Egypt tour

taba

Hi

We have flights booked to Cairo in October and plan to spend a couple of days in Cairo and then do a short cruise can anyone recommend a travel agent, or would you just arrange this when we arrive? I have prices from some and they vary from £500 - 800 for the same cruise ship, tours and hotels.

lisyloo

can anyone recommend a travel agent, or would you just arrange this when we arrive?

I can recommend Thomas Cook.
They are actually one of the most expensive but as always there is some truth in the phrase "you get what you pay for", so it depends somewhat on your budget.
I would definitely not leave it until you arrive.

I have prices from some and they vary from £500 - 800 for the same cruise ship, tours and hotels.

If you are sure they are identical in what they cover then go for the cheapest but be aware that there may be differences.

For example the ones that charge more may well get better rooms and cabins in the ship/hotel.
On the cheaper ones you might find yourself in larger groups or with a less good guide.
Note that there is a big difference between a "tour manager", "egyptologist" and a "local guide".
A local guide could be anybody without specialist knowledge which may be dissapointing if you are well read.
Also a "tour managers" duty extend beyond just the tours. They look after you for your entire holiday possibly travelling with you from the UK.

Some companies include transfer in the UK to the airport.

I think you need to be careful to make sure that this tours are EXACTLY the same in terms of what they include and cover.

But if they are they great, save yourself some money.

lisyloo

BTW - when we went to Cairo we hired a taxi driver for the day.
I think we paid about £30 for the day and the guy drove us whereever we wanted.
The excursions offered were about £40 each so would have been about £80 just to go to the museum.

You can get a good taxi driver from INSIDE your hotel compound.
I would recommend getting one from the hotel and not outside and the hotel will only let in decent ones.

If you are going to the sound and light show at the pyramids then I would again recommend going by taxi.
It wasn't far from our hotel (the mena house) but we were escorted to the door. If you try and walk you will be surrounded by people offering you taxis, donkeys, tickets etc.
I think it waw about £10 but if you don't want to face the great unwashed it is worth it (I'm not being unkind, I realise these people need to make a living, but it can be quite scary and not much fun to be continually hassled).