Egypt Travel Forum

Myself and my wife are heading out to Sharm tomorrow and were wondering if anyone out there fancies meeting up for some diving or just to grab a beer and chill out. We're at the Novotel Palm.

I'll be doing 5 days of diving (through Ocean College). I'm AOWD & Nitrox and am looking just to do some fun dives and a bit of underwater photography. My wife is just snorkelling / chilling out as she's gone off diving.

email me ultimatemvg@hotmail.com or leave me a PM if you're interested.

Jon

Hello,
Has anyone visited Barrys, Crave and the Fish Market? I have read mixed reviews and need your guidance.
Any other recommendations/tips would also help!
Thanks,
PJ

I am frequent visitor to Egypt. I am planning a return visit end of Jan early Feb. This year I would like to spent time on the Nile, travelling by Felucca, visiting all the sites, tourist and non-tourist!! and also to see the desert and other places off the beaten track. I am able to find companies offering 1 or 2 day Felucca trips but none offering up to 5 or 7 and/or a combination of land and the river. Any help or advice would be great. Thanks!! Georgia

Hello
Can anybody suggest any good indian vegetarian restaurant in cairo preferably near a 3/4 star hotel? I hear one Rangoli restaurant but I do not get full details.
Thanks

Hi Vters!I plan to take a private daytrip to Cairo(from Sharm) but because there are plenty of tour operators to choose from,I can't decide which one to pick.Any recommendation?
Thanks!

Is there only a night train from Cairo/Ramses train station to Luxor - and do you know anything about the return schedule. It's about 4 hours right?

Thanks. Going in about 5 days.

#1: Looking for a Nile cruise company to go with...haven't decided on fancy or not fancy, open to any suggestions!

#2: Looking for suggestions for our *very flexible* itinerary. Hotels, places to see or not see?

We'll be in Egypt for 2 weeks this Christmas break, 2 couples.

Cairo 3 days
Train to Aswan
Aswan and Abu Simel (spelling?!) 2 days
Cruise 3 days
Luxor 2 days
Flight to Sharm el Sheik, bus to Dahab
Dahab 4 days

One more thing: Abu Simel...fly, bus? Can you fly there and return the same day? How much time is needed?

Thank you!!

We're in 'Sharm in December and fancy a trip to Petra in Jordan. Anyone know what the options are and a suitable agent (and the price)?

Hi as i am a tramdriver myself and have some friends / collegue who collect tram things i promissed to bring some with me.
So were to find a bit of kwality tram things in Cairo. I probably will not have much time to shop or are the shops open late? Is there a tram museum?

Also i would like to visite Memphis, Saqqara and dashur. I understand the cheapest and best way is to take a cab?
But as a woman alone is that safe and how about the price as i red warning that when you there they ask more money for waiting or bringing you back.
If i book a cab at the hotel (know it is more expensive) is it saver? or they still want more money? Anyone knows how much it will cost me?

I hope i will meet some nice people in my group to share a cab with but i dont know now for sure.
I booked a 5 star tour trough egypt as i have often problems with my tummy.
Any save restaurant to have dinner already wrote a few down from VT tips.

Thanks for helping me
Dont know what hotels i will be in yet will hear it overthere :(

when is it officially winter in egypt? and what month is historically the worst for flu time? thanking you!

Hi, my husband and 2 children are planning a holiday to egypt mid dec - end of jan. We are quite excited about travelling to Egypt but have heard a heap of things that have caused some concern. Can anybody please shed some light on a possible Typhoid outbreak in cairo due to rubbish build up in cairo since the pigs were slaughtered and the foul smells in cairo etc due to rubbish on streets not being collected. Is it true that at the moment the streets are full of rubbish which is causing health issues and viruses, also is Swine flu bad at he moment? As Egypt is heading into winter is it expected to be concern, expecially in dec/jan. We are hearing hear that swine flu is a big worry in egypt. PLEASE advise if this is all media beatup or real? my many thanks in advance, you would be helping in a big way if you can offer more information.

Dear All,

We are trying to decide whether to book day tours before we get to Egypt or whether to wait till we get there. I'm inclined to wing it and just wait and see. And figure it out when we get there. But have heard mixed reviews on getting tours from the hotels so what are your savvy reccomendations?

Thanks, Candell

I don't know if this is a silly question or not but do I need proof that I have been vaccinated when I arrive in Egypt?

I am flying from England in two weeks time, I have recently had my booster for Hep A as well as my DTP vaccine as that was due. The nurse gave me a little card to say that I was vaccinated but the problem is last year I went to Bangkok and had a vaccination against Typhoid but I wasn't given a card to say that I've had this (I wasn't even aware of them until now). Is this going to be a problem?

Someone my boyfriend works with said he had to provide evidence of having been vaccinated against these diseases.

Hi,

I'm looking to book a land tour package and am having difficulty choosing btwn the different options. Basically I have the choice of a land, cruise or felucca and I need some advice on which you would recommend. I will be travelling in late december, so I was wondering if the Felucca would be too cold at night. Btwn the option of the cruise and land, which would you recommend. There's a 80GBP diff btwn the prices (felucca and land the same, cruise more), although the cruise/felucca includes 4 extra meals. Money is not a problem though, I am looking more towards the experience, which itinery is better planned and will allow me more time to spend at the sites?

If someone could kindly have a look at it for me and give me some advice, it will be greatly appreciated.

Felucca

Day 4 Felucca cruise on Nile Elephantine and Kitchener Islands
Day 5 Felucca cruise on Nile
Day 6 Felucca cruise, Luxor Disembark felucca, visit Komombo, Edfu
Day 7 Luxor, Cairo Valley of the Kings, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak


Land
Day 4 Aswan Elephantine and Kitchener Islands
Day 5 Aswan, Komombo, Edfu, Luxor
Day 6 Luxor, Karnak Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak
Day 7 Luxor, Cairo Valley of the Kings, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Cruise

Day 4 Aswan, Nile cruise on Nile, Elephantine and Kitchener Islands
Day 5 Nie cruise on Nile, Komombo, Edfu
Day 6 Nile cruise, Luxor
Day 7 Nile cruise, Luxor, Karnak, Cairo Valley of the Kings, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak

Many thanks!

Hello,

During my trip to Egypt in mid-November, I'm debating between doing a 1 day tour to Whale Valley or a 2 day tour to the White Desert through an adventure company. I understand that the White Desert is almost 2 times further than the Whale Valley and with only 2 days, we would not have very much time at the White Desert.

Could anyone please suggest what is more impressive between the Whale Valley and the White Desert? If you had to choose between the 2 destinations, which would you recommend? I'm trying to figure out if it would be worth going all the way to the White Desert if I can only manage 2 days.

Thanks,
Kate

Hi

I am staying with my family on the West Bank in December/January 2009 and wondered if anyone could suggest any good restaurants on that side of the Nile?

Thanks
Keith

Hi, i'm off to Egypt in January for the first time and i was going to take some Australian dollars cash and a credit card with me, my question is will it be hard to change AU$, especially at the airport when i arrive, or should i be taking US$ with me. If anyone can help i'd be most greatful. Thanks

does anyone know if it is cheaper to book online with a good company for a sharm el sheik to luxor valley of the kings trip before we go, or should we book with a tour company when in sharm? Im getting prices of around £155.00 gbp pp online.Any help much appreciated thankyou.

Hi,
Will be visiting sharm el sheik in august.Hoping to visit luxor valley of the kings.Does anyone know roughly how much it would cost going by plane and any recommended tour companies would be much appreciated.thanks very much in advance.

me and my wife will be in sharm at the end of november. can anyone suggest any attractions? (or maybe a daily-programme) we will stay 3 days there and will move to cairo then.

thanks a lot

I have been reading about having to go through infrared scanners at the Cairo airport to check for fever. Have also read that you may be quarantined if you have a runny nose or a headache even if you don't have a fever. Even hearing rumors that an entire airplane of people may be held for several days if just a few of them show symptoms.

Does anyone know how often they are stopping people from entering the country? There are many things that could cause a runny nose other than H1N1 and am worried I'm going to get stopped at the airport and it will ruin my vacation.

I'm just interested if anyone has any insight in how strict/agressive they are being about this.

Jeff

Hello
I am hoping that someone can explain about the wait list for flights on Egypt Air. I have been emailing with two different tour companies in Cairo about an excursion to Abu Simbel from Aswan in January. Both have said that we have to go on a wait list for tickets. Does this mean that the tickets are sold out for that date and we have to hope that someone will cancel? That doesn't seem possible when I want to book three month in advance. Has anyone had experience with this. I am wondering how long it will be before I can book this or even if I can. Also, the quoted ticket price is very different between the two companies. Does anyone know what the price should be for round trip the same day. Should I just book tickets myself on Air Egypt online, if I can?
Please post whatever information you have.
Thanks so much

Dear freinds

We are planing to visit shermshiak in December for 10 days

places we plan to visit shermshaik, Dahab & Saint catherine.

Anyone please advice is there any natruirst beach in shermshaik or Dahab

to swim clothesfree in redsea.( we need the answer with name, place & distance)

loook forward for the replies soon.

thanks & regards

Lavend

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to Egypt in mid-November and am interested in trying sand boarding and taking a 4x4 in the desert. Could anyone please suggest what areas this can be done in Egypt? Would it be more convenient to get to the sites from either Cairo or Luxor, and how long would it take? Also, would would be the approx cost?

Thanks,
Kate

We are going to spend a day in Alexandria in January or the first two weeks of February with friends. I'm wondering if there is a diving company there, to do a 1-2 hour underwater diving with, to see some of the underwater sites?
Zsuzsa

Hi!

how much does it cost to hire a cab from cairo to memphis and saqqara for whole day?
are there any buses that I could take from cairo to memphis and saqqara?where can I take the bus/ how much would it cost.
thanks

Does the metro go to the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar? Or what tourist sites, if any, would it be useful to use the metro for transportation?
Thanks
candel

Hello fellow travelers!

I am going to Egypt with a friend for the first time in November! I will put my itinerary below. We would like to visit Cairo, Luxor, and Dahab. Additional things that we would like to do given our limited time and budget is a Nile Cruise and Abu Temple.

November 19 arrive in Cairo (by 7pm)
20 my friend arrives around 14:40
21 Giza
22 Cairo (take night train to Aswan or Luxor)
23 Cruise
24 Cruise
25 Cruise
26 Cruise
27 Cruise or extra day in Luxor
28 ??????
29 Dahab
30 Dahab (night flight to Cairo) I flight out from Cairo December 1st at 12:30am

I have seen some cruise options, but they leave from Aswan on Mondays (thus we won't have enough time to go to Abu Temple, unless we leave Cairo a day before and we go back to Cairo a day before departure). Any one knows a cruise company that is not sooo expensive??? Is it worth visiting Abu Temple??

Also from the cruise itinerary it seems they do not spend much time in Luxor. I have read that Luxor needs 2-3 days, right?

Thanks!!!!!

My husband and I plan on spending 3-4 weeks in Egypt and Jordan. We are debating a semi-preplanned organized deluxe trip or just booking hotels, flights, and transportation and the rest as we go. I am an artist and would like private time at the sites. What part of Cairo would be best to just wander without a guide, or is this not a good idea.

Is the pharonic village is close or within a walking distance from Sakiat Makki or El Mounib Metro Station.