Egypt - private or group tour
 

My husband and I are having a hard time deciding if we should go with a private tour or group tour in Egypt/Jordan. We are not quite "group tour" type people, but I am slightly concerned about any safety issues. I have heard that on group tours, aside from the guide, there is also an armed guard around at all times? Not sure how true that is. For anyone who has used Lady Egypt (seems quite popular on this forum) or other private local companies, are you accompanied by a guide the entire time? This might be a dumb (/paranoid) question, but is he armed? I'm guessing there is no guard who comes along as well on private tours. I would appreciate reading your feedback on the safey issue while travelling privately with a guide. In our case, it would just be my husband and I.
Thank you!

We went with a group tour, Gap Adventures, and enjoyed it very much - although we're not usually tour group people. There was not an armed guard with us, although I've read that some companies have one. We felt COMPLETELY safe the entire trip. The guide (an Egyptian man in his early 30s) was with us most of the time, but we did have some time on our own. There are armed guards at all the tourist sights. Men stared at us, a lot - and made numerous comments to my daughter, plus numerous offers to buy her for camels. It was a bit intense, but never felt unsafe - not once. I think we'd have been a little intimidated to do it on our own, but I think it's definitely doable - especially with private guides. I cannot imagine that an armed guard would be necessary anywhere. There's always - in any city in the world - the possibility of a terrorist attack, but an armed guard isn't going to prevent that, and the likelihood of it happening to you on on a short visit is very unlikely. A pickpocket incident is more likely, but again, it could happen anywhere. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend going, either with or without a tour. To my knowledge, our guide did not carry a gun. I can't imagine that he did. Everything was very casual and comfortable. Egypt is wonderful. Check out my trip report (still in progress!) - "Karen and Julie's Egyptian escapades..." for more (much more!) info.
Karen

We went on a private tour with Lady Egypt - there were 6 of us, and we had a guide (unarmed) and driver in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. We had plenty of free time, too, though, and walked all over (downtown Cairo, Khan al Khalili market, the markets in Aswan and Luxor, downtown Luxor) and had absolutely no problems (other that the oft-mentioned vendors, who are annoying but harmless).

Thank you so much for the input received so far. I appreciate the reassurance. We thought we were totally set on our private tour to Egypt and Jordan, but once we told our families, both my parents and in-laws seem to be a little freaked out by our choice of countries to visit, which is something that really took my husband and I by surprise. I hate that we are rethinking our decision a little bit. We understand that there are always risks involved, but we do try to take calculated risks, and make informed decisions. I truly appreciate the feedback to help in our decision. Thanks!

We are definitely not group tour people and took a private tour organized by Ahmed Yousif Hamed (a guide/travel planner) who organizes private tours using Lady Egypt. We had a great time and never felt unsafe. Here's a link to my blog/trip report.

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...ards_2008_adv/

Click on Cairo and Nile Cruise on the right hand margin - Ahmed's contact info is there - also there are several other trip reports here from his satisfied customers.....

I should also say, as Elizabeth did, that we are NOT group tour people...I think I might have hated Egypt if I went on a group tour (I might hate EVERYPLACE on a group tour!!).

sf7303 - I break out in hives at the thought ;)

Elizabeth, I'm with you, or at least start sweating!!

I am also not a group tour guide but it is nice to have someone great you at the airport and help you out. I have gotten guides from the Fodors site for our last 3 trips and I am glad I did. I have contacted Ahmed and plan to use him when we go to Egypt Sept/Oct 2010. Elizabeths trip report is wonderful.Happy planning-Chris

Benecia, we had a guide the whole time we were in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor. But he was "our" guide -- there were six of us (us and our two children, one friend and one girlfriend), and we had our own 11-seater van, guide and driver. I just don't like tour buses or even tours with people other than my own group of travelers.

raingirl -

>>once we told our families, both my parents and in-laws seem to be a little freaked out by our choice of countries to visit, which is something that really took my husband and I by surprise. I hate that we are rethinking our decision a little bit<<

... I learned years ago not to tell friends or relatives till I return and rave about the experience and show them the outstanding photos. Nowadays my mom just rolls her eyes when I tell where I'm off to and accepts that as an adult I can make my own decisions.

We traveled to Egypt on an independent tour with our own guide/driver while in Cairo, spend time on our own in Cairo, and used boat guide while cruising the Nile. At no time did we ever feel unsafe. As above, there are guards everywhere (with weapons) even on the Nile boat and security for entry at sites.

Over the years, we've traveled to Kenya/Tanzania only 2/mo after the Embassy bombings in '98... always felt safe. Were off to South Africa 2/mo after 9/11. Years back were in London often when the IRA were setting off bombs regularly. Never stopped us. Personally, unless bombs are falling from the skies or the possibility of metal flying past my ears... I go. And, nowadays as we've all learned, there are few absolutely safe cities/countries - US, UK, Paris, Turkey, Bali, Thailand, etc. etc. (even your home town)... you just have to be smart travelers... aware of where you are traveling, surroundings, take precautions.

Egypt and Jordan are wonderful destinations.

Hi raingirl - just wanted to give you some imput from someone who went on a guided tour to Egypt with GCT. An armed guard was with us every day on our bus, boat, train etc. He walked around with us infrequently when we toured the sights. At no point did I ever feel we needed him. There were several occasions when my family and I walked around on our own and always felt safe. I know you with love Egypt.

I'll add that my daughter and I had never been tour group types before this trip (although I'd done a couple of group tours with my sister). DD and I thought we much preferred to do it on our own or with an individual guide. As it turned out, we really enjoyed the Gap tour. We also had a couple of days with just one guide (Debbie of Casual Cairo), which we also enjoyed very much. What was good for us regarding the group is that it enabled us to spend some time apart from each other with different people. As close as we are, being with your mom (and even for me being with my daughter) 24/7 can get to be a bit much. Our group was great - really nice people - and small enough that we didn't feel quite so much like a herd. So while I generally would prefer not to go with a group, we did enjoy it. I'd do it again - but only with a small group, never with one that's like 40 people or something. But I'll also do some more traveling on my own. I can enjoy it either way. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

Thank you all. I truly appreciate all of you sharing your personal experiences, and the great advice. We are going ahead with our planning, and sticking to our plan of a private tour. We always knew we didn't want to live our lives scared and paranoid just because of a handful of crazy people in this world ruining it for others, but I guess you could say we sorta hit a wall on this one, and had quite a few second thoughts. So thank you all, you have all been very kind; I'm sure it'll be an experience of a lifetime.
Happy travels!

I would also like to recommend using a private guide. We also used Ahmed Hamed Yousif. He planned our two week trip with great care. His knowledge and connections were outstanding. We were not part of a large or even a small group so we were able to do what we wanted, when we wanted and for how long we wanted. We recommend him without reservation. Ahmed Hamed Yousif's e-mail is [email protected]
Contact him and compare his prices and response time to other tours.

Hi Raingirl,
could you share your experience with your travel agent? We have reached out to a few travel agents for a private tours and are trying to compare prices/quotes. Thanks! [email protected]

Our family used Lady Egypt in late December for traveling in Egypt and Jordan and never had a concern for our safety. We traveled in a mini van type car with a driver and guide(unarmed) and never had any problems. I think that the bigger buses might use security as they stand out but Egypt is very safe and the people are very welcoming. Yes, there have been problems in the past but I don't recall anything since the problem with the German tourists many years ago.
We were VERY happy with both the price and the ability to plan our own trip with Lady Egypt.Do shop around if chosing a tour agency as the difference in prices is astounding for the very same trip.