Has anyone booked Egypt in Style with STI Travel?

We have not booked yet but are considering it. The tour does not cover a couple places that I want to see but it does cover many of them. I have some hesitation about taking a
long day trip to Alexandria-I need to discuss this with STI.
The agency has a good reputation and specializes in Egypt.

Pat

I did an Egypt trip with them in May 2008 -- not sure if it was Egypt in Style or not. We were there 12 days and then did the 4 day Jordan extension. We had a great trip and thought the company did a wonderful job. Our hotels were very nice, the guide we had was wonderful, and the group was small (I think 8 at the most - sometimes less when people would head off for other cities - our tours were slightly different and overlapped). Anyway, I do recommend them and hope to return to Egypt in the near future and would use them again.

The day trip to Alexandria was long but I thought very worthwhile. The large van we were in was very comfortable and we could sleep for part of the drive - not a whole lot to look at during the drive unfortunately. But Alexandria was interesting - very different feel from the other parts of Egypt we saw. Liked the library especially and the corniche along the Med.

If you use them please report back - there's not a lot of info about them on the boards -- I think they did a super job for us at a very reasonable price.

I havent used STI, but I would say that you will easily find a tour company that can provide exactly what you want if you look a bit more. There are many out there, and although some seem to just give you the basics, others tailor their tours to suit your requirements and not a bulk order type holiday.

i have recommended a company in other posts of mine, I dont want to keep mentioning their name otherwise I will look like their PR Agent but if you click on my name in this posting you can see what posts I have responded to and find the link of who i have recommended, as they will give you what you exactly want to have in your tours.

Scotsgirl

Leslie,

Did you ge to go inside the Library in Alexandria on your tour?

Pat

Yes, we went in the library & on a tour with a library employee (not just our own guide). I found it fascinating.
So modern. Cool work they're doing - screen captures of every internet site since day 1 or something like that!

Wanttogo and Scotsgirl,

Part of the reason we're interested in STI is because we're able to extend our trip into Jerusalem. Philippe,the agent, said he could customize our trip. He switched the itinerary around to fit in Jerusalem, and talked us out of Alexandria because of the long drive. We end up doing everything we were looking for.

Leslie_S

I'll let you know about our experience when we get back in December.

Thats excellent, at least this way you will get to fit in Jerusalem. Alexandria is lovely but it does depend the time of the year you go, because it is on the Med.Sea and can be a bit colder in the winter months.

Scotsgirl

A trip with STI travel in Jan. '08 was terrific. No complaints.
My suitcase was missing on arrival at Cairo and the professional way the guide handled the situation was astonishing. Like he expected it to happen and new how to get me to be first to be serviced. They offered to drive me into town to buy clothes after dropping us at Hyatt. I used mall attached to Hyatt, where they altered my pants. I did not receive luggage in time for 4 day cruise from Aswan and driver stopped at store and allowed me time to purchase several items. We met our guide Henry who exceeded our expectations.
Got luggage on return to Cairo and all was well. Opted not to go to Alexandria as we'd heard it was a long drive for not too much reward. Others who did this concurred. We spent day exploring the Citadel and other environs in Cairo. Wish STI did Cape Town - our next trip.

ympepe,

Did you have a direct flight, and were you allowed carry-on luggage?

How long was the drive from Cairo and Alexandria? I'm leaving from Alexandria for a cruise and wanted to see if a whole day is enough time to get down to Cairo???

I think the drive was around 3 hours. Sometimes there are stops where police pull a lot of random cars over - that can really tie up traffic. So if you need to make sure you're back to the ship in time make sure you allow more than 3 hours to return.

Yeah I would second that Leslie_s we got stopped a few times on the way (well they were stopping other cars, and we did get waved through no problem, but because the traffic was backing up it stopped us a few times)

I would definately say 3 - 4 hours to be safe.

Scotsgirl