Hi All - I am considering an Egypt trip in September. I have a few trepidations about travelling to Egypt (mostly safety), but if I book through a reputable tour company which makes sure they take care of you on the other end when you land, I think I'll be ok. And it would be worth it to see the pyramids and travel down the Nile!

Any recommendations on reliable tour operators?

I am also considering combining this with a trip to Turkey or somewhere else in the region - would you recommend doing so and if so where? I will probably have 10 -14 days total. Thanks a bunch!

I went to Egypt in August, 2005 with a company called Trafalgar and the trip was fantastic from start to finish. we had tour guides for the entire trip and i felt very secure. My cousin and i did a tour with trafalgar for 10 days and it was so worth it. we stayed at the Mena House Oberoi in Giza, and it is a 5 star hotel whose security was great. The food was great and the Egyptian people are so welcoming. We flew on Egypt Air and their security is great and security was tight all througout the country.

There are a lot of reliable tour operators that go to Egypt - if you do the advanced search on "tour operator" and "guided tour" you should come up with several. I used STI last year and had a great experience with them. I know others here have used OAT, A&K, Intrepid, & Trafalgar as mentioned above. Just compare the lodging they use, what they consider "optional" tours that you'll pay extra for (I think some consider Abu Simbel optional or visiting Alexandria). At all times we felt very safe & well taken care of. There is a strong tourist-police presence.

When we went we combined 12 days in Egypt with 4 days in Jordan and saw Petra -- really fantastic. Turkey is also a wonderful country to visit; we were there this spring.

Enjoy your planning & your trip!

I went to with Lady Egypt and they are great about customizing tours to suit your needs. I spent time in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and I took a Nile cruise. I took an optional tour of Abu Simbel from Aswan and a hot air balloon ride at Luxor. I added on a 5 day extension to Jordan which I also loved.

As for Turkey, I was very pleased with Gate 1. My tour was surprisingly affordable and of course it was great fun.

If you have any questions about either of these companies I will be happy to answer if I can.

Look at Gate 1 (located in Pennyslvania) who are experienced and reputable. Besides Turkey as P_M used them, they also do Egypt/Jordan. If you don't want to use separate tour operators for separate countries, this can be the way to go. If Gate 1 doesn't have exactly what you want, ask them to design what you'd like.

The other option is to use an in-country outfitter for Egypt/Jordan and another for Turkey.

A "search" on this board will bring up names of tour operators that get good reviews, some of which have been mentioned above.

I also used Lady Egypt to plan a private tour for 6 of us -- they were very reliable, everything went as planned, and they provided excellent service. Our guide was great, plus in every city we were met by a representative who made sure our luggage got to our rooms and checked us into our hotels, etc. We had one of those big vans (technically could seat 11) for the 6 of us, a guide and a driver.

Hi,

Egypt is safe in terms of violent crime. There are a lot of petty scams and hassles, so you have to do some research on this first to avoid unpleasant experiences. However, if you use common sense, at the end the damage from these petty scams are insignificant.

14 days may be tight to visit both great destinations Egypt and Turkey. You might want to limit only to Egypt for now. Egypt has a lot of wonderful sights to keep you very busy.

Our trip to Egypt is still No.1 on my list so far. Totally unforgettable.

Have a great trip.

This is just one person's contrary opinion, but I think a week is fine to see the highlights of Egypt -- unless you also plan to dive in Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh, or do the Siwa Oasis, etc. For just the typical Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel trip, 2 full days in Cairo, 1 in Abu Simbel, and the cruise (which will take you to Luxor and Aswan, including Valley of the Kings and Queens, etc.), 7-8 days is fine. In fact, I think if I had 2 weeks for just that route, I would have been bored silly (and we loved our trip, don't get me wrong).

It was totally worth it to spend about 2-3 days at the Red Sea to unwind after a hectic itinerary. The snorkelling there is unbelievable.

That's what the rest of my family did (diving near Sharm). They were there 4 days after 7 days in Cairo-Aswan-Luxor.