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Independent or organised travel in Egypt?

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is it better to make your own way around egypt or do an organised trip?
14 years ago, September 5th 2009 No: 1 Msg: #85319  
I am planning a trip to Egypt this November and want to know if it is easier to make your own way around by way of public transport, to book an organised trip from home or to book seperate trips while we are there from travel offices?
Also any route ideas i want to start in Cairo and end in Sharm el sheikh (seeing the white desert, pyramids, Kom ombo, valley of the kings, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel inbetween) Reply to this

14 years ago, September 5th 2009 No: 2 Msg: #85345  
Hello Zara 😊

I would travel around independently. It is more economical and allows more freedom. A travel book for independent travellers, such as the Lonely Planet guide for Egypt will give you all the practical information you need for independent travel.

If you use travel agents in Egypt be careful that you pick one with a reputation for being honest. Use ones recommended by your hotel, or by other travellers.

Mel Reply to this

14 years ago, September 5th 2009 No: 3 Msg: #85355  
Ditto to the above post.. definitely independent, but you have to plan it very well and know where you are going and how to get there and know when to do certian things. I planned a trip and took my father. We went it alone and it went very well. There were some issues with scammers and pickpocketers that we came across that we were able to foil.
We did Cairo/Luxor/Aswan/Abu Simbel/Alexandria..., so not everywhere u want to go.
I made a detailed diary of everything (times we did certian things, costs, how we got from point A to B, experiences with scams and pickpocketers, etc.). I had posted it on Ask-Aladdin.com/forum (very helpful website, its what i used) last year and got much praise from it. If your interested and think it will help i can post a copy on here or give me an email and i can send it to you, just let me know.
We did do a organized trip to west bank for one day in luxor to valley of kings, and 2 other sites over there (i cant remember the names off hand). and went back the west bank independently to see what we wanted to that wasnt part of the tour.
And we did abu simbel thru tour out of aswan too. both (the west bank tours and abu simbel) are easily booked thru hotel when you arrive, and they give plenty of time (from my point of view). NOTE: if you do the organized trip to abu simbel they tell you u have to be back at the vehicle at a certian time, you better be there! because of the convoy system, we were missing someone yet security forced the vehicles to start moving. the person had to run to the vehicle while it was on the move.
have fun Reply to this

14 years ago, September 6th 2009 No: 4 Msg: #85443  
Thank you for that information, i think i have decided to do it independently now ...so on with the planning!
Thanks again Reply to this

14 years ago, September 7th 2009 No: 5 Msg: #85502  
1 posts moved to this new topic: Egypt and Jordan Reply to this

14 years ago, September 11th 2009 No: 6 Msg: #86025  
Hi Zara

We are currently in Egypt and we are travelling with an organised tour. This is the first time that we are on a tour and not travelling independently. I think that it was the right choice for us as we only have 2 weeks and we want to see all the sights. We did not want to have the stress of having to look for hotels and orgainisng transport etc. Tourists including backpackers get hassled a lot and this can be challenging and I am glad that we do not have to negotiate all the time and our guides have been good and helpful.... However, if I see a minibus I can feel the itch to get in there. Being on a tour has restrictions as you cannot decide to stay somewhere longer or shorter etc. If I would have had 4 weeks, I probably wold have done it independently but if you only have 2 weeks and you want to relax, I think a tour can be good 😊. How long are you planning to stay in Egypt?
Have a good time
E and Frankie Reply to this

14 years ago, September 11th 2009 No: 7 Msg: #86027  
we are planning to stay for about 16days, who did you book your tour with? i will look into it and see the price differences also
x
Reply to this

14 years ago, October 1st 2009 No: 8 Msg: #88025  
N Posts: 1
Hello Zara,
last year we spent a wonderful trip in Egypt, We were traveling withthey organized a great trip to us, every thing went smooth, every one was so nice and cooperative and did their best to offer us a great trip. The cost of the tour was less than half of what we would have paid if we had booked it through a travel agency in our country or try to organize the trip ourselves.
I remeber thier email was , i'm sure if you contact them, they will help you very much, as they did with us.
have a great trip 😊
Silia
Reply to this

9 years ago, May 24th 2014 No: 9 Msg: #181928  
it's still in my dream to traveling to egypt Reply to this

9 years ago, October 20th 2014 No: 10 Msg: #186188  
I always wanted to go to Egypt. It has a lot of attractions especially ones that belongs to the history so i find it quite reasonable. You should go the place and get everything that you feel like getting and at the same time all can go well for you. Reply to this

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