Anonymous wrote:We went in March 2023 without our son (he was only 2 at the time), but would love to take him back when he's older.

We did three nigths in Luxor and all the usual sights there (Valley of the Kings and Queens, Luxor Temple, Karnack). A major highlight was a sunrise hot air balloon ride.

Then we did a five night river cruise on the Nour el Nil. It was a small boat with just 10 cabins. Also loved that and woud highly recommend - we saw other kids there as well.

Then just a day in Giza at the end, saw the pyramids, didn't actually do Cairo.

One more question for you, PP. Did you think the additional nights in Luxor was needed? Our travel agent is saying that you cover the sights throuh the Nile cruise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went last year and had a really great experience. Flew into Cairo, A & K guide and driver took us straight to Alexandria. Stayed three nights at FS Alexandria in a villa right on the med. Lots to see and do there. Went back to Cairo to FS Cairo Nile Plaza. Recommend both hotels and using Abercrombie and Kent. We travel a ton, including the Middle East, and you definitely want tours/transportation taken care of in Egypt. It is not at all like visiting Dubai or Doha from an infrastructure standpoint.

Also more than a year but also used A&K and agree with both the hotel recs and using them. At times we did have additional guards in Cairo and also on the Nile, A&K took care of this without any request.

Why would you ever vacation somewhere where you need “additional guards.”

Sounds awful! why would anyone want to go willingly as a tourist when there are so many other places to visit? I like my freedom when traveling and needing to have personal guards and off duty officers would stress me out.

Thanks all! One more quesiton from me (OP). I am thinking of flying straight to Luxor when we land in Cairo. Can we do that ourselves or do we need a guide to help us through the airport? I realize this might be a stupid quesiton and we've flown through lots of airports but all the tour compnaies stress someone meetng you in Cairo and taking you through immigration and customs. We land at 5:30 a.m. in Cairo and I was thinking we could just book a flight later that morning to Luxor.

Anonymous wrote:PP your trip sounds perfect. Did you fly straight to Luxor? What guides did you use and did you like them?

We flew into Cairo on a flight that arrived pretty late, so got an airport hotel and then flew to Luxor the next morning. I arranged a guide for the Luxor airport pickup and tour of the Karnak temple through the Nour El Nil cruise people. Though that was the last guide we actually hired because we thought it was kind of annoying and wanted to roam the sites on our own. From there on out we just hired drivers through our hotel to take us to the various sites and did self guided tours. We had already done extensive research and felt we weren't missing out that much, though a guide probably would be good for kids who can't research as extensively on their own. We stayed at the Al Moudira hotel in Luxor - it's slightly out of town, but like a beautiful oasis that I would definitely recommend. For Giza stayed at the Marriott Mena house, which had stunning views of the pyramids.

PP your trip sounds perfect. Did you fly straight to Luxor? What guides did you use and did you like them?

We went in March 2023 without our son (he was only 2 at the time), but would love to take him back when he's older.

We did three nigths in Luxor and all the usual sights there (Valley of the Kings and Queens, Luxor Temple, Karnack). A major highlight was a sunrise hot air balloon ride.

Then we did a five night river cruise on the Nour el Nil. It was a small boat with just 10 cabins. Also loved that and woud highly recommend - we saw other kids there as well.

Then just a day in Giza at the end, saw the pyramids, didn't actually do Cairo.

Sorry- should have added to my note above about Nubia-- this was a tailored trip to us, not a group tour.

We travelled to Egypt last November and used this tour company: http://www.nubiatours.org/index.html

Was very happy with them--- they arranged everything including VIP meet/greet at the airport, guides, tickets, etc.
For Nile cruising, we were on the Historia. We were not travelling with kids but think the travel agent would be able to adapt without issue to tailor to a family trip.
Like others have noted- getting tour arranged, etc for Egypt is being a smart traveler. I almost never use a travel agent or book tours and have travelled very broadly but Egypt is a smart place to play it safe.

OP here, we would definitely be getting guides in Egypt. Grateful for recommendations for companies or particular guides.

For the Egyptian-American poster, what would you advise in terms of places to visit for a first time tourist family and how long in each place? We have 5-10 days to play wiht (we are pairing it with another trip but have flexibility for time)

I’m an Egyptian-American and my husband was born and raised in Egypt.

Setting aside the safety issues for a moment, when we go to Egypt we like to have a tour guide. It’s not that expensive and it makes the experience exponentially better, EVEN FOR EGYPTIANS. It’s just more fun and informative. Plus the guide makes it safer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Egypt, but we went to Jordan with DS7. Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. We all had a great time!!

Those … are not the same countries, or even on the same continent.

So…recommendations for South Africa would have been more relevant? Are you sure about that?

Neither is remotely relevant. Just as it would be insane to respond to a post requesting travel tips for Ireland to respond with input on your trip to France or Greece.

You’re wrong. Many people who go see the pyramids also want to see Petra.

The typical strategy is to fly from Cairo to Aqaba and then get a tour to Petra: https://jordantraveler.com/petra-tours-from-aqaba/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went last year and had a really great experience. Flew into Cairo, A & K guide and driver took us straight to Alexandria. Stayed three nights at FS Alexandria in a villa right on the med. Lots to see and do there. Went back to Cairo to FS Cairo Nile Plaza. Recommend both hotels and using Abercrombie and Kent. We travel a ton, including the Middle East, and you definitely want tours/transportation taken care of in Egypt. It is not at all like visiting Dubai or Doha from an infrastructure standpoint.

This isn’t really travel. It’s being handled and sheltered. You need to figure out things on your own. If you did more than throw money at any challenge in life, you’d be more savvy and never make a comparison between Doha and Cairo.

NP but I'd only want to do this being handled and sheltered. Sorry Egypt, some of your inhabitants ruined it for everyone.

I’ve been to Egypt. A regular tourist with kids who’s never been to Egypt before absolutely should throw money at this and get support from an organized tour company or reputable guides.

There are a lot of wars going on around there, American tourists are not always popular, and the person saying “you need to figure things out on your own” is a jerk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went last year and had a really great experience. Flew into Cairo, A & K guide and driver took us straight to Alexandria. Stayed three nights at FS Alexandria in a villa right on the med. Lots to see and do there. Went back to Cairo to FS Cairo Nile Plaza. Recommend both hotels and using Abercrombie and Kent. We travel a ton, including the Middle East, and you definitely want tours/transportation taken care of in Egypt. It is not at all like visiting Dubai or Doha from an infrastructure standpoint.

Also more than a year but also used A&K and agree with both the hotel recs and using them. At times we did have additional guards in Cairo and also on the Nile, A&K took care of this without any request.

Why would you ever vacation somewhere where you need “additional guards.”