Egypt Tour

[monica eng]

hi all,
Anyone been to Egypt?? Which is the best period to go?? Is the Nile River Cruise better or diving at Red Sea better?? Suggestions?

 

[aiyoyo]

Hi Monica, wow this thread was 3 years ago.

I'm thking of going to Egypt in Oct. Just wondering hv u been there before?

I've asked ard, only Chan Bros and Ananda has tour going to Egypt. And we've to stay on cruises which I dun really enjoy doing.

Between alexandria and aswan which one is a better place to visit?

 

[traveller]

Hi

Went to Egypt many many years ago.

Staying on a cruise is better than sitting on a coach!

Cant really remember all the name of places that I have went to. Anyway, been to Aswan, but offhand can't remember the things that I have seen. Well, Egypt is a nice place. Very historic. You must have a passion for history leh else you will feel very bored.

 

[rain]

Anyone know that what is the whether during Oct / Nov?
How much does it cost to go there on package trip?

 

[scruffy2211]

Anyone has been on a package tour to eygpt and has something to share. There is a package by Universal tours for $1799 for 10 days trip.. Wondering if anyone has been on it and how is it? Chan brothers has one for 10 Days at $2500. quite a difference just concern if the diff is due to hotel and airfare or will the food and tour itinery be affected as well?

 

[starfruit]

Other options include arranging your own tour package with the travel agencies in Egypt directly and then all you have to do is to just buy the Flight tickets to Cairo. The travel agent can arrange to pick you up at the airport and start your tour with them. I think its cheaper this way.

 

[och]

hi starfruit,

hv u been to egypt in that way? i'm thinking of visiting egypt at the end of the yr on a diy trip. was wondering if u hv any recommendations on hotels, transport n tour operators to beduoin camps.

 

[starfruit]

Hi och :

No unfortunately i had to cancel my egypt trip as they we could not get our visa application in time. My hubby has made teh tript o egypt though. I will be planning another trip sometime end of this yr. I have done extensive research, its better to go for a nile cruise then just to visit Cairo as they r not much things u can do in cairo for too many days. How many days r u planning ur trip?

 

[starfruit]

Hi och : if u r keen, i can recommend some online travel operator to u.

Have u found out how much the air ticks to cairo from singapore cost?

 

[och]

hi starfruit,

hey, u r planning to go end of the yr? that's when i'm planning to go too. that's great! we can share notes!

i hv the lonelyplanet egypt guide but i've been looking around for pple who hv experience travelling in egypt. there's nothing like first hand accounts.

i'm planning to visit cairo, luxor, aswan n the sinai. hoping to be able to dive in the red sea and take a slow felucca fr aswan to luxor. there r a few snitches to my plan. first of all, i dun dive, so i should learn b4 i leave. n i also hv no idea which felucca operators r reliable.

i'm planning for a 14 day trip, excluding sg-egypt travel time. i've actually found that intrepid offers a tour very similar to what i hv in mind http://intrepidtravel.com/trip.php?region=egypt&code=ESI, so i'm using their pricing as a guide. nope, hvn't found out abt air tix yet.

Hm... you couldn't get ur visa? i read in lonelyplanet that we can get visas at the airport. has that changed? where is their closest embassy then?

 

[och]

hey starfruit,

what online travel operator will u recommend?

 

[yan_yan]

Hi och & starfruit,

Consider of going to egypt for honeymoon. Has very deep interest in everything regarding eygpt. Do you all know when is the best time to travel to egypt?

 

[och]

hi yan_yan,

dec is best, cos summer is too warm n jan/feb brings some rainfall. but dec is also more expensive, so the fringe seasons of oct-nov n mar-april r just as good, if budget is a concern.

 

[starfruit]

Hi och :

Glad to find a fellow Egypt lover. Tentative dates for my travel plans are either in September or Nov. I have not confirm the dates.

14 days is more than sufficient in Egypt (not sure if it might be a bit too long. I am planning a 9 days trip (excluding travelling time). I have the following pointers for you. The tour operator will be able to come up with an itineary for you. Most of the time, they have a standard list of itineary to follow. You will usually start your tour in Cairo wher u spend the 1st 1 to 2 days (depening on ur schedule) to visit the Spinx and the Great Pyramids, Egypt Museum, an open air bazaar (lots of stuff to buy here souvenirs etc) etc. I had included Luxor and Aswan in my last itineary (which unfortunately i had to cancel) My itineary included an overnight train to Luxor where i will then board a nile cruise (5 days cruise) to Aswan. Standard of the cruise ship is not exactly our starcruise kind but its good enough. This is then followed by an overnight train back to Cairo to resume my tour before leaving teh country. U can still try the felucca on one of the nile cruise stop at Elephantine island. I am not sure about the felucca from Cairo to Aswan as i have no feedback on this.

The Aswan to Luxor cruise is quite standard and you will cover the list of places along the nile. (e.g. Luxor temple, karnak temple, temple of houras, Valley of the koings and Queens etc etc) They have many nile cruise operators in Egypt and i think they have close to a few hundred cruise ships on the nile. This can be arranged by ur tour operator and u dun have to search for a seperate nile cruise operator urself. Its better to let ur tour operator settle this as he can arrnge for yoru transfer to the nile cruises.

I am a diver myself and was recommended to dive in Sinai instead. i have dived in part of the red sea but i was recommended to go to Sinai as they have some of the best dive sites there. If u r keen to dive, i would suggest for you to be certified before u start ur egypt trip in order not to "waste" any time learning how to dive there. One thing to be careful is you are not allow to fly at least 12 hrs after diving in case of decompression sickness. So u must not plan all ur diving on the last few days of ur trip.

Most egyptians are very friendly. Some are too friendly. U have to be careful cos they expect to be tipped on every occassion (and i mean EVERY). My husband ever had this incident where the egyptian ppl started asking him they can help him to take picture of him witha camel and then asking for a tip after that. If u want to take photos with their camels or stall etc, they will also demand a tip from u. very scary hor.

I dun have my link on this computer. Will send it to u when i get home. U have an email address?

Keep me updated on what u have decided and we can exchange more notes.

 

[starfruit]

Hi YanYan:

I think the best time to go is their winter or spring period between maybe Oct to Mid April. Any thing beyong that will be way too hot.

 

[starfruit]

Hi Och :

forgot to add, u must be careful when u choose ur dive operator in Sinai cos i have read in a few diver magazines that many of the operators there compromises on safety issues in order to strike a deal. Please check carefully and make sure they r a respectable shop before u commit.

Hope thsi helps

 

[och]

hi starfruit,

many thanks for ur explanations. u've definitely helped a lot. i din know there r so many precautions to diving!

i always thot the sinai dive sites r in the red sea?

anyway, that's where i'm referring to when i said red sea.

ideally, i will start my trip in the south, either luxor or aswan. i'm doing the luxor/aswan/felucca trip for abt 5-6 days. wherever i stop, i'll take a bus to hurghurda (sp?) first then catch a cruise across to sinai. i'm planning to do the mount sinai, st katherin's monastry n diving for at least 4 days. after diving, i'm heading to cairo for abt 4 days. that works out to be able 14 days. but i'm actually afraid it will be rather rushed, cos who knows how long the transportation will take.

i've read abt the overnite train trip too. but it's quite expensive. i'm still hoping to find an open jaw ticket fr sg-luxor/sg-aswan then fr cairo-sg. that way i can spread the pyramid site seeing to avoid pyramid fatigue. if u find any such deals, let me know?

i'm probably doing most of the trip diy. my husband n i quite like the idea of travelling alone to give us maximum flexibility of staying longer at places we like. but it will be nice to find some local couple-of-days guides to bring us around and explain things to us.

i'm quite interested in the felucca cos it's operated by nubians n the "captain" can stop anywhere along the nile. besides stopping at abu simbel n other notable ruin sites, the felucca may also stop to bring travellers to nubian villages. it's totally open air, so that will make quite a unique experience. but i'm worried abt mosquitoes.

i've to look for easy dive sites in the sinai region. lonelyplanet said that some along the coast of sinai r v. deep with strong currents, not suitable for new divers. yah, i've heard of the lack of safety measures too. i was checking padi's website, n a number of egyptian dive operators make the blacklist. but straits times' life section recommended euro divers last week.

where do u recommend diving lessons? i've been hunting around n i hope to start in july/august. i dun mind taking short trips around the region to learn diving. i'm hoping for abt 15 dives b4 i go to egypt. is that too little?

 

[starfruit]

HI och :

So how much would this package cost? have u calculated?
The felucca sounds exciting but the felucca photos i saw are all very small, will u be spending the nights on them?

I did dived in part of the red sea but its not at Sinai/Egypt. Anyway i was recommeded to dive at sinai cos its nicer But again u need a bit of luck when it comes to diving cos if the weather is just not good that day, u will still get low visibility.

If u r PADI certified, it would be better to look for a 5 star PADI centre when u r there. When i was diving the red sea, i did find that most of the dive operators are SSI instead of PADI. One more thing, it is a pre-requisite for you to have insurance when u dive at Sinai. If ur travel insurance includes diving activity, pls bring ur insurance certificate which indicates this with u for verification by the dive operator. If u do not have proper verification, they will require u to purchase it (which would be additional cost to u).

There are a number of diving operators in singapore conducting course at this moment. its not very expensive and u can complete the entire course over a 3 days trip to Malaysia. I can get some recommendations on dive shops in singapore for u if u r keen.

15 dives is not bad before u heard off to egypt. I would however suggest for you to complete not only the "Open Water diver" certification but also the "Advance Open water" certification before u head off so that u can also do deeper dive and night diving. "Open Water diver" is PADI's basic level license and u cannot diver deeper than 30Ft/15m. The "Advance Open water" diver certification allows u to do deeper dive. U can immeditately start the advance diver course after completing ur open water and by the time u complete, u would have clock at least 10 plus dives.

I want to check with u, how much was the fare for the overnight train that u saw.

I think an open jaw ticket would be more expenive right?

 

[starfruit]

Hi och:

Is there an airport at Aswan and Luxor? i didn't know u can fly directly there from Singapore. I tot u can only fly to Cairo and then transfer from there.

 

[och]

hi starfruit,

i'm budgeting $2500 per pax for the entire trip. i think staying within budget should be possible, especially if i dun dive too much.

the intrepid's website has a very similar itinerary for 15 days n they quoted US$890 without airfare. but i will only be staying in mid-range or budget hotels.

the quotes i got of the overnite train fr http://www.sleepingtrains.com/ US$50 per pax in double room, one way, for off peak season. from what i read, the feluccas can hold abt 8 pple. whether i spend every nite on board will depend on the captain. some r known to bring tourists to their nubian villages to spend a nite n it's supposed to be quite an experience.

i thot there r airports in aswan n luxor, cos i was checking many egypt packages at local travel agents n the packages almost always mentions flights fr cairo to luxor n aswan to cairo. but the problem will be to find a sg-luxor flight. i dunno if flights fr sg only goes to cairo.

n yes, yes! will love to hear ur recommendations for diving operators. i intend to go to advanced, cos i want to do nite dives.

do i hv to be a good swimmer to learn diving? n fr ur last diving trip in red sea, was the diving really as spectacular as claimed? or is thailand just as good?

 

[flotan]

harlow..
came back from trip to Egypt from 3 to 21 Mar. Went to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, White Desert.. itinerary covered more of the ancient sites..

only spent less than $1,800 incl airfare coz 3 of us travelled budget-style.. could have saved even more if we moved around on our own with Lonely Planet guide... we took a local tour (based on our itinerary) who provided a guide, transport and arranged the accommodation for us..

trip was quite fun but also quite a nuisance with ppl bugging us to take feluccas, ride camels or horses, buy t-shirts, souvenirs, etc..
yep, tips are a must.. coz they will tell u straight in the face that you must give..

Cairo & white desert was still quite cold when we were there.. Luxor & Aswan was already getting hot at this time of the year..

 

[och]

hi flotan,

wow, 18 days for $1800, that's pretty cheap. would u mind telling us what the itinerary was like n which parts were done using the local tour? btw, which airline did u fly n how much was the airfare? how did u travel between cairo, luxor n aswan?

 

[minmin69]

hi flotan,

i m planning a egypt trip between sept to oct. did u cover Alexandria in yr itinerary? If yes, is it worth visiting? please, please, pleeeease share with us yr itinerary and the details of the budget accomodations and tour operators in egpyt.

 

[sharon__joseph]

hi flotan,
i hope you are still reading this thread.. me & fh r planning our honeymoon to egypt.. could you please share with us your itinerary?

[email protected]

 

[sharon__joseph]

hi all,
could u please advice me if u r taking package tour or go there sign up with their local tour package? coz i m afraid of language barrier..

 

[deremi]

hey all,

im consider Egypt for my HM trip...any recom?

 

[sharon__joseph]

hi deremi,
me too! when u planning to go? me AD on Jan 05 & plan to go end Jan or early Feb..

 

[deremi]

hey sharon,

oic....think ur AD is on jan 06 bah...kekeke...
mine on feb 06...maybe plan to go on may 06...

so any recom where to visit? u go by tour?

 

[deremi]

hey starfruit,

can i see ur HM fotos? thanks

[email protected]

 

[deremi]

hey flotan,

wah...that's cheap? wat package u signed for the trip? hv any fotos to share? im vri keen to go there too....

 

[bortei]

hi gals
i went with egypt on a package tour with ananda last yr nov, i really enjoyed the trip! but you must really like history to go egypt, if not it's just a land with yellow blgs and ancient ruins.
We covered Aswan, Cairo, Sinai, Sharm El Sheik, Luxor and other places, e.g. abu simbel.
Really love the cruise, so relaxing though it's not a very big ship, but the river nile scenery is so beautiful.

 

[deremi]

hey bortei,

wat the package price like u took?

 

[bortei]

hi deremi
i think i paid abt 2.4K or 2.5K for the 11 day tour. But this excluding our own expenses and those optional tour.
But the hotel (esp at Red Sea - sharm el sheik) and the cruise stay was really fab!
Optional tour will include sound & light show at the pyramids, flying to abu simbel.

 

[deremi]

hey bortei,

wah....that's exp leh....i tot can be cheaper...hmm...must see got promo during travel fair or not....

 

[bortei]

ya mine is not very cheap cos of the accommodation and i think bcos it includes red sea also.

you can try universal travel, pretty decent for budget. abt $1699 or 1599 before taxes. =))

i hope u will enjoy egypt ya! i really love this place!!

 

[deremi]

okok..tks bortei...

do universal travel hv a website?
that time u went is wat season?

 

[woof]

hey pple,
i m tinking of gng to Egypt wif my friend n not HM...any info? how long is the flight?

 

[deremi]

hey woof,
i wana go egypt for HM leh...duno got any fairs or not?

 

[deremi]

very quiet this thread? nobody going egypt for HM liao? no discussion?

 

[fiona]

Hi d_woof,

The flight took us about 14hrs (including transfer @ DOHA airport).

We took package from Universal travels. Personally, I find they are good enough. I like the tour leader. She is a nice lady, accomodative. I LOVE the tour guide best. His english is perfect and I find that he always try to give us to the details whenever possible. I saw the other tour guides. They seem rather brief.

Try this website http://www.universaltravel.com.sg/

My hubby likes their service a lot. Everytime when we are going travelling, they are the first to come to his mind.

Though according to them, they provide 5 star accomodation. But then, it's really only 3 stars to our local standards. Then again, I am there to have fun, so the accomodation to me doesn't really matter that much. I am fine with 3 stars.

If you guys really go Egypt, MUST TRY their horse-carriage!!

 

[sharon__joseph]

hihi,
me already signed up with ananda travels (duno spell correctly or not) departure is i think 26 Jan 2006 night... anyone the same??

 

[sansilver]

Hi

Anyone can advise how long is the flight from SG to cairo? and what currency to use?

How is the food and is it expensive?

 

[starfruit]

Currency use is Egyptian Pound. SG$1 is about 3.5EP.

Food is not that expensive..but beware of bad hygiene. Most of my meals was covered in my tour package.. i only had to taek care of 2 meals on my own the other trip.

 

[sdblues]

Oh.. those who have bad stomach have to be wary!! recommended to see a doc for immunisations for all food disorders.. so your trip to Egypt will not be destroyed

 

[yurii]

food is not expensive.. but i do find it salty. Usually, meals are provided full board but beverages are separately-charged. Drinks are expensive on cruise and restaurants but u can buy 1.5l bottle of water at street shops for LE2. LE = Egyptian Pound. Best period to travel is in late Mar till early april.

 

[lihia]

Hi, can anyone or everyone who have been to Egypt give me all your advice and recommendation? I am planning for a year end trip to Egypt. About 15 to 18 days trip. Please tell me what are the "MUST DO", "MUST SEE", "MUST GO" , what to look out for and those who have use local tour agents...any recommendation?
Thanks!

 

[babyshannon]

Anyone going Egypt or had been there before?
Thinking of taking up the Universal Travel itinerary coz its minimum 2 to go..
Is the food over there very ex??
Hows the weather like during end Dec?


Thanks!

 

[vnc]

Hi Babyshannon,
We went to Egypt for our honeymoon with Universal travels too. Our tour leader is a lady called Janet. Very fun lady. Hmm... food wise, becoz we went for tour package, most of the meals are included. But there was once that we went out to venture the lanes of Egypt ourselves and bought dinner from one of the "kopitiam" along the streets. Bought roasted chicken and their sandwich. Yum yum.... taste really different from ours. Very nice. Price wise, the food is cheap.

 

[babyshannon]

Hi vnc,

May I know how much did u spend during the trip?
I was quoted $2299 for dec (which is the peak season).
Btw, is it safe to walk on the street alone ( i mean about 4 person together)??

 

[vnc]

Hi Babyshannon,
That time we went during the non-peak season, I think. Feb time. Weather just nice. Around 10-16 degree celsius. It cost us about $2.5k/pax (includes everything, tax etc). Must check with them $2299 got include taxes or not. I think that time they quote us $1.7k++ without taxes etc. Added everything then become $2.5k nett. But also have to bring extra cash just in case u want to opt for the optional tours. Eg, go to the Museum lah, go Abu Simbel lah.. etc.

Hmm.... we went once to roam the streets alone from evening time. Just the 2 of us. I don't think it's dangerous but don't bring valuables lor. They are actually quite friendly people. They just want you to buy things from them.