Can anyone recommend a good tour agency for a family vacation in Egypt?

There are lots of tour companies that can help you with a trip to Egypt. The main agencies that people here seem to like are Lady Egypt and Casual Cairo Detours. But there are lots of others.

http://www.ladyegypt.com/index.php

http://www.casualcairodetours.com/

I have no personal touring experience with either of the above, but I spent some time (over a lovely lunch) with Debbie of Casual Cairo Detours.

We highly recommend Ahmed Hamed Yousif, an independent travel planner/guide based in Cairo - he arranged an outstanding 17 day Jordan/Egypt trip for us in 2008. His contact info is

[email protected]

And here is a link to our blog - navigate on the right hand margin for Cairo and the Nile Portion

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...8_adv/b_cairo/

Giving you my vote (big time) for Lady Egypt tours!

I arranged a family trip 3 years ago with Egypt Online Tours ([email protected]) and they were wonderful. I had to work around spring break dates for my 2 kids which made our travel dates very specific. My mom also came along so with 5 people of varying ages we had various ages, interests, and energy levels. One thing I was a bit concerned about at the time and found out was a normal business practice in Egypt is that the tour company did not want any deposit before we arrived. They wanted us to pay them in cash upon arrival. I actually called the consulate to ask about that. Have a wonderful time!

I'll vote with Elizabeth on Ahmed Hamed Yousif. Our month long trip to Egypt was 2 years in the planning. I chose Ahmed mostly ecause of Elizabeths report-but then read many after and knew I had made the right choice. The whole trip went smoothly-even though we only saw him the first 2 days of our tip it was as though he was with us the whole way. When my husband left clotes hanging in Cairo Marriott-he kept calling and had them package them us when we would be back in 2 weeks. When I bought gifts in Cairo he went back to the store to pick up an item and kept the rest of my gifts until our final night. We took him to dinner ur last night in Cairo and felt like we were leaving a dear friend. Sorry I'm so bad about my trip report but when you read other Fororite reports one feels intimidated. Chris

My advice is to carefully consider several agencies. Work out your priorities as far as sightseeing and a cruise and then contact the potential providers. Also, ask upfront about acceptable methods of payment. Many, if not most, do not accept credit cards. Do you want to wire large deposits and then arrive with large amounts of cash?

I recommend STI Travel in New Jersey.

Pat

There certainly are agencies that take credit cards in Egypt, and there are others that require no payment until your tour is complete. I suggest picking Egyptian agencies and keeping your tourist dollars/pounds in Egypt if you can.

Thank you all