What's the best way,best best travel company and best deal to see Egypt? Bus tour? River cruise? Small group?

We want to see history and culture, not go shopping! We want some individual time, not always being led around in a large group. We're on a middle-class budget so can't afford luxury.

We're newly-retired but not yet over-the-hill! Asked by young-at-heart 50 months ago Similar questions: travel company deal Egypt Bus tour River cruise Small group Games & Leisure > Travel.

Similar questions: travel company deal Egypt Bus tour River cruise Small group.

We went with a small group We went with a small group (8 of us) and the government provided us with an armed guard. You probably won’t be able to shake him, some of us tried in the market place and he was right on our heels. We felt like we had no privacy and like the walls had ears.

We took an overnight train from Cairo to Luxor (felt like the orient express, very old, very cool) and flew back to Cairo on a big jet that felt like the bolts were coming loose! We spent one day relaxing on a riverboat where we could nap if we wanted. It seemed like that could be an incredable way to see the country.

The best story was when we were in Cairo, trying to cross the street to go to a Nile riverboat dinner cruise. The traffic is CRAZY there. We watched as someone tentatively stepped out, then dashed across the street.My husband decided that was the way to do it so he started to put his foot in the street.

The guard held his hand out to hold my husband back. He then opened his jacket and pulled out an AK47 (I think, it was a big assault rifel) and all the fast traffic came skreeching to a hault. We scurried across the street to our dinner.

At dinner there was a great whirlling derbish show and a great belly dancer. On the way back, we were waiting for it. We all watched the guard intently as he pulled out the gun and the traffic again came shreeking to a hault.

This time we sauntered across the street. Feeling kind of special. Everything costs extra in Egypt.

When at the pyramids the armed soldiers called my husband over and posed for me to take their picture with him. They then rubbed their fingers together,( the universal sign for money.) Any where else that would be armed robbery! They charge you to get OFF the camel and if you don’t give them enough they don’t let you off.

They say it’s custom, "I give you a gift, you give me a gift" So they give you a broken piece of alabaster then want money. Everywhere we went the guard told us that it would be "extra" if we wanted to bring our cameras. Video cameras were even more.

All in all I am glad I went.It was an experience of a lifetime, but I don’t think I’ll be going back any time soon. IMPORTANT TIP: Bring your own toilet paper! Sources: Our Egypt trip Judi's Recommendations Touring Egypt Amazon List Price: $19.99 Used from: $2.94 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) Lonely Planet Egypt Amazon List Price: $24.99 Used from: $15.33 Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 29 reviews) Charmin Travel Toilet Tissue (pkg of 9) Clipstrip Amazon List Price: $15.21 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 1 reviews) Charmin Travel Toilet Seat Covers 10'S (pkg of 9) Clipstrip Amazon List Price: $17.91 Don't forget to bring some toilet tissue as they charge you when you walk up to the potty if you want any tissue.It's like GOLD over there!

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Do your own thing..... I work with an excellent US tour operator, based in Florida, which organizes terrific Egypt programs for individuals. The company is called EgyptMagic, and you can reach them at egyptmagic.com. They have some suggested travel programs on their website, but are happy to customize anything for you.

The owners travel to Egypt often to make sure their hotels and other services are all up to standards. That's important; these days with all the travel websites and glowing descriptions written by who-knows-who, it's impossible to distinguish the really good from the really overwritten. Group tours can be exhausting, and it's hard to avoid the silly stops and shopping stops when you're traveling in a herd.

Egypt is full of so many wonderful things to see and do that you could easily spend a couple of months touring around and still have more on your "to do" list. Don't try to do it all. You've got years of travel ahead of you, so hit your own personal highlights on the first go-round and then return to pick up other stops another time.

You won't finish the trip needing a vacation to recover from your vacation, and you'll have left time for the enchanting unexpected encounters that make travel so much fun. Here are a few things I highly recommend: The Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Literally bursting at the seams with treasures, including of course whatever artifacts from King Tut's tomb aren't currently out on tour somewhere....never the whole collection.

But there's so much more besides. The museum is barely organized and the artifacts only partially explained, but that just adds to the charm. Saqqara.

Just south of the more famous Pyramids at Giza is the first pyramid, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. Besides that, there are wonderful excavated tombs and mastabas where you'd swear the heiroglyphs had just been painted yesterday, they're so bright. And the sands of the desert are constantly encroaching, which makes you realize how amazing it is that any of these treasures was ever discovered at all.Luxor.

Most tours suggest one day for the West Bank (Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Deir al Bahri) and one for the East Bank (Karnak and Luxor Temples). Worse yet, some tours only give you one day in Luxor, typically with the morning on the West Bank and the afternoon on the East. That's not nearly enough.

Spend extra time in Luxor. Not only are the antiquities remarkable, but it's a very pleasant riverside city, small enough to be friendly and navigable but large enough to provide interesting excursions through the markets. Pick a good Nile-bank hotel/resort with gardens and a swimming pool (the Jolie Ville is a fave of mine), and plan at least one day to just veg and recuperate!

Nile cruise. Definitely. It can be just as romantic as all the old travelers' books suggest.

There are some wonderful antiquities which are best reached by cruising between Luxor and Aswan (depending on your itinerary, you'll have either 3 or 4 nights aboard, with scheduled sightseeing stops), and also plenty of time to sit on the deck and watch as the banks of the Nile slip by. Pick a really good 5* deluxe cruise ship....it's worth the extra money to have a comfortable cabin, good service and all the trimmings for this part of your trip. I could go on and on but will spare you that.

These are just a few things I think would make your tour, whatever shape it ends up taking, an unforgettable rather than a cookie-cutter experience. Roseredcity's Recommendations Blue Guide Egypt Amazon List Price: $33.95 Used from: $132.43 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) This guidebook doesn't mess much with bus schedules and budget accommodations--but the descriptions of the antiquities are incomparable. Travel with this in hand..

Valley of the Kings" hello youngathearts, my wife and I have been to Egypt twice. The first visit was to "Luxor" to see the Valley of the Kings. This is where most of the tombs of the Pharoahs are, e.g. ,Nefredidi, Ramseys, etc. This place is awesome.

Especially the ancient temple. Our second visit was last year, when we went to Giza (Cairo) to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Both of these place are "must sees" when you are visiting Egypt.

However, if you have to pick one over the other: Luxor is the place to be.It is located on the Nile river, so it can be reached by river cruise as is Cairo. If it were me, I would take a Nile cruise from Cairo to Luxor. The web-site: www.nilerivercruise.com/ is an excellent spot to research and plan your trip.

They offer vacations at competitve prices at 1st class, deluxe & luxury levels. Trips range form 8 days to 2 weeks. If you can afford it, choose Abercombie & Kent.

They are especially good when it comes to Egypt/Africa. Be careful when dealing with the camel owners around the pyramids as they will offer you a photo op on their camel for $5. And then take you out in the desert; where they will demand another $45. To return you.

Enjoy Egypt. Sources: www.vacationstogo.com/ Google Map View Larger Map .

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What is the best tour company to travel to Egypt and possbily Petra.

They offered me a free cruise but I'm not sure.

If I have US travel passport, do I need to applay for visa to go to Egypt.

I am a resident of Spain, can I travel to Canada from Egypt.

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