram time in the desert, the Nile Cruise and see Cairo in 7 days. I think you'll have to settle for 2 of the 3.

Re: Itinerary 1.

I don't know what you told tour guide # 1, but I'd question a guide who came up with this plan. It doesn't seem very realistic. It crams a lot into a short period of time and I don't think the trip is well thought out.

First if you have limited time &amp; you want to do a Nile cruise &amp; the desert, I would skip Alexandria. I often recommend Alex, but under different circumstances. It doesn't sound like you told the guide that you want to spend a day on the beach? Again, it's nice, but not worth it iun the limited time you have.

If you went directly from Cairo to Siwa, it would take least 5 hours to Marsa Matruh where you could have a meal and walk around for an hour or two and at least another 3 hours to Siwa.

It will take a full day to get back to Cairo from Siwa. If you skipped Marsa Matruh you'd have 1 day in Cairo and a short part of a second day there. The beauty of Siwa is the desert and the laid back atmosphere of a town that's partially in the 21st century &amp; partially back a couple hundred years ago. You can take rides in the Great Sand Sea that are really cool. Frankly, I wouldn't drive all that way to spend less than a day &amp; a half there.

Oh wait, I just read that you'll not only drive back to Siwa, but get to Cairo in time for the overnight train. This is looking worse by the minute.

The Nile trip is the standard Nile trip. you could cut a day off it to get some more time for the desert and/or Cairo.

Regarding plan #2, a three day trip to that part of the Cairo is very doable. You'll get a taste of rural Egypt and then be out in the desert and also see some of the ancient things. You're not packing too many things in.

If I'm counting correctly, that will leave another 4 days for Cairo. In that time you can see the major sites plus there are other things you can do. There are pyramids at Sakhara, Memphis is interesting. There are some palaces that show royal life in the 100 years before the 1952 Revolution. There's a nice ceramics museum in Zamalek. And there are some interesting places to shop outside of the Khan al Kalili. There are some in the Khan, too, that are nice, and not the typical tourist type place.

With this scenario, you could sneak a day trip to Alexandria by train.

As I said, you'll have to make a choice.

Also, if you do choose to take the Nile trip, you can fly to &amp; back from your destinations if Egyptair has flights at decent hours. It will save you time. Try Egyptair.com for the flights.

You'll have a great time.

I want to know in #1 how you are supposed to get from Siwa to Aswan overnight. From Day 4 to Day 5 is a trip and a half. My best guess is you will lose a day there anyway, or no sleep.

the logistics/timing looked a bit off to me too.........

Paragraph # 3 in Intinerary #1 should say &quot;If you skipped Marsa Matruh you'd have 1 day in Siwa and a short part of a second day there&quot; and not &quot;If you skipped Marsa Matruh you'd have 1 day in Cairo and a short part of a second day there.&quot; Sorry.

And the first paragraph that discusses the trip to the desert should read: &quot;Regarding plan #2, a three day trip to that part of the desert is very doable&quot; and not &quot;Regarding plan #2, a three day trip to that part of the Cairo is very doable.&quot;

Sorry again

I asked a question recently about the Mena house and was told that in late Oct. they would be tearing out the pool and that the hotel would be poolless for 1 year. That info did not make me happy and since I am on a package tour can not really do anything about that.

I was at the Mena House again today and checked again about the pool. They are now saying the date to start the renovations is at the end of November.

So, circusliz, which one did you decide upon?

Unfortunately my work plans changed, and I am no longer able to take the week off following my event. Thanks for all of the help though!