This post will be structured a bit differently because Stephen (friend from home) & I traveled Egypt with a tour group. We did it thought Expat Explore & selected the 9 day Egypt Nile Jewel tour (cost about $1000usd). I’ve mentioned this before, but this is definitely not my preferred method of travel. However, traveling Egypt on your own can be quite difficult (although I won’t say impossible), and Stephen & I just didn’t want the hassle of doing all the research & logistics to figuring it out. Also, we wanted to make sure we would be safe the whole time (an armed guard traveled with us for most of the tour, which felt slightly overkill, but what do I know?). Despite not loving group travel, we wouldn’t have done it any differently. After backpacking for almost 6 weeks, it was quite nice to get to turn off my brain, make no decisions, and just follow the leader – literally.

There were 14 of us, representing the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Mexico, & the Cayman Island. There was one couple around our age, while the rest were older adults (some who had brought their kids). Overall a nice group of people!

Here are the highlights:

We started in Cairo, getting to visit the Pyramids & the Sphinx.

We flew down to Aswan to see Philae Temple & Abu Simbel Temple, before boarding our 3 night Nile River cruise!

We saw the Kom-Ombo, Luxor, & Karnak Temples.

Next up, we traveled to the Valley of the Kings & Temple of Hatshepsut.

A highlight was spending two nights in Hurghada at a resort, swimming in the Red Sea!

Lastly we were back in Cairo to visit the Egyptian Museum.

Overall Thoughts on the Tour:

If anyone in my life was heading to Egypt and wanted my advice, it would be to travel with a tour company. We always felt safe, the logistics were arranged for us, and it was great to have someone to answer any questions that popped up regarding the history of Egypt or any site we were visiting. Despite that, this specific tour definitely could’ve been improved. They weren’t great at disseminating information or changes when they occurred. For example, the itinerary we received ahead of the tour was slightly different than the one we ended up doing. No problem, except they didn’t tell us, which meant folks had to miss out on the Sound & Lights show at the Pyramid. If they had told us ahead of time, this could’ve been avoided. Additionally, timing would often change by the hour, which was sometimes frustrating as someone who likes to know what’s coming ahead. For example, on the last day driving back to Cairo, we were told wake up time would be 5am. An hour later we were told 8am. Then it finally changed to 6am. JUST PICK A TIME!

Also, our tour guide didn’t do a fabulous job on “reading the room” when it came to his lectures at the sites. Some folks wanted to hear him talk for an hour. Others would have preferred to just walk around after getting the quick & dirty summary of what we were looking at. So when he went on & on in the 110 degree heat, a few of us could barely take in the info & would finally mosey off on our own. I wish he would’ve done a 15 min summary, then told the group the next meeting time & location, then offered to stay and continue chatting with anyone who would like to stay with him. Problem solved! I would give this tour a 6/10. It would be a better score if we’d had a different guide (the tour itself/itinerary was fairly standard and what you’d want to see if you were visiting Egypt). Lastly, my biggest piece of advice is to not visit in August (it’s way too hot LOL).

If you want to read a more in depth play by play review of the tour, my new Kiwi friend Mike wrote his hilarious, but biting thoughts here 🙂

Overall Thoughts on Egypt:

Truly it is incredibly difficult to wrap your head around the length of history we are dealing with in Egypt. It’s just so wild, especially for someone coming from a fairly new state in a fairly new country (California, USA). A historic home from CA might be from 1910. A historic temple in Egypt is almost 3,500 years old… pretty big difference haha. I just would walk around these old temples and think about all the different people and different lives that existed between these walls. So much history. My favorite temple was Abu Simbel Temple, located in the southern part of Egypt about 12 miles from the Sudanese border. The size & magnitude of the structures given it was built over 3000 years ago is just so flipping impressive.

While the history in Egypt is incredibly magnificent and awe-inspiring, the modern day Egypt is the opposite. It’s almost like it’s stuck in the past. Nothing about Egypt felt modern, new, or all that developed. It was wild to think about the juxtaposition of hearing about Egypt’s power & imposing reign all those years ago, with seeing so many abandoned and half finished buildings (that people seemed to still be living in). Cairo itself was incredibly overwhelming and I didn’t love it. Stephen and I talked about whether either of us could live here, and we didn’t think we would say yes to that opportunity. I am incredibly grateful for getting to visit Egypt and love that I say most of what I wanted to see, as I don’t think it’s a place I would come back to again & again, like I would some other countries I have visited.

BUDGET FOR 10 DAYS IN Egypt:

Tour (included most food, accommodation, local transportation + some activities): $970

Food: $60 (because we had half board at the hotel)

Activities not covered by tour: $195

Miscellaneous: $140

Total: $1,420 (Daily average: $142)

Transportation to next destination: $181 (Flight to Cyprus)