Anyone Know a reliable and honest Egypt Tours guide?
planning on using award miles on UAL to go to Cairo with the wifey sometime next year....anyone know of tour guides that are good but cheap? Rather stay away from large grps like Trafalgar, Gate1, etc....
__________________
Mileage PLUS VISA---Delta Skymiles AMEX
Salamalaikum, Welcome to Portland International Airport
Flyertalk Evangelist and Moderator: Talkboard Topics, Coupon Connection and Travel Products
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Medway, MA (suburb of Boston)
Programs: American Gold, United 1K, Marriott Platinum Elite, Hilton Gold, Starwood Gold
Posts: 14,182
We used Memphis Tours... and were very pleased with them.
We went in 1995 on our 10 year anniversary. I planned everything online with them... it was a tour just for the two of us.... and it was a steal. We had an egyptologist with us in each city... and a private driver. We stayed in "5 Star" hotels and even did an overnight train.
We used Memphis Tours... and were very pleased with them.
We went in 1995 on our 10 year anniversary. I planned everything online with them... it was a tour just for the two of us.... and it was a steal. We had an egyptologist with us in each city... and a private driver. We stayed in "5 Star" hotels and even did an overnight train.
William
Hey thanks William!! I will defly check them out! also...how is the price range???
__________________
Mileage PLUS VISA---Delta Skymiles AMEX
Salamalaikum, Welcome to Portland International Airport
Last edited by mrx900; Sep 10, 08 at 7:40 pm.
Reason: adding more info
Just back from cairo , egypt a few weeks ago , been traveling Aswan Cairo and Luxor with a Travel Comapny called traveleg.com
our tour guide were a nice honest person called Ali ahmed el Arabi
he was with us all the tours from the start in cairo till the end , and really we did enjoy been with him visiting all the egypt monuments , had provide us with lots of information , and were very ind and caring to our children
i was so much inpresed by his knolge and the behaver of an Egyptain tour guide , and i really do belive thats he was a great representing for his company and his own country as well
you can simply contact him via phone 0020123543028
wish you a lovely Holiday in Egypt
Since we have been toured both Morroco and Egypt during Ramadan (date moves around), I suggest you avoid that month. I doubt that you will go to Egypt in the hot season, but Ramadan next year is from Aug 10 to Sept 9.
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, UA 1K, MR Plat, HH/SPG Gold
Posts: 17,820
Bumping this... Looking for some good Egyptian tour guide recommendations.
We will need a guide for one afternoon/evening in Aswan, a driver/guide to transfer us from Aswan to Luxor in the morning convoy (with the Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Daraw stops), and then perhaps a couple of daytrips out of Cairo and/or Luxor.
I received a quote from Memphis Tours already and, while they were prompt and professional, they were about 3 times as expensive as what I've read elsewhere. (For example, around $300 for a car/driver in Aswan and another $300 for the ASW-LXR transfer.)
I'm half-tempted to just negotiate with cabbies once I get there, but if nothing else arranging a car for ASW-LXR in advance seems wise. If there are types of tours where a guide gets you priority access to sites (e.g. inside the Great Pyramid, the best tombs near Luxor, etc.), I'd probably pay a premium...but $300 to drive around Aswan for an afternoon to Philae and a couple other places? Seems high.
You could try De Castro. It's big enough to have volume buying power but not sure if they'll bother for such a small trip.
In Aswan, we had a prearranged car that took us to Philae (getting a boat there is another story). Not too much to see other than the unfinished obelisk.
FWIW, Egyptian taxis can be in pretty bad shape. Better to get one of the vans.
__________________
"I have a fear of flying. I fear flying in the back cabin" My Flight Memory
Programs: BMI Silver, BA Blue and Jersey European Passport to Freedom
Posts: 1,928
A year ago in low season (i.e. July) we found a car in Aswan to take us to Luxor in the convoy. It cost 450 L.E. for two of us including the tip– was a new and comfortable 4x4 with tinted glass and sheepskin seat covers (classy). The guy turned up on time and we stopped at Edfu and Kom Ombo where we had to pay separately for admission to the sites. I believe we paid more than others for the trip, but our vehicle was much nicer than the others. We found the car by asking the felucca captain who had taken us on an evening cruise – he knew someone and we got to see the vehicle before we agreed the price. Doubtless he was paid a referral fee, but we got what we wanted.
Our guide in Luxor had approached us in the Temple, seemed nice, so we booked him for a day to the West Bank. He was very expensive but competent. Unless you have shopping in mind, make it clear that you don’t need to see a papyrus museum, a carpet museum or an alabaster factory. In Giza, we took the guide that the hotel recommended who was professional and affordable. He was invaluable in ensuring that we didn’t get too much hassle. These things can easily be arranged on the ground.
Samer is the guy I communicate with and several have used him since I recommended him. I haven't used him for Egypt but when I go there I will. He sets up with other companies in the surrounding countries as he is based in Aqaba, Jordan.
__________________
"Love ya don't tell ya enough" & God Bless
Current UA EQM's: 177,983 - UA upgrades Domestic 14/14, Inter. 5/5
