Hello,

My family of 6 will be traveling to Cairo in two weeks and we have not made hotel accomodations yet. In searching the forums, it seems that some people prefer the Giza area, while others prefer staying in the heart of Cairo.

Wondered if you could tell me which is a more desirable location for a 5 night stay and why. Hubby likes the idea of looking at the pyramids in Giza but then it sounds like it is more difficult to find restaurants nearby. Would we have to travel by taxi to the city center to find restaurants?

Also, we are looking for a moderately priced hotel as we will need to secure 3 rooms. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Any additional input on the two areas would be helpful. I've got to get this trip booked!!!

Thanks,
Patti

What are the ages of everyone? Young children? Teenagers? Young adults?

While there is a lot of appeal in being able to look out to the pyramids, I'm not sure if any of the hotels in "viewing" distance would be considered moderately priced. But I am sure some of the other folks here will chime in if there is something.

The heart of Cairo is more accessible to the other sites (Coptic and Islamic area, museum, Khan el Khalili, Citadel) and certainly closer to more restaurants, but I would be a little hesitant if you have small children.

Can you give us a little more info on your traveling group, your expectations, your itinerary?

We stayed out at Giza, and I wouldn't do so again. The hotel was very nice, but since we were only spending one day touring in that direction, I would have preferred to be staying in the center of Cairo the rest of the time. Cabs to and from the center of town are not cheap (it's far -- about 45 minutes drive as I recall) so you probably won't want to do that too often.

Hmmm.......good to know about the 45 minute drive. I was wondering about that.

As far as more information about us, GRCxx3, we do not have small children in our group. The youngest is 19, the oldest is 53. With five nights devoted to Cairo, should we split our time between the two locations? If so, what should we specifically see in Cairo, and then what specifically in Giza.

We are going to hire a guide but I just want to make sure that we don't miss anything..

Thanks much,
Patti

Giza (across the river from the main city) is the pyramid area. So you have the 3 main pyramids and the Sphynx, and if that isn't enough - there is the Step Pyramid, the Red Pyramid, and the Bent Pyramids. But, all that might be a bit overkill - depending on your interests.

Cairo has all the other things I mentioned - the Egyptian Museum, Coptic Cairo (religious/Christian sites), Islamic Cairo (the main mosques tourists visit), the Citadel (fortress and mosque), and the shopping bazaar (Khan el Khalili). And a felucca ride on the Nile is also nice.

But....let me see if I have this straight.....you are leaving in 2 weeks, but you don't have a hotel booked, don't have a guide arranged, and you don't seem to have any plan as to what you're going to do during that time. Is that right?

Very honestly, while it is certainly possible to spend 5 days in Cairo, most visitors can see everything they want in 2 or 3 days.

Why aren't you visiting Luxor? The Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and Luxor and Karnak temples are wonderful. You don't have time for a Nile cruise, but you should have time for 2 days in Luxor, depending on your flights.

I know it sounds crazy, but this is a graduation present for my 22 year old daughter and she is dragging her feet on decision making. As of last night, we secured rooms at Le Meridien in Cairo and I have secured a guide which will take us on tours for 4 days. We are all good! Thanks for the list of things to do in each place. Daughter doesn't want to go on the overnight train to Luxor and flying is out of the budget, so we will pass on that.

Guide suggests we spend one day in Alexandria. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks much,
Patti

Alexandria was OK but I wouldn't go all the way up there again, personally.
Talk her into going down to Luxor. That's where the best stuff in Egypt is, and the museum there is lovely.
The Cairo pyramids are awesome, the boat very cool, and the Sphinx is great, but you can see them all in one day. The museum is another day, the other stuff another day after that, then you will be DONE with Cairo, trust me.
It's a huge, polluted, dirty city. Don't even THINK about trying to cross a street.
Taxis are cheap, all the hotels have restaurants, some several, you can also take the metro train, but your guide will probably drive you around.

<<<The Cairo pyramids are awesome, the boat very cool, and the Sphinx is great, but you can see them all in one day. The museum is another day, the other stuff another day after that, then you will be DONE with Cairo, trust me.>>>

Actually, you can do the museum and all the other stuff on the second day (unless you really want to spend an entire day at the museum, which would not interest me -- no museum would) -- point is, two days in Cairo is enough, and Luxor is great (the "best" thing IMHO that we saw in Egypt was Karnak Temple, followed by Valley of the Kings)

<<<It's a huge, polluted, dirty city. Don't even THINK about trying to cross a street.>>>

Well, you can cross the street, but you will have to dodge traffic to do so. What someone told me before we went was to attach ourselves to the nearest old person trying to cross, too. "not because people are deferential to old people, but because they didn't get old by being stupid" LOL!

Oh, I forgot to mention, if you're staying at Le Meridien Pyramids, the Tex-Mex restaurant in the hotel is quite good (go figure), and the Felfela stand next door (not the restaurant, the stand) is fabulous.