Planning Egypt trip
Dec 25th, 2007, 07:21 AM
#2
Join Date: Mar 2007
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Best is subjective. If you're looking to go with a group over a private itinerary know that GCT is the parent of OAT; GCT has larger groups, to 60+/paxs. OAT does smaller groups, with max of 16/paxs. Not familiar with the others.
Many, however, prefer to travel independently, following much the same itinerary as offered by an OAT, but choosing when to travel, which hotels and select your own Nile cruise boat.
Search this board and you will find a number of in-country Egyptian tour operators who are well received and who can design an itinerary to your liking and budget.
Many, however, prefer to travel independently, following much the same itinerary as offered by an OAT, but choosing when to travel, which hotels and select your own Nile cruise boat.
Search this board and you will find a number of in-country Egyptian tour operators who are well received and who can design an itinerary to your liking and budget.
Dec 30th, 2007, 10:28 AM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
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We just booked a 15 day trip to Egypt with a 4 night Nile river cruise on Sonoma. We got to pick which hotels we wanted - we settled on Marriott and Four Seasons in Cairo. We could also have stayed at the Mena House Oberoi. There are 4 of us and we have a driver and Egyptologist just for us. The tour company we decided on was Global Gate Vacations. The trip is more expensive than tours we usually do but they were very accommodating and let us set the itinerary.
Jan 1st, 2008, 08:28 AM
#6
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My wife and I went with GCT and thought that their itinerary was nearly perfect, the accomodations first class and the guides excellent. The only flaw in the itinery was that we did not spend nearly enough time at the museum. However, there is a free day in Cairo which can be used to go back there. We took the optional Alexandria tour on that day and it was boring and very tedious as we did not get back to Cairo until quite late.GCT split the group into three sub groups each with their own tour guide so the group was no larger than thirty. Also, security was outstanding and we never felt threatened. Three major points are: you must take the optional Abu Simbel tour, Do not consume any dairy products on the Nile cruise ship and be careful of what other foods you eat on the ship as fully fifty percent of the groups got sick on the ship and lastly try to get Basam Salal as your tour guide when the groups are split out at the Cairo airport. He has a degree in Egyptology and taught same at the university.
