Top Egypt Day Trips - page 119

Our guide Mohamed, and our driver Mahmoud, with The Egyptian King Travel Agency were fantastic. Seeing the sights is one thing, but you’re guaranteed to enjoy that no matter what. What truly made this experience more incredible were Mohamed and Mahmoud. They were on time, accommodating, and went out of their way to make sure we were taken care of (water, bathroom access, food recommendations) We had great conversation and they both have great senses of humor. Mohamed’s knowledge of history, civilization, faith and religion are excellent and for any question we asked him, he took the time to give a detailed, in-depth response. We consider ourselves lucky that these two were who we ended up with as our guides. One more addition: Mahmoud is an excellent, safe driver and knows how to manage the local traffic very well. When coming to Egypt, these are the gentlemen you want to show you around!

On the day we were due to take this tour we were contacted and asked if we could defer to the following evening because the traffic was so bad because of a state visit. This actually suited us so we agreed. We were picked up as arranged the following evening by our tour guide Amr at our hotel. We then went on to pick up another guest, who truned out to be someone we got on well with. Amr was a great tour guide, fun and informative and suggested changes in the original itinerary to ensure we got the best out of our experience. He delivered our evening in a friendly but professional manner which we thoroughly enjoyed. Would definitely recommend this tour and partiuclarly our guide Amr.

I can't even describe what a wonderful experience today was. I have dreamed of seeing the pyramids my entire life (48 years now). You need to book this with a guide, it made the day magical. Esaam was incredible. Exploring the sites with an actual Egyptologist was amazing. His insight was so enlightening. I will be back to Egypt and I will be doing more tours with him.

Alaa (Aladdin) was an extremely patient and friendly driver. I did the half day tour to Saqqara/Dhashur/Memphis and he took me to each site and more comfortably and safely. I'd definitely recommend. He did ask me at one point if I wanted to visit a carpet museum, to which I replied "no" and that was that. (I'd read reviews from some people saying they were driven round tourist trap shops). Would definitely recommend, just make sure you know what you want to see and where you want to go - Alaa's English was quite poor (we communicated with Google translate), so consider this a personal driver/Uber as opposed to a tour. Sidenote: I only paid for car+driver, there are also car+driver+guide options but I cannot speak for those

The driver was respectful. Arrived promptly. He didn't make me feel uncomfortable as a solo female traveller. He's also a careful driver, avoiding road bumps and potholes. He sign posted me to the ticket stand and didn't just drop me off at the car park. He did not smoke in the car. I will recommend Mohammed from Nubia. I had read bad reviews about Emo tours prior to travelling and I was avoiding them. I only realised when the driver arrived that it was an emo tours tour. I found Abu Simbel underwhelming and not worth the hype. I prefer Karnak and Luxor Temples the statues and every other thing.

The visit to Petra is simply amazing. It is well worth the time spent getting there, however there is no escaping the fact that it is very, very long. Our trip started at 00:45 and ended at about midnight. It was all incredibly efficient though and by and large ran like clockwork. The only delay was when we arrived in Aqaba we were kept on the ferry for about an hour as a customs officer hadn’t turned up. There’s quite a bit of queuing too, you queue to leave Egypt and again to enter Jordan, and then the reverse on the way back. It is mostly queuing outside, it’s still dark (in early Feb) and was quite cold so make sure you have a jacket with you. The guides were great, and our tour bus catered for three languages. I saw previous reviews where people said that people spoke over the guides when it wasn’t their language but that wasn’t our experience. Petra itself is a sight to behold, absolutely stunning! The Treasury, jaw dropping! And the site is huge, we could have done with an entire day as you just can’t see it all in the few hours you are there for. There is a walk of around 45 mins in each direction which is downhill on the way in and therefore uphill on the way out. We are both 65, and quite active, but had no issues at all with the hike. You can take a golf buggy (which I think is $22 cash each, one way. Please check as I’m not too sure, or take a horse). We felt the lunch at a nearby hotel wasn’t great, but as it came at the end of the visit to Petra and we were about to sit on a coach for several hours, it was better not to over eat! Some have complained about the toilet stops being at shopping villages to buy souvenirs, but I couldn’t really see any other options. That said, there was absolutely zero hassle where we stopped, the vendors showed respect and left you alone to browse in peace. And no tips required to use the toilet! Don’t be put off by the journey, it really wasn't too arduous! Petra is an unforgettable experience, the Jordanian people are so friendly and welcoming, it is well, well worth it! I’m not sure why no one offers a two or three day trip though, if they did, we would have done that instead.

It was a very interesting experience. Our guide was fantastic. He was great at storytelling and had a lot of knowledge. He was also very open about his own experiences and opinions and it was a great eye opener for foreigners like us. We visited several churches and a synagogue which carry a massive amount of history. I am not sure if it’s mentioned in the itinerary, to get to the last church you have to drive through the so called ‘garbage city’ - which is not for everyone- and so was visiting the city of the dead - but we are glad we did that as it’s a fascinating part of Cairo. Highly recommend this tour. Our tour guide was William - very knowledgeable!

Our guide, Isaac, and driver, Hamza, were both friendly and welcoming throughout the tour. Isaac was especially knowledgeable and incredibly accommodating, making sure we felt comfortable and informed at every stop. We explored the rich history of Coptic and Islamic Cairo, visiting remarkable sites like the the Hanging Church and Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Isaac also kindly helped us capture memorable moments by taking photos along the way.