Egypt Travel Answers

The tours are all very rushed, but the places are all unmissable. If you can arrange to spend more time there, good: otherwise, take them.

Personally, I'd opt for the tour. It assures you being able to get in at at the right time, guided explanations, "must sees" and historical facts. The ships are all quite well appointed and you will have a nice relaxing place to return to after a very hot and dusty day of sightseeing. Also,, cruising the Nile is an experience on it's own. Nothing quite like listening to the call to prayer at sunrise and sunset as you cruise down the Nile or seeing life on the Nile happening before your very eyes. Yes some of the tours can be a bit rushed but you will always have enough free time at the end of the tour to wander on your own a bit. I highly recommend doing Egypt this way and we are NOT tour people by any means. Homer

Also, because of the various touts and people rushing you to beg for money (we have found Egypt to be the biggest turn off for that and we've traveled extensively throughout SE Asia where touts are aggressive), your tour guide/companion will help you ward these off! IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind.

thank's Homer, that's exactly what i imagined.....do you think one extra day in luxor would be nice(mark).... by the way, sleeping one night at Abu Sinbel worth(mark) many thank's

The Nile cruise and three days in Cairo is the only organized tour I have taken and I liked it very much and have recommended it to friends. More time might be better for some people, but an organized tour is the only way I could have comfortably toured Egypt to see the Pyramids and Luxor.

If you can arrange it so your tour embarks in Aswan and ends in Luxor then yes, Luxor might be worth an extra day. We personally didn't care at all for Cairo - I'd say quite a disappointment actually. We loved the pyramids - but it is so overly touristy, crowded, dirty and literally right in the city so that a KFC and a McDonalds are literally built very close to them! Not at all what we expected. The Egyptian Museum, although filled with priceless antiquities and unique treasures was / is in such a state of urgent need of upkeep that you see exposed wires, exposed lighting - filth...not at all a museum by Western standards. We loved seeing the treasures though. Cairo was noisy, filled with touts, people scheming and trying to make a buck off of you every step you take... By comparison, Luxor, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, and Luxor are much nicer - more relaxed. Yes touristy but much much nicer. You will still find scheming touts and be expected to tip for EVERYTHING but we quickly got good at ignoring or being rude right back and saying a loud: GO AWAY!

many thank's folks, you really directed my decision....till next time regards

With the security situation in Egypt as it is at the moment, you may find this is the only way to do this journey. For some years the Egyptian authorities have had to take a very strict view on where tourists can and can not go, so that they can be protected. You will almsot certainly have an armed guard with you - we did on a similar tour. Not sure if you're missing a bit of a point about the cruise part. You'll probably visit Kom Ombo in the evning so you can go through the locks at Esna during the night. At busy times the boats queue for several hours. No problem with this, but it's worth knowing if like me you were looking forward to seeing the locks. One other thing, the best part of the whole experience (and I say this as a great fan of ruins, temples and Egypt in general) is the actual cruise. Sunset on the Nile from a boat is one of the great holiday experiences.

Tip on dealing with beggars:- say "MAFISH FELOUS" (I have no money"). It works.