Manisha

Hi Fodorites!

We are a group of 9 going to Egypt! Looking for recommendations on tour guides and Egyptologist that can offer a tour of various sites within a city (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel. Also looking for tour operator companies that could plan a multi day trip for us (accommodations, activities, transportation, etc.)

Sorry if this has been asked before. I did a search and found a couple of names (Real Egypt, Ahmed Gamal). Looking for a few more, thanks!

Manisha

progol

Hi, Manisha,
You are in for a big treat! Egypt was an extraordinary experience! I see you’ve found my trip report and I’m glad you’re enjoying it and finding it helpful.

As you may’ve noted, I used Djed, a company that has been in business for a long time. I recommend with a strong caveat - their communication before the trip was poor, often taking far too long to get back to me. On the ground, however, they were excellent and I really liked everyone we met through them, though with all companies, the guides are a mixed bag. Some were terrific, some not so.

We did love our Nile trip on the dahabiya which is a traditional boat, not a large cruise ship. Djed has their own fleet and I recommend this if you can swing it with your group. You don’t have to use them for the rest of your trip if you choose to book the dahabiya. The experience of the dahabiya was just wonderful.

One of the guides we worked with who we liked very much, Mohamed Sayed, has since started his own company. One of the posters on this board, carrom, used his services last winter and found he was very responsive and reliable, though I believe she only needed drivers.

Manisha

Thank you so much Progol, for your suggestions and insights! Yes, I loved your trip report and all the details.

Manisha

In case it is helpful to others planning an Egypt trip and looking for tour guides, here is the list I put together using Fodor's Forum recos and other word of mouth recos

• GoLuxor Tours (source: Quite a few Fodorites have reco'ed)
• iEgypte (source: YouTube traveller). They seem to have a very heavy Instagram presence. When I reached out to them they were very prompt with their quotes as well.
• Djed Egypt (source: Quite a few Fodorites have reco'ed). The nice thing is that they have their own fleet of Dahabiyas. So you could book that part with them if you were interested. If not, they can plan land tours. I will say that I reached out to them twice and did not hear anything back. But that could be because of high peak season and perhaps they are booked up already? It would have been nice to hear something though.
• <!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placementame-cell;}-->Mohamed Sayed (source: Fodorite) - <!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placementame-cell;}-->[email protected], WA: +201069401987, Insta: m_s_daw
• Real Egypt (source: Fodorite)
• Ahmed Gamal (source: Fodorite) - [email protected]
• Dr. Mo (source: a friend recommended) - We may end up going with him. And if we do, I will loop around and write a review. So far, he has been very helpful with providing quotes, etc. Response time could be better. But we are a large group with quite a few needs, so perhaps that is taking him a bit. He was the Egyptologist on a friend's cruise ship and they HIGHLY recommended him. He now has his own tour guide company as well. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...er_Valley.html
• Luxor AirBnb - We are staying at an AirBnb in Luxor and they have offered to provide drivers, tour guides, recommendations, etc. If we end up using any of these, I will loop around and write a review. Thanks!

Thanks!
Manisha

razmillr

Hi Manish,
Are you going to start your tour in Cairo or somewhere else?
Landing in Cairo?

Manisha

Yes we are landing in Cairo and flying out of Cairo. Visiting Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada in the middle.