We're leaving on March 30 for the OAT trip, and I've read every relevant thread. Back in 2005 there was a little discussion of free time, with some folks saying there was none and others saying they found time to explore Cairo and Aswan on their own. Our Thailand trip with OAT was jam-packed, which was fine, but I know a bit more about Egypt and I want time for a walking tour of medieval Cairo on our own, and for the Tombs of the Nobles at Luxor. Our itinerary looks workable for that, with a free afternoon in Luxor and free time in Cairo at the end, but how closely will it resemble our actual days? We're on the 3-day cruise version, Luxor to Aswan.

Thanks in advance for any recent experiences you can share.

My main recommendation would be that you should communicate with your OAT trip leader. Even though OAT is a packaged tour, they will bend over backwards to try to accomodate special requests. If you have particular things you want to do on your own, you may need to choose what activity to skip. If you tell your tour leader what you want to do, he'll be able to help you figure out how to make it work -- perhaps by foregoing a scheduled activity and joining up with the group again for dinner.

Yes--you should have time on your own in Luxor and Cairo. Skip the optional Cairo tour and make your own plans. Your guide should be able to help you make any arrangements you want.
Our cruise was Luxor to Aswan--very enjoyable!

We just returned from this trip yesterday! Got stuck at JFK... In spite of US storm issues, we had a wonderful vacation.

There's not much free time in Luxor, and you'd have to be motivated to visit the tombs of the nobles, but you can do it. The OAT leaders seem nervous when you go off on your own, but if you're well prepared they relax, a little.

Bring a cell phone(quad GSM phone) and buy a traveler SIM chip at a phone store. Costs 50LE, the recharge card another 50LE. Will cover your whole trip and you can sms back home which is fun. Then you'll be able to call the trip leader if you get into any trouble, and they'll be happier if they can reach you.

The flight to Luxor is 0600 and you leave at 0400 for the airport, then visit Karnak and Luxor temples, have a felucca ride, then dinner. We were exhausted but exhilarated by the end of the day.

The next morning you leave before sunrise by motorboat and have breakfast and watch the sun come up. It's very peaceful. You'll visit a farm family's house. I wished I had brought a little gift-- they are very poor people. Maybe something edible--be sure it can't melt since they pile the luggage ON TOP of the buses.

Next you visit the Valley of Kings/Queens and that takes several hours. Then to lunch. You end up having about 3 hours on your own, which is hardly enough time to do much, and I guarantee you'll be tired. The tombs of the nobles are not close to town, you'll need to hire a taxi to take you out there. We considered it, but we were feeling "tombed out" by the end of the day.

We sat out at the hotel pool which was lovely, relaxing, and refreshing, and watched the hoopo birds on the lawn.

The Luxor by night carriage ride was the low point of the trip. We didn't get a good view of the lit temples, some of the horses were so thin and the men kept whipping them to make them gallop even after we asked them to stop. My daughter got really upset. They ride the caleches right through the souk, totally disruptive and dangerous to the other shoppers and vendors there. Made me feel like an overpampered traveler, and really uncomfortable. We did get a good view of the squalid back streets and a gory butcher shop. Totally missable. I can't believe OAT promotes that sort of behavior.

If you want to do the noble's tombs I'd recommend a short rest, then hire a taxi to take you to the tombs. Eat dinner out, skip the Luxor by night excursion, maybe check out the souk after dinner (bargain HARD offer 25-30% everything's overpriced here), then select a well fed horse for a caleche ride around the Luxor temple and back to the hotel. You'll need some time to pack in the evening, especially if you go ballooning the next morning.

They collect the luggage about 0830 leave for the Luxor museum, then have a discovery at the Luxor food market. You won't be in the souk or have time for extra shopping. Then you board the boat.

The Hathor is a LOVELY boat and you'll have a wonderful time. Was the best food and accomodation of the trip. Be sure you have some cash to buy something they toss up in Esna. It's hilarious fun and the small blankets are pretty.

You won't have any free time the first day in Cairo. I was unhappy with that day. We spent 2 rushed hours in the Egyptian museum then went for a very late lunch. It was 1500 by then, not enough time to go see anything else, and the Mena House closed the pool shortly after we got back there, so there was nothing to do. What a wasted day. We spent 90 min in a useless orientation meeting discussing the exact same stuff that's in your trip booklet. Wished we'd skipped it, taken a taxi/metro to the museum on our own and spent the whole morning there, then visited the Coptic sites.

You will have free time in Cairo at the end. You can't check into the hotel until 2pm, so the leader will arrange something for the group to do. She got us a cab to Mar Girgis, and we visited the Coptic museum, several churches, the Citadel and Mohammed Ali mosque, then went to Bab Zwayla, walked to the Khan Khalili bazaar, then went back to the hotel. We missed the home hosted dinner, but we had a great day.

There's no free time the next day with the pyramids.

The last day there's a lecture on Islam at 0800, then the optional tour of Islamic Cairo, lunch, then you are free in the afternoon. They don't visit the Coptic museum. We went to Alexandria for the day on the train and back, which was fun, although the weather was awful which prevented us from walking around town.

The catacombs are interesting, especially if you haven't seen the ones in Rome, the Roman theater and villa are missable if you've seen any others, the library is beautiful, and the National museum is very nice but has the same stuff we'd seen in all the others. Not sure I'd recommend that excursion. Would be nicer later in the year when the weather in Alexandria improves and you can walk along the Corniche and harbor.

In retrospect I think I would have gone BACK to the Egyptian museum the afternoon we arrived back in Cairo, gone to the home dinner, then done the Coptic museum/churches, and Islamic Cairo areas on my own the last day.

It's really easy to take taxis; just read the guide books and write down about what it should cost. I probably overpaid most of the time, but we're talking about 1-2$, not enough for me to quibble about. We enjoyed the Metro. We rode in the first car reserved for women and never had any issues. It's cheap, fast, and safer than the taxis. Get off at the Giza station for the pyramid hotels and take a taxi to the hotel. Just close your eyes and pretend you're on an amusement park ride...will be better for your blood pressure, I assure you, lol. Be careful crossing any street. They do NOT stop for pedestrians.

You might consider taking only carry on luggage on the way over. If we'd had to check luggage, we would have missed our LAXtoJFK flight due to 1,000+ people in line at LAX thanks to storm cancellations. Lots of luggage was delayed and one poor guy in the group never got his suitcase the whole trip. If you're traveling with somebody, cross pack a few clothes. No luggage got lost on the domestic Egypt flights, it was all in the international connections.

There were a couple disappointments and irritations of course, but our trip with OAT to Jordan and Egypt was wonderful and I would highly recommend it to anybody.

I traveled to Egypt with OAT in 2002. Yes, the guides were quite reluctant to let people go off on their own, as they are responsible for their safety. Since the early '90s, the US embassy in Egypt has required armed escorts for American groups in Egypt. They are usually low key and you may not even realize that they are there. Some of our travelers had issues with the fact that OAT had combined 3 groups into one trip, given their advertising of "no more than 16 travelers." The local guides decided to separate our groups' departures from the hotels, etc. by 5 minutes. That meant that the guards that had previously traveled by auto near our buses now had to be onboard with us.

That said, I never felt threatened while in Egypt, even so soon after 9/11 (this was March 2002.) The locals we met were friendly and welcoming, and even wanted their photos taken with us. There is some free time available, but I found that I usually needed to use it to rest. It will be hot by the end of March. It was already over 100 degrees in places in early March.

My wife and I traveled to Egypt with OAT last November. The weather was glorious and the trip, one of the best we've taken. I suppose that no trip is totally perfect and one can always find fault with something. But our November trip was as good as it gets, for us anyway.

Thank you all for the helpful info and advice. I'm ready!

We went with OAT in 2004 and it is our favorite trip so far and we've been overseas about 7 times. Our guide was marvelous and the food was all great but the food on the Hathor was exceptional! The vendors throwing their goods on the boat was wonderful! And I noticed what is one's person's treasure is another one's trash as we absolutely loved the ride in the carriages thru the Luxor marketplace on the way to the temple in the evening! It was exciting, exhilarating, and all the people walking the streets were very friendly. The Cairo Egyptian Museum was outstanding. Hope you have a marvelous time as we did!

Mowmow,

Thanks for your report. I appreciate the detail. No tour is perfect, so it's good to know beforehand what other people enjoyed and what they didn't.

I will be going with OAT but my schedule looks different. Did you do the three-day Nile cruise? I'm doing the four-day cruise so that may be the reason. we'll be flying in mid-afternoon to Aswan.

Did you go to Abu Simbel? If so, was it worthwhile?

Thanks.

Abu Simbel was included in our trip, but even as an option, I would definitely go. It was spectacular! We waited until the last moment to return to the bus, and were rewarded with photos of the monument without any tourists in view.

Hi, sorry it took so long for me to get back here...life's been busy.

Yes, we took the 3 night cruise --Jordan was a pre-trip. I chose that purposely because I took my 13 year old daughter and I thought the culture shock from US to Jordan would be a little less than straight to Egypt.

It worked out really well. She had a great time, was well behaved, and made great friends with the other group members. She's even talked to several of them on the phone since we've been home. They seemed to really enjoy her being along for the fun.

Do not go all the way to Egypt and miss Abu Simbel. It's an effort to get there, but worth it. Just stand in awe of the fact they were able to move it.

Of course no group tour will please everybody at every moment. Neither will a private family trip. Last spring we did a 4 generation vacation to the Grand Canyon. Try keeping everyone happy when the ages range from 12-90.

Bring your sense of humor and a little patience with you and you'll have a wonderful time. The OAT leaders really work hard to help you have a good experience in their country.

Thanks mowmow. What a nice trip for a 13-year-old. I will be missing Jordan and am very disappointed. OAT canceled because of "lack of interest," which really surprised me considering all the positive comments on that extension.

How many people were in your Jordan group?

That seems really weird. There were 29 in our two groups that shared the boat. One couple must have cancelled or rescheduled.

22 went on the pre-trip, and all but 11 stayed for Alexandria post-trip. Half of the pre-trippers missed the first day or two in Jordan because of flight cancellations the day we left (those tornados in the Midwest).

We did have a group of six who were traveling together and did the pre-trip but even without them it would have been enough for a group.

My only serious criticism of OAT is their customer service. They don't seem to know what they are talking about half of the time, and often can't answer basic questions.

They almost cancelled my pretrip to Turkey, and I went ballistic since that pretrip was the reason I chose the OAT tour over other operators. The pretrip ended up going with only 7 people; we then found out that one other main group couple had wanted to do the pretrip and was told there was no space!

Not sure how flexible you are on dates, but can they change you to a date when the Jordan extension is going? I'd be really disappointed too. Amman is a typical ugly cement building city, but Jerash is great, the Dead Sea was fun, and Petra incredible.

Although, if you miss it, I guess you'll just have to go back again...and maybe visit Jerusalem, too

<<My only serious criticism of OAT is their customer service. They don't seem to know what they are talking about half of the time, and often can't answer basic questions.>>

Mowmow, thanks for the info. I agree with your statement above. I think it's strange that the Jordan post-trip (4-day cruise) would be canceled for "lack of interest." It seems that there would be enough people interested when they combine the two groups.

I'm going to try again and hope to speak to someone knowledgeable.

Thanks.

<<Next you visit the Valley of Kings/Queens and that takes several hours. Then to lunch.>>

Do you enter the tombs? If yes, how difficult is it? stairs, air quality, etc.

The group leader purchased a ticket good for 3 tomb visits. She gave us a quick run down on which tombs were open, and briefly described each one's highlights and pointed which direction they were in. I'd done some research ahead of time so I had an idea of which ones I wanted to see.

They are all somewhat different. Some have a steep ramp down, some short, some stairs, some carved, some painted, some finished, others not.

Try out thebanmappingproject.com for an extensive look at what you'll see. There are plenty of other sites as well if you just search "valley of kings tombs".

Everyone took off in various directions and we all managed to see our tombs and be back at the appointed time and place.

There's no shade, I made use of my umbrella to provide some. Bring water, it's hot even in the morning. You can't take pictures inside the tombs. One German tourist who did got seriously shouted at for quite a while (deserved it). If you want to see King Tut's tomb you have to buy the extra ticket yourself at a separate window.

I thought I'd want to see more, but they are similar, and you'll see a couple more at the Valley of the Queens. You'll be "tombed out" after seeing 5 in one day.

Try to study up a little before you go, they'll be more interesting that way. The guides are not allowed to lecture in the tombs in order to keep people moving along, but it means you have no idea what you are looking at. Each tomb has a "worker" who will point out some things for some baksheesh though. Some were annoying, some very helpful. I tipped them accordingly.

One tomb we went into was crowded, hot, and humid; I realized we were behind a big tour group that was loitering. We made sure not to follow them into the next tomb.

A little folding hand held fan would have been nice to have. In one tomb in VOQ an enterprising "worker" was handing out pieces of cardboard then demanding baksheesh, lol.

Have fun!

<<In one tomb in VOQ an enterprising "worker" was handing out pieces of cardboard then demanding baksheesh, lol.>>

That is enterprising -- and funny.

Thanks for all the great info. I have been watching videos, any TV programs (saw one last week that showed a young Egyptian woman shopping in an enormous mall in Cairo) that come along and reading, but there are soooo many tombs. Thanks for the web site, I'll check that out. Agree on being "tombed out" after seeing five.

Great tip on the umbrella, I'll be sure to put that on my packing list.

One more question. You wrote that there are two OAT groups. I know each has its own leader, but do they travel together by bus to the sights? Or are they together only on the ship?

Thanks again.

When we took this trip there were 2 groups. Our trip included the Jordan pre-trip and the 2 groups we formed in Jordan were not the 2 groups we were in for the Egypt portion of the trip.
Each group had their own bus and remained as 2 separate groups during sightseeing trips. We did eat together and would arrive and depart for sightseeing at the same time.

We also had two groups in Jordan and two in Egypt. The "airport greeter" in Cairo was a lame individual and tried to change our groups, but we ignored him and stayed in the groups we had formed in Jordan. There was a group of friends traveling together. The leaders sorted it all out to everybody's satisfaction.

Each group had its own leader and traveled in their own bus, but we saw each other at meals and were together on the boat. Our group usually left a few minutes ahead of the other group for everything.

I have to credit a Chinese tour guide I saw in Pergamum for the umbrella idea. I was wilting in the sun and she had this lovely parasol and was translating in its shade. I got some funny looks in Egypt with my umbrella until they realized that I was much cooler than they were!

The huge mall is called STARS and the group went there when we returned to Cairo since we couldn't check into the hotel yet. Your itinerary may differ. We took off and did the Coptic and Islamic sites instead. The other group members liked the mall, and did some shopping.

I was in an Alexandria OAT Pre-trip group of 10 which arrived March 7, 2007. Four days later we were joined by 4 others in Cairo to form "our group" during this trip which included a 4-night Aswan to Luxor Nile Cruise. Sadly I did not go on the Post-trip to Jordan -- not for lack of interest, but basically for lack of time and money.

Only 4 from our group of 14 went on to Jordan and while they initially expressed misgivings about joining the unknown "other" group, I'm sure they were not sorry they went. Our group just happened to be an especially fun group of people.
I enjoyed the Nile cruise immensely and was glad it was 4 nights and not 3. Going the opposite direction from Luxor to Aswan requires a 30-mile minbus trip from Luxor to Esna rather than cruising, so I was happy for the extra night on the boat. Plus I enjoyed the experience of going through the Esna Locks, which I think you miss if you're boarding the cruise in Esna. But again, I only know from my own experience.

I signed up for the Spiritual Cairo, Sound and Light at the Giza Pyramids, Luxor by Night, and Abu Simbel. I omitted the H.A. Balloon Ride in Luxor because I'd already had a pleasant experience in northern California - besides, one had to get at up 3:30 AM! for that option. (In retrospect, that morning was very hazy and the view couldn't have been THAT great in a basket with 24 people. Plus one of the baskets that AM - not OAT's - tipped over upon landing and several travellers were injured - a couple breaking legs...)

I especially liked the Spiritual Cairo and Abu Simbel options. The Giza Sound and Light was repetitive, considering a Sound and Light IS included at the Philae Temple in Luxor. I also didn't care for the Luxor by Night carriage ride - picture a lively, but extremely narrow crowded street of the local market, that has adults and children alike making way so that a caravan of tourist carriages can make its way through with locals and tourists gawking at each other... Then the caravan clip-clopped its way through dark neighborhoods where young children chased the carriages so dangerously close, I thought they would be trampled. Just not one of my favorite memories, and definitely not romantic...

A comment about food. I usually discourage my family from visiting any U.S. fastfood places when travelling abroad - essentially, what's the point of going overseas? But on this trip I laugh, because after 2 wks I got so tired of typical Egyptian food (not that it wasn't good... and the cruise cuisine is wonderful...) that I made a comment in Luxor about "a Big Mac would sure taste good right now" and before I knew it, a bunch of us seniors were traipsing over to McD's at 10 PM...

But, more to the point of your question (though you will be on your trip when this reply is posted) I found there was definitely free time that I could have used to explore more, but that I used to relax -- in my room or by the pool. This OAT trip to Egypt is crammed with SO MUCH that I often felt I couldn't do any more. And too, the time, weather, food and cultural adjustments take a toll -- even if you ARE physically fit. Our "free time" on the last day in Cairo (Heliopolis) was hampered by extreme winds and hazy dark skies -- everyone seemed too mentally beat after our wonderful experience to battle the streets of Cairo again. Also, from photos I've taken, the Tombs of the Nobels (which are in Aswan, not Luxor) require a LONG diagonal climb up a staircase in the sand leading from the ferry landing. Maybe next time...

Oh yes, one more thing, my cabinmate brought an International Blackberry -- it worked fine until Aswan - midway through the trip - where the screen came up all Arabic! - it had downloaded from the local network instead of the international one -- not correctable until she returned home...

All in all, one of the best trips I've ever taken. I regret being so foolishly anxious about traveling in this part of the world. I always felt safe...