Top Alexandria Day Trips - page 2

Mahmood is a fantastic guide. He's well-educated, engaging, friendly, and flexible. Visiting the Commonwealth Cemetery was a moving experience. We were able to add on a tour of the Serapium for a very reasonable price. This is where Mahmood really came into his own. We then modified our drop-off to a restaurant Mahmood recommended for a truly authentic Egyptian meal at a family restaurant, Kebab Ouzi.

We had the best experience with our guide, Mohamed, and driver, Rami. The operator, Mirette Tours, was extraordinary right from our first communication with them. They were super responsive on WhatsApp and answered our many questions. About a week before our scheduled date, they messaged us to confirm pick-up location and whether we wanted to make arrangements in advance for camel rides and entry into the pyramids. The day before our arrival in Alexandria, they sent us the name of our guide, his WhatsApp number, and the meet-up point. We arrived in Alexandria by cruise ship and met up with our guide and driver outside the cruise port gate at 7:00am, after walking past all the cruise excursion buses and over a bridge. Mohamed provided us with a photo of himself so we could easily locate him. The vehicle was perfect; a large 13-seater minivan for our small group of 5 + driver and guide, and the AC worked well. We headed off immediately, but our tour guide informed us that we would be stopping at a gas station near Alexandria Gate/Toll on the highway because the fog was too thick and the main road was closed until it cleared. We ended up waiting over 2 hours. Nothing could be done about this, and all the cruise ship buses were in the exact same situation as us. We, at least, had Mohamed explaining what was going on, a coffee shop, a bathroom, and the ability to walk around while waiting. Once the fog cleared, we were able to get to Cairo in about 2.5 hours. Mohamed let us relax, but also chimed in every once in a while to explain something along the road and to answer our questions. Our experience at the Pyramids of Giza was outstanding! We had a passenger with some mobility restrictions and Mohamed and Rami somehow managed to get permission for our vehicle to enter the pyramid complex so they could drive us directly to the various pyramids and stops. The camel rides went very well (4 of us at the same time; no scam!) and the experience going inside the pyramids was well coordinated (one of us went in, the others waiting 20 minutes with the guide). Mohamed knew what he was doing, and we appreciated how he always explained things, never rushed us, and interfered with local hagglers and security when needed. We honestly could not have asked for a better experience. The guided tour of the Egyptian Museum was also excellent, and we could tell our guide was passionate. Our "lunch" ended up being a dinner, since everything got delayed due to the morning fog, and we would not have had time to visit the museum if we went to lunch first. The restaurant was excellent. The selection of Egyptian food was good, and none of us got sick from it, which was one of our initial concerns about eating in Egypt. After our meal, it was past 7:30pm and we decided to skip going to Khan Al-Khalili since we were tired. It took over 3 hours to drive back to Alexandria from Giza, and we got back at 11:30pm. This was an almost 17-hour day; well worth it, but definitely exhausting. Overall 10/10 experience. Everything in the listing was accurate. Many water bottles were provided. Our guide and driver were extremely flexible and accommodating to our group. Thank you, Mohamed and Rami.

I booked a private tour of Giza from Alexandria with Wessam. I knew it would be a long day. She paced the trip beautifully, starting a little earlier than originally booked. We arrived at the pyramids before midday and I was able to walk around on my own for a while. Magnificent structures were awesome inspiring. But watch for the local "guides" who want to give you something and take pictures for free but really want to be paid, lol. Wassam then took me to see the sphinx, my main fascination, which was AWESOME. She took some great pictures and explained so much history. We had a lovely lunch, went to state run stores for shopping Egypt's best, and ended our time in Giza at the newly opened GEM, museum of antiquities. What a spectacular place! Massage guided me to the best of the museum displays, explaining their fascinating history as we went through it. Definitely worthy of a return visit. Then back to Alexandria. A long and fascinating day with an expert tour guide!