Planning a trip to Egypt

bstevens14

Hello,

After much thought and research myself and my OH are thinking about going to Egypt. I have looked into it quite a bit and thought here would be a good place to come for some advice. I also have a few questions.

Criteria:

10-14 days from Gatwick or Heathrow
Destination Sharm El Sheikh
Max Budget of 500pp (Bed and Breakfast) (Ideally less)

Other than that we are pretty easy and open to suggestions.
We plan to do the Cairo/Giza day trip and do a few other excursions such as the desert safari/waterpark/camel riding/snorkelling. If people have any experiences of these and recommendations of the best companies to book these with I would be grateful.

In terms of Hotel cheap and cheerful suits us fine so long as its a pleasant experience recommendations are welcome! Easy beach/market access is key although I've heard that lots of the cheaper hotels run shuttle buses to the beaches. Are taxis a good way of getting into the market/shops area's?

Also wondering about time of year as well i'm not too keen on going in the peak of summer when its blistering... but then I dont want it to be getting dark at 4:30pm in the winter ! So when is a reasonable time to go?

What other things are worth doing in Egypt?

Finally, it seems easyjet holidays offer very good value (flights seem to be the biggest cost for other companies packages) and im a frequent flyer with easyjet but know nothing about their holiday service are they ok to go with or is it just more of a pain?

Well thats about it! Im not looking for someone to find me a holiday im just looking for a bit of personalised advice... review sites have their limitations ! Any sources or links are also welcome !

MrsCrafty

If I were planning a trip to Egypt now, been 5 times over the years, this is what I would do.

Book flight to Cairo. Go see the pyramids and wander round Cairo for first day. Second day go to the museum of antiquities. You need a whole day there.

Then book the overnight train to Luxor where the valleys of kings and queens are and Karnak temple. When you are fed up with that go by train to Aswan where you see Abu simple the damm and whatever else. Finish by overnight train back to Cairo and go to the hilton where they have snide bottles of whiskey. 'johnny Waller' anyone.

mickeyjane_2

Hi there is a company called latedeals1 on Twitter or latedeals on facebook do really good prices, generally within 8 weeks though, but that is when you normally get the best prices.
Right now is very very hot, so if you don't like the heat a nice time to go is between November and May where it is still very warm,(mid to late 20's) as opposed to the rest of the year when temperatures can reach well within the 40s
The camel rides are great and some offer them with a Bedouin dinner. Glass bottom boat trips, St Catherine's Monastery and shopping in Dahab, Tiran Island, Moses Mountain, Quad biking, and although pricey you can even visit Jerusalem or Jordan from there. Jeep safari,
Hope this helps