Sharm El Sheikh Travel Forum

we are travelling to sharm in October independantly as we are using timeshare accommodation. we intend to go to cairo to the musuem etc. we would like to fly and dont fancy the coach in that heat!! can any one reccommend a tour company to use which is reasonably priced and value for money. Is it best to take US$ or Egyptian pounds.

thanks

October will be perfect climate wise: not to hot, not to cold. It could be hot but that would be an exception. So I don't think the heat will bother you.

I would take a private car to Cairo for a trip, not a flight. Private car is very comfy and will take you where ever you like to go and stop when you need it. The trip will take about the same time as a flight considering check in and -out times. You can haggle a good price with a cab company in Sharm and have a guide in Cairo to take you all over the place.
I would reserve 2 days in Cairo to see the highlights, otherwise you will be exhausted. Cairo nightlife is not to be missed! Khan el Khalili is best at night.

A good tourguide in Cairo is my best friend Mohamed Bahaa.
m.bahaa2@usa.net
bahaa94@hotmail.com
http://www.cairo-overnight.co.uk/
http://www.touregyptforums.com/index.php?showtopic=1258&hl=www\.cairo-overnight\.co\.uk

Take your own currency to Egypt! Change it while getting there on the airport of arrival while buying the visa (you will need it for Cairo).

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/58ca6/#TL

This link for more advice on the use of money in Egypt.

Good luck, Dora.

Hi!
I did the same thing last year---used my timeshare to visit Sharm. We stayed at the Domina Coral Bay and there was a tour coordinator (Waleed) right on site that helped us book a few different trips including the day-trip to Cairo. Initially, we were going to check out early and travel to Cairo to spend a few days in the city but Waleed discouraged us from trying that. He thought that we'd be out of our element and more than a little lost since this was our first trip to Cairo. I'm so glad we took his advice and stuck with the tour option. There were two options: by air or by bus, the only difference being the bus was a 6 hour trip as opposed to the 1 hour flight. Every bus we rode was very well air-conditioned so if you don't mind the long ride, that would save you some money. We paid the extra & took the flight.

Even though it was a very long day, (the bus picked us up at 5:30a) I felt glad that I was with an organized tour. Our group was relatively small (maybe 16 people?) and our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge and "protected" us from the aggressive vendors that were everywhere in Cairo but particularly at the Pyramids.

Our tour included: bus pick up and drop off right at the resort, roundtrip airfare, admission to the Egyptian Museum, a trip into a Papyrus factory, an hour long boat ride down the Nile, lunch at a restaurant that was 10 minutes from the Pyramids (you could see them right thru the window as you ate!) and admission to the Pyramid park. There was an opportunity to pay extra to actually walk inside one of the pyramids but it was so hot that we passed on that option.

I don't remember the exact cost of our tour because we also booked a camel ride, a yacht trip onto the Red Sea & Quad biking in the desert (definitely try that!) I've heard that we could've found cheaper rates by shopping around but I liked the convenience of booking everything right at my home resort with no haggling; the haggling for everything got on our nerves after a few days. If you're so inclined, check with your resort and I'm sure they'll have similar accomodations for setting up tours for you. Whatever you choose to do, have fun!

One more thing occurred to me as you said you're using your timeshare:
I booked my trip with my timeshare company but nothing was mentioned about our meal plans; I didn't even realize meal plans were an option until we arrived and didn't have one!

Apparently, there was an opportunity for us to purchase "half board" or "full board" options for meals. I don't know the cost specifics but either of these options gives you a wristband that would grant you access to certain restaurants on site. Since we didn't have a meal wristband, we charged a resort card with money (I think we started with 200.00 USD and ended up putting more money on it before the end of the week) and when we visited the restaurants, the bill was paid by deducting monies from the card. But most of the hosts at the restaurants seemed confused and I think things would've gone more smoothly had we known about and invested in a meal plan. If you don't have one already, check into it.