Hi everyone,

Will be traveling to Egypt for the first time in April with Lady Egypt Tours. I have a 12 days total with 2 full in Cairo (1 day pyramids/1 day Egypt Museum and Coptic area) and 2 in Luxor while on a Nile cruise. I feel this is too little time in either city considering all there is to see. I can add one more day in either, which would be the better choice?

Thanks in advance for your input.
Elsa

HI Elsa - check your Nile Cruise itinerary - I think you'll find you're actually in Luxor just sleeping on the boat (our 4 night Aswan to Luxor cruise spent 2 nights in Luxor)......if that's the case then you could add a night back to Cairo.

I would add another day to Cairo, to include some of the mosques, the Citadel, and the Khan el Khalili bazaar.

Altho, saying that, I love Luxor and could spend several days there.

What does your tour include in Luxor? Is it the basic - V of Kings, V of Queens, Hatshepsut's Temple, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple? If so, those are the major sites. There are also some other interesting things to see (valley of the nobles, valley of the artisans, Luxor museum).

What does your itinerary look like?

Thanks for your input Elizabeth_S and Grcxx3.

My itinerary so far looks like this:

Cairo - 2 days/Giza, Sakkara, Pyramid of Zosser. Egyptian museum, Islamic and Coptic Cairo.

Aswan - 2 days/Philae Temple,bazaars.

Abu Simbel - 1 day

Nile Cruise - 4 days/Elephantine & Kitchner Islands, Kom Ombo,Edfu, Luxor (2 days/Karnack,Valley of Kings and Queens.

The itinerary is tailored with a private guide. The tour coordinator mentioned we may be "templed out" if we add another day in Luxor and suggested adding Sharm El Sheikh at the end. I'm not too crazy about the idea, I'd rather add an off the beatten path side trip or an extra day in Cairo or Luxor.

What do you think?.

Thanks a bunch!!!
Elsa

We used Lady Egypt for our Jan 2008 vacation. If your itinerary is similar, we had one night on the river boat in Luxor and one night in a hotel in Luxor. That was enough time to see the highlights and have a bit of time to explore on our own.

I would add a day in Aswan if that is an option.

Elsa - looks like we posted at exactly the same moment!

Double check the exact itinerary for the Aswan area. We were disappointed by Lady Egypt in this area. The Aswan felucca ride was nice, but we did not stop at the 2 islands you mention, just sailed past them. Our itinerary specifically said "visit" Elephantine & Kitchner Islands, but the guide said that did not include actually stopping there.

Kay5,

The itinerary indeed says "visiting" Elephantine and Kitchener Islands. Thanks for the input, I will definitely ask the operator about this. Was the rest of your trip ok with Lady Egypt? We're opting for their 3* hotels but I've done some reasearch on them through Tripadvisor.com and not the best reviewed, we're considering upgrading to 5*.

Thank you!!!

Elsa -

We did a combination of 4* and 5* hotels: Mena House (Cairo) for the first 2 nights, Sonesta St George (Luxor) and Nabila Hotel (Cairo) for the last 2 nights. We also went to Sharm and St Katherines, and a day trip to Alexandria.

Our cruise was on the Emilio Prestige. Which boat are you thinking about?

Overall we had a great trip. We are casual travelers and pretty low-key. Mena House was a tad "stuffy" for our taste. I would choose Le Meridian instead (we visited there because the ATM at Mena House was out of order).

The Emelio was exactly what I wanted for the cruise portion of the trip. Loved the huge window in our room!

Who are you working with to arrange the trip? I dealt with Amanda. She was very responsive and helpful, but once you are in Egypt you have no contact with her. Our Cairo rep was Paul - he was terrific! We had a few "bumps" along the way, but nothing that we couldn't overcome.

Kay,

We're dealing with Amanda as well, very helpfull and quick to respond. I'm glad to know they are a reputable company.

Thanks for your input on the hotels, will correspond with her and ask about your suggestions. We're pretty casual as well, not looking for luxury but rather clean, safe and central locations.

The Nile cruise is on board either the M/S Crowne Emperor or Empress. Went to their website and all looks good.

She gave us a choice of the Alexandria day trip or an optional to Dendra and Abydos?

Thank you so much for your feedback, it truly makes a difference!

Elsa

Hi Elsa -

Have they suggested the Nabila Hotel in Cairo? It was very nice and we loved being in a "normal" Cairo neighborhood. There is a full-size grocery store ("Metro Market&quot 2 blocks away, inexpensive Internet cafes (3 LE for 1/2 hr, approx 55 US cents), and quaint local restaurants within a few blocks. We ate a huge dinner for 2 for 12.5 LE ($2.25 US) nearby the hotel.

The day trip to Alexandria was a very long day: 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM. Interesting to see the agricultural areas en route, then the Roman influence in the city, enjoy the Mediterranean sea shore and eat seafood.

Lady Egypt contracts with independant guides at the different areas - they are not Lady Egypt employees. We were very happy with Ameer in Aswan/Luxor (he was onboard the cruise with us) and Khaled for Alexandria.

Be forewarned about tipping: everyone has their hand out for a tip! The rep who greets you at the airport, then the driver to the hotel, the porter, the bathroom attendant, the guide..... it never seems to end. Bring lots of US $1 bills.

just returned from private tour with lady egypt and amanda organized the program. she was great and has good instincts. I travel a lot and had been to egypt before. if you like temples, i might add the abydos/dendara day which is car caravan leaving luxor at 8 am, at least in the winter. we had a wonderful guide for luxor, aswan and abu simbel. we did noncruise program and stayed at five stars if you decided that route. if you like walking around, i would add a day to cairo and walk through islamic or downtown - be careful crossing the streets. we found lady egypt to be flexible and the guides will tailor to your liking and you can just pay for any additional entrance fees. finally, if you have an unlocked gsm phone, you can get egyptian sim card and exchange phone numbers with the guides and reps which was handy.

bonnie

bonnie