Egypt holiday advice

M

MEDSTER

Guest
hi everyone, me and my girlfriend are planning on going to egypt in june, start off in cario then luxor and then to sharm el sheikh, can anyone advise me of places to go, stay, avoid or generally things to watch out for, id appreciate any advice. thanks, med
 
Have you a budget ? The reason I ask is that it makes a huge difference on the accomodation side. Also wash all fruit that you eat in Bottled water....
 
we stayed at the marriott golden beach in sharm in august and from talking to people who had stayed elsewhere it seemed one of the best about
 
Before I went to Egypt last year, I read lots of useful info on www.touregypt.com

I was on an organised tour, which made life a lot easier for us - we had a tour guide with us all the time.
 
would recomend Budget travel, are you organising the whole trip yourself or going with a package ?
I would recomend flying into Luxor for a week , then up the El gouna for 1 week. You can bus it to Cairo (5hrs) to see the Pyramids/ Cairo museum all in the one day.
 
we went budget last year... we did 3 nights / 4 days on a cruise, got to see the valley of the kings, Abu Simble, and a whole array of other stops from the cruise (which is great) as the sites are all over the place - then we stayed in the Movenpick in Luxor... and from there we organised a trip to cairo (flight)... to see the pyramids! Loved it!

We're 33 / 29 - and found that 3 days on the cruise was enough for us... we met some lovely people on board, most of them were repeat visitors.

Defo a place I'll go back too.
 
Also stayed in the movenpick luxor ( under a different name now)
and the movenpick Elgouna.
 
finbar said:
would recomend Budget travel, are you organising the whole trip yourself or going with a package ?
I would recomend flying into Luxor for a week , then up the El gouna for 1 week. You can bus it to Cairo (5hrs) to see the Pyramids/ Cairo museum all in the one day.
Click to expand...

If it takes 5 hrs by bus from Luxor to Cairo, there won't be that much time to see both the pyramids and the museum? I spent 2 hrs in the museum (guided tour, all the time we were allowed), I could have spent 2 days there!

Also it's important to try to schedule tours to outdoor sights for early in the day to avoid the worst of the heat. Was at Abu Simbel in November, 11am and it was 40 degrees with very little shade!
 
budgetwise... i was kind of hoping £600 on accomodation for the two weeks, im not sure what type of star hotel this will get me, but if its anything like the hotel prices in thailand my money will go a long way (fingers crossed). How much do you reccommend i take for accomodation? i hear the flucca's are worth staying in.

i didnt book a package holiday as we were planning on traveling round quite a bit and werent sure how that would fit into our plans.
 
Its 5 hours from Elgouna to Cairo , bus leaves at 03:30 in the morning arriving in Cairo at 09:00, straight to Pyramids, then Cairo Museum then dinner on a restaurant on the river back that night about 10.
cost 50 euro , alot cheaper than the flights. Also i wouldnt 'do' Egypt independantly as it can be dangerous.All tour buses dont go in an armed convoy for the craic , it is for the saftey of tourists due to attacks in the past. Go with a package for safetey reasons and also save yourself the hassle.
 
Finbar, you just reminded me of the armed convoys - I'd forgotten!

Medster, the guide book I read said that independent travel is almost a thing of the past in Egypt. Travelling in certain areas requires tourists to be part of a convoy, so you have to match your journey (e.g. rental car) to the timing of the police.

I'd echo finbar's comment and get a package. Much less hassle, and if organised well, you'll see lots in a short space of time (I think I visited 14+ attractions in a 10 day holiday)
 
Totally agree....get a package....independant travel is actively discouraged by the police.
 
I travelled there on my own ,Female 'relatively' young ..It was very safe - It is absolutely possible to do this independently and extremely cheaply
I met loads of backpackers/flashpackers doing it as well. Felucca trip was fantastic and unforgettable
cost 12 dollars I think for 3 days on the boat and food.
I booked accommodation initially thru hostelworld.com and they picked me up at the airport . After that I just picked up places on the way. If you ask where you are staying they will book packages for you a lot of places in Cairo organise the whole thing accommodation desert trips ,felucca trips etc etc for a couple of hundred euros
It really wasnt a problem to do it myself because of security you cant really go too far off the beaten track .
My one tip tho is check the package operators flight only deals direct to Sharm or Luxor
I got one of these for half the price of a scheduled flight to Cairo
 
26cb said:
Totally agree....get a package....independant travel is actively discouraged by the police.
Click to expand...

Don't necessarily agree with you on that one. My girlfriend and I travelled around Egypt on our own in 2005 and had a fantastic time. I had a cousin Cairo for the first night and the last night but otherwise we were on our own, met quiet a few people along thw way as well. My suggestions

Recommendations:
Cairo - Pyrmaids are obv a must but are under-whelming from up close. Don't bother going in unless you feed the need to be able to say so, there is nothing to see and unless you go into one of the smaller ones you cannot take any pictures. The museum is also a must but a bit mad, be wary you don't stumble over some 5000 year old mummy or statue that are just lying about the place.

Khan-el-Khalia (spelling could be off) is a crazy market in the Islamic part of Cairo, absolutley mad stuff, go for a smoke of the sheisha pipe and some tea and don't forget to haggle like crazy with the locals. My best memory was my girlfriend being chased out of a shop for refusing to lift her offer of 50cent for some hundred euro painting :D

Lunch at the Hilton and a beer on the roof bar is also a nice thing to do/see. You also get a glimpse of the pyramids over the city which is amazing.

You can get a boat trip for an hour or so on the Nile as well but really we didn't think that you need more than 1-2 days in Cairo.

Aswan - From Cairo you can get the overnight train down to Aswan, buy the tickets a day or two before in the station. We stayed at the hotel on Elephant Island which was class. The Nubian village is right beside it and you can wander around and pick up a tour guide to bring you into the houses etc.

Aswan has a couple of sights, most of which I can't remember the name of, oh yeah the dam, but is most important for its location to Abu Simbel which is mind-blowing. Abs one of the best sites I ever been too. Because it is 3-4 hours from Aswan on a chartered bus there is a convey with police ever other morning that takes you down, it will be the highlight.

Luxor - get the train back up to Luxor and book into a hotel on the Nile. You have the Valley of the Kings and Queens and loads more. Visit the Old Winter Palace hotel for an expensive beer. Take a few days to do it well. Get the train back up to Cairo for one last run around Khan-el-Khelia for all the pressies.
 
SkippyOD said:
Recommendations:
Cairo - Pyrmaids are obv a must but are under-whelming from up close. Don't bother going in unless you feed the need to be able to say so, there is nothing to see and unless you go into one of the smaller ones you cannot take any pictures.
Click to expand...

Didn't think they were underwhelming when I visited - quite the opposite in fact! But hey, that's what makes us all different! As you said, they are a must-see! While at Giza, have a look at the Pharoah's boat which is thousands of years old. Amazing sight.
 
finbar said:
All tour buses dont go in an armed convoy for the craic , it is for the saftey of tourists due to attacks in the past. Go with a package for safetey reasons and also save yourself the hassle.
Click to expand...

I agree, when I was in Egypt there was heavy security everywhere - possibly due to repeated attacking on tourists. Not one of our better or more enjoyable holidays overall -in fact I can think of dozens of countries nicer than North East Africa to visit.

Watch the food and water too - where we stayed all the tourists got sick at some stage, and the lack of hygene everywhere was evident.
 
Hello,

Im headin away to Egypt in 2 weeks and I was wondering if anyone can tall me what the value for money is like against the euro?

Also, how expensive is the flight from Sharm el Sheik to Cairo?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top