asunrun

My friend and I (both 30 yrs-old with extensive travel experience) are planning a last minute trip to Egypt in mid-April. We have researched on the web and have found both group & private tours that match our timing and price range. We're just not sure if, for two women traveling alone, a private tour would be safe? (the private tour idea is particularly of concern to our respective families)

Here are our different options:

Insight: "Elegance of Egypt" tour
Flo-USA: Private 13-day tour
Lady Egypt: TBD which tour, but looking at the website, most likely "Nile Dream"
Maupintour: "Ancient Egypt" tour

If anyone has any recommendations or personal experiences that might help us make an educated decision, that would be fantastic.

Thanks!!

tinydancer

We did an Insight Vacations tour to Egypt last April and absolutely loved it! It was a bit different than the Elegance tour, but we were very happy with Insight and highly recommend them as a tour company. We did not stay at the Conrad, but at the Marriott and we liked it very much. I'd definitely recommend you add on the Abu Simbel as an extra, as it is unbelievably amazing! Fly there and back in the same day. We arrived one day early and departed one day later to allow us time to get over the long trip and also to go to the Khan Kahlili market in Cairo and also have extra time to re-visit the Egyptian museum. Their tour guide was amazing, a real professional Egyptologist who taught us so much and was so good. We just loved the Nile cruise, and I think the Tosca is their new ship which was not ready at the time we wanted to go, so we missed out on that. Although we are older than you, we did have some younger people on our tour who we really clicked with and we ended up being a group of 8 people who laughed and had more fun than anyone else and we loved it. We skipped the Alexandria excursion because it's more time in a bus on a bumpy road than it was worth. I can't speak to the other companies you mention, but we were very happy with Insight, and in fact also did their Turkey tour which we loved as well. I can highly recommend Insight Vacations! If you go with Insight, you will have nothing to worry about. We also booked a private guide on the internet for one of the extra days in Cairo and it was well worth it.

Iowa_Redhead

I think that two women with a tour guide will be just fine for safety. Some women have come back and said that they felt disrespected - the Egyptians would only really deal with their husbands, etc. I didn't have that experience at all. I thought the men (other than vendors) were generally very polite to me, though the few times I was alone I don't think they really knew what to think about me. Sitting in the hotel restaurant alone confused all of the waiters but they were all <i>extremely</i> polite to me.

Everyone at home was very concerned about my safety in Egypt and I never felt threatened in the least. A firm but polite "la shukrun" often made the vendors simply move on to the next tourist in the line. They often ignored it but they were mainly just background noise more than anything. The vendors would speak English, say good morning, and just in general do anything short of touching me to get attention. I just kept saying la shukrun and walking exactly where I intended to go and had no problems. They never touched me or made me feel intimidated in the least. I was with a group tour and spent most of my 'free time' with a small group of people I met on the tour.

While I do think that two women would be perfectly fine together, do be cautious about going out alone. While I felt safe at all times, don't be foolish.

Pick the tour you want and don't worry about safety concerns. I traveled with Trafalgar and liked having the larger group (30-35'ish) because I travel alone and had so much fun with the people I met.

The Nile cruise was absolutely amazing, and the rooms were a lot bigger than I expected. Abu Simble was a lot of fun and I highly suggest it. We flew down and back the same day and while I would have been happy to ramble around at AS for the whole day I still felt I had plenty of time there. We went to Alexandria and stayed right on the Med. Our hotel (the Palestine) shared a courtyard with the old palace, which was pretty neat. From my balcony I had the old palace on the left, a nice courtyard in the center and a wide view of the Med and a pretty little lighthouse and bridge to the right.

Have fun! Egypt was amazing and I hope you love it as much as I did.

sandi

We traveled (2 women in their 50s) on private tour and never felt unsafe or even bothered by men, shop keepers, young boys, others. We had a guide/vehicle while in Cairo and surrounding area.

Flew via Aswan onto Abu Simbel where we met a few other single women and couples and shared a guide for this site, then back to airport for flight to Aswan to board our Nile cruiser.

On the boat, we hooked up (surprisingly) with the same single women and couples, for meals together if we wished. Sightseeing from the boat was with boat guide who took a small group of English speaking guests to the sights/temples on land.

At Luxor, we and the others from the boat we visited the souk/market, temples and museum on our own with no problems anywhere. Then a transfer to airport for flight back in Cairo were met by our tour operator for transfer to our hotel and spent the next 2/days on our own, returning to the Bazaar and Museum on our own... no problems whatsoever.

Where others mention they would give a firm "la shukran" (meaning "no thanks") to vendors, we more often just smiled and went on our way.

If you're experienced travelers, know that Egypt will be somewhat different, but you'll do just fine traveling alone... meaning with a preplanned itinerary that assures your meets/greets, transfers, hotels, sightseeing, Nile cruise, etc.

Can't comment on the specific tours you indicate, though many recently posting here have used Lady Egypt with positive results... an itinerary specifically designed for them. And, also a regular poster here Debbie Senters of Casual_Cairo Detours who can be reached at [email protected].

Good luck.

Leslie_S

If you're interested in a group tour rather than private - I used STI 2 years ago and thought they did a great job. Our group was small and we enjoyed interacting with the others. Their price was a lot better than a similar trip we had originally booked with Smithsonian (which they canceled at the last minute when they didn't get enough signed up).
The hotels we stayed in were 5-star (for that area) and there were no glitches whatsoever. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
They're based in Egypt but also have an office in the US.

wanttogo

I just returned from a customized tour of Egypt with my husband. The arrangements were made by STI Travel in New Jersey. We had our own guide while in Cairo at both ends of our trip and shared a guide with another couple during excusions from the M/S Mojito. I highly recommend the company.

The company is there to meet you when you first arrive and stays with you the whole time. You will not have to deal with unwanted attention from anyone along the way. The reason that we had a customized tour is that I requested that several sites be added to one of the standard tours. I think that the small group standard tours would be fine and you could meet other people.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Pat

swavey

I am 48, my daughter is 23, we had two weeks in Luxor. We were introduced to a guide who works for a company called Memphis Tours. But we hired him privately. He was amazing and on our various travels with him, we had no hastle whatsoever. I found that wherever we went, the Egyptian men were always extremely polite, and there were never enough camels to buy my daugher! They seem to have a good sense of humour, so be polite, but firm. Try to remember: La Shokran, do emphasise the La, this is no, so no thank you, you will be left to go on your way with greetings of enjoy Egypt and the like. Another saying is: Ma fishe filloose (no idea of spelling, but try it phonetically), it means I have no money! Say it with a smile and walk away.
However, back to the business of a guide. Go with Memphis and ask specifically for Ahmed, or, email him direct and make completely private arrangements with him. His English is excellent, as is his knowledge. Should there be any aspect of your trip that he does not feel the best for the job, he will endeavour to find the right person.
email him on: [email protected]
Good luck and just go enjoy! Regards, Swavey

Leslie_S

wanttogo -- I'm so glad to hear you had a good trip with STI. I hope to go back next year and take my husband this time. Glad to hear that adding some different stops to the standard tour is an option so I can see a few new sites this time.
Can I ask what hotel you stayed in in Cairo?

We were in the Hyatt in 2008 but I believe they no longer use that one as it went no-alcohol at that time.

wanttogo

March 2, 2010

Leslie S:

I looked at the web page for STI and found the standard itinerary that best fit our needs. I then wrote to STI and said that the itinerary and price looked good but we wanted to add visits to Abydos and Dedera Temples, Dashour, St. Simon's and did not want to go to Alexandria.

Within 48 hours, I had a proposed itinerary and per person pricing sent to me. We tweeked it a bit and that was that.
We had our own guide in the Cairo area and shared a guide in the Luxor area.
We did stay at the Grand Hyatt in Cairo. STI suggested that hotel or the Ramses Hilton as being relatively reasonable.
I must admit that STI did not mention the alcohol-free policy to me. I already knew about it, though. The Hard Rock Cafe is next door and you can get alsohol there. Alcohol is also served in the expensive rooftop restaurant at the Hyatt. We did not eat at that restaurant.

Pat

asunrun

Thank you everyone for your great responses!

We have officially decided to book a private tour with Lady Egypt. The woman we're working with there has been fantastic and really has addressed all of our concerns in a very satisfactory way. We will definitely be taking all your tips for female travelers and utilizing them while in Egypt!

-Adrianne

Leslie_S

wanttogo - thanks for that info. I didn't find it a big deal to not have drinks in the hotel (besides the expensive restaurant which i didn't visit either). And I thought it was a lovely hotel and good location so I'm glad to hear they still use it on their standard itineraries.

The sites you mention are ones I'd want to add next time also. And I think I could skip Alexandria since the drive was so long.

The group we were in fluctuated in size because couples would go off for a few days to do something different (a cruise on Lake Nasser, eg, after our Nile cruise - which sounded like too much time on a boat to me!). Then they would come back to rejoin us in a different city. I thought then it was nice to have a company be flexible like that but still allow you to travel in a group rather than just 2 people on a totally customized tour. I really did like the group-travel aspect in Egypt. Some places in the world I would find that awful but it just seemed more fun having others to share the experience with. And I guess I didn't have as much interest in exploring on our own as I would in other locales so it worked very well for us to be shepherded on this trip.

Yukon_XL

Hi,

We just returned from a private tour with Lady Egypt. There were 5 women all together and we had a blast. Everything was great - from hotels to our tour guide (who I would highly recommend), Aamer Ibrahim.

We spent 3 nights in Cairo (I loved the Mena House and their pool!) and 1 night each in Luxor and Aswan. We also took a 3 night Nile cruise. Seeing the sunset over the Nile is amazing.

Aamer was wonderful. He was smart, funny and patient. If we needed anything, he did his best to help us.

Lady Egypt did a wonderful job and Egypt was the trip of a lifetime

Stefann

I am planning holiday with my girlfriend this year and we have few destinations but still not 100% sure where we eventually go. One of them is also Egypt and there it will probably be either alexandria or cargo. We found agency where they offer nice holidays but i am not sure if they have organized tours. But on the other hand when I checked places where hotels are based, it is very close distance from places we want to see. In cairo there is 4* hotel "movenpick pyramids" based 20 mins from cairo centre, 2km from pyramids at giza and 60min from airport. This is the place we found it http://www.mosaicholidays.co.uk/Coun...olidays_1.aspx
But I am also thinking of Abu Dhabi, i love how it looks there http://www.mosaicholidays.co.uk/Coun...olidays_7.aspx isn't it nice, just to have all inclusive holiday without doing anything but my girlfriend prefers egypt as she wants to see something not just staying all days at the same place.

JToronto

I felt safe in Egypt but it's true that if you are with a male, Egyptian men will tend to talk to him and not to you. They intend this as a sign of respect but I couldn't help feeling it was paternalistic (it is, of course; but it's part of their culture). A good exercise in adjusting my own outlook. One tip I will give you is to buy a thin cotton scarf (a beach wrap will work) and covering your hair when you are out in Cairo or other cities. I felt I was hassled much less as I was perceived as a "respectable" woman. Of course no one mistook me for a local but I attracted less male attention (I have blonde hair).