lrtayloe

Looking for recommendation for family of five first time travel to Egypt in December. Has anyone heard of royal egypt tours? travelled with gate 1 travel to egypt? or have a tour operator they would like to recommend for affordable travel to egypt that maximizes our experience over 9 or 10 days at Christmas. Thank you.

baba7

My husband an I are planning a trip to Egypt and Jordan for November. We will be using Eunice at MISR travel. Tell her Eleanor sent you. She has been great about answering my gazzilion questions. They are in NYC

sf7307

We, and many other Fodor's posters, used Lady Egypt, which is based in Cairo. We thought they were fantastic. I have no basis for comparison, but I'm told their price is quite a bit less than doing the same trip through a US-based operator. If you send me an email at [email protected] (my "public" email address), I can send you the details of our trip. Put "Fodor's" in the "re:" line. Our's was a custom and private tour for 6 people (2 adults and 4 young adults)

silverstar10

We are thinking of using Egypt Travel Experts (ask-aladdin.com). They have an excellant website - very informative. We have a quote of $2200.00/ea for 3 nights Cairo, 7 night Nile cruise, 2 days in El Shek, 1 night St Catherines and 1 night back in Cairo. All but the hotel in St Catherines is quoted as a five star. There are 13 of us going next year. I think it is a good price. Any thouhts or comments?

sf7307

silver, the first thing to do is ask WHAT hotels - 5* in Cairo is not necessarily the same thing as 5* in San Francisco (although there are some very very high-end hotels in Cairo, it's just that the 5* designation includes hotels that you might not consider 5*).

It's pretty unusual to do a 7-night Nile cruise --- most go for 4 days or 3 days, one direction only.

MissGreen

The price for my 25 day trip to Egypt and Jordan with a private guide with Lady Egypt was HALF the price quoted by travel brochures I read in Australia. I so prefer a private tour, I can go at my own pace - especially good if my husband or I get sick. I have booked through them after recommendations from other folks on this website.

P_M

Another vote for Lady Egypt. I took my Egypt/Jordan tour with Lady Egypt and it was great. They are very good at customizing a tour to suit your needs.

I have travelled to other countries with Gate 1 and I did enjoy those tours, however the schedules are very inflexible. Lady Egypt will get you exactly what you need.

QueScaisJe

We've travelled with GAP Adventures in Egypt and Jordan, and they were fine as long as you weren't expecting 5-star (or even 3- or 4-star) accommodations. Given the reasonable rates, we were pleased overall.

cd

P_M Another question for you. Who did you work with at Lady Egypt? We will be on a cruise and have two days in Alexandia. Thanks!

john61

I just came back from Egypt last week... I had booked most of our trip with Wedjat Tours... I also booked a desert camping trip with Minimar Tours... I cannot say enough good about Wedjat.. They were fantastic and took great care of us... Minimar, however.. I would avoid at all costs if I were you.. Minimar didnt do half of what they said they would do, and left us high and dry getting back to Cairo.. we were on our own getting back from Bahariyah..
By the way.. Egypt is a really great place, we hope to go again!

cd

Thanks John. Did you do the camel ride at the pryamids?

john61

we did not ride them at the pyramids.. but we did do a two day camping trip in the white desert on camels.. about 6 hours total on camels.. The desert is beautiful and the camping was fun. but looking back, I think about a half hour is good for a camel.. my backside is still sore!... and being abandond by the tour company (minimar) to find our own way back to Cairo soured it for us..

P_M

Hi cd, I made the mistake of booking thru an agency instead of directly with Lady Egypt. If I had booked directly w/Lady Egypt I could have eliminated the middleman and saved some bucks. I still have no regrets for using LE but if I am fortunate enough to return to Egypt I will book directly next time.

lrtayloe

Thank you ALL for your suggestions and advice for our family trip plans. I am so grateful to my fellow Fodorites, who have assisted me with so many wonderful vacations!

jcasale

In case you want one more response - we just returned from a trip to Egypt with Trafalgar and had a fabulous time. The itinerary was a bit hectic, but we did the shorter one (10 days which included travel days) which fit in my spring break. It was called Real Egypt. Our guide (Mohammed Attia) was fabulous and revised the itinerary to make it a little more manageable while still seeing everything. I would definitely use Trafalgar again if I wanted a tour.

Miquellee

I just got back from a five-night tour of Cairo and a cruise on the Nile from Aswan to Luxor, every aspect of the trip arranged by Egypt Travel Experts/Enjaz Tours. They were amazing. A rep was waiting for me the moment I stepped off the plane. He took me to my hotel and got me settled in. The next morning, he met me and introduced me to my guide to the Egyptian Museum and the pyramids. The next day, he met me and took me to the airport for my domestic flight to Aswan. Upon arrival, the Aswan team met me and introduced me to the guide who would spend the next three nights "waiting in the wings" on the cruise if I needed anything. The cruise was amazing. The food was delicious. Every time I had a question before I started my trip, I would email Enjaz and they responded immediately. I will recommend them to all my friends.