bjf

I'm an experienced traveler, solo female, thinking about going to Cairo and Luxor the end of March 2014. Yes. Or no

DanielW

There are obvious risks, but I would say yes.

Maybe going with someone else, or with a tour would mitigate them though.

JDiver

Moved from TalkBoard Topics to Middle East for appropriateness and better input.

JDiver
senior moderator

JDiver

And I'll add my two cents as well. I've spent some time in Egypt, and IMO it's entirely too unstable and unpredictable to recommend a tourist visit - particularly solo and a woman. By and large, too many Egyptian men are quite sexist and hold a lot of pejorative stereotypes of European and American women (much as you might find in other nations including Latin America). There is a large amount of unreported violence against women - but as a foreigner I think you'd be putting yourself up as a target for those with sexual, xenophobic and some of the more radical Islamist views held by too many.

Many Egyptians I've met are gracious, hospitable hosts. But right now with the issues at hand and a struggle between Islamic, Christian, military and those who would prefer a more civilian and pluralistic Egypt is in full swing - and without local knowledge and guidance it's too easy for a solo traveller to unwittingly become involved or targeted. IMO there is too much undifferentiated anger, and blurred lines of what's safe or not; nobody would have predicted a bus load of South Korean tourists in the Sinai (Taba) would have been targeted for bombing, for instance, but that's exactly what happened last week.

JDiver

Shukran jazeelan for your post. I appreciate there are many forward thinking Egyptians and my heart is truly with them. In spite of that, from my personal experiences and familiarity with many in Egypt, there is sufficient disturbance and friction among a significant number I would hesitate recommending someone who has no local knowledge and is a solo woman go just now - I would recommend letting the leveler heads prevail (maybe once elections have taken place and have reached some level of acceptance) and then visiting.

Egypt is a wonderful place with many hospitable and welcoming people; inshallah, that will be soon.

LAX_Esq

If you're an experienced traveler, my $0.02 would be go for it and be very careful and take proper safety measures. I agree with Mahmoud that you're way safer on your own than in a group of foreigners.

The safest bet would be to have a guide with you at all times to protect you. But that's expensive, and some people feel that a good private guide enhances their trip, while others want to be independent. Having a private guide will "buffer" the solo female danger and avoid the "large group of foreigners" danger. But you can't account for all risk.

You can also mitigate risk by doing things like hiring a pre-arranged driver for the day, instead of winging it and relying on random cab drivers. You're going to be relatively safe once you're inside the tourist sites etc., so this avoids you having to stand on the street and deal with a potentially evil cab drivers.

bjf

I've been to over 70 countries but Egypt has been in the top 5 from the beginning. In 20 years there never seems to have been a "good time". I like to arrange day tours from the hotel, a Marriott. but I'm thinking I might shorten my trip and skip Luxor all together.

LAX_Esq

I'm not an Egypt expert and I offer this $0.02 just as an experienced traveler who has been there: if Egypt has long been on your top 5 list, it'd be silly go to to Egypt to see Cairo only and not see Luxor. If you're going to Egypt to see ancient Egyptian stuff, other than the Pyramids, nothing in Cairo is as unique as what you'll see in Luxor. The Egyptian Museum is great, but you've probably seen a great collection of mummies and sarcophagi at the Met in NYC or the British Museum. And Islamic Cairo is neat, but you probably have seen other interesting Islamic cities if you've been to 70 countries. Where else in the world are you going to see the tombs and temples of Luxor?

bjf

Everything I read says tourism in Luxor is very very low

Thumper

I would side with John on this. While the view of a native is very important, it is equally important to have a view as an outsider with experience within the country as a foreigner. Would I endorse my own wife or daughter traveling in Egypt alone? No, I wouldn't.

Sample reason: the escalation process in the off chance something does go wrong. How far and how long would you be from any assistance. I would be on the side of a small group. Established, registered and under the radar. Always the best place to be.

bjf

for the help and opinions

Canuck2012

Well, I've lived here in Cairo through two revolutions now

As a single female traveler you definitely want an experienced guide (with car and driver) with you at all times. There are many excellent guides that can enhance your trip, especially if you go with one of the top tour companies.

Due to the poor economic situation, renting your own car and driver plus guide is quite economical.

Cairo is safe except for Fridays (where there are usually protests around the city). For example, visiting Cairo Museum is safe, as are many of the main sites. The Pyramids can be a stressful experience due to all the hawkers who will swarm you. -- however, providing you have an experienced guide, it's possible to limit the stress factor. At tip; when visiting any tour site in Cairo, do it early in the morning before the traffic and heat become overly oppressive.

The military and police are visible on the streets keeping order. However, as always Cairo traffic can be the most hindering thing, but there is not much you can do about that.

As far as I know Luxor is quite safe as well. Again, if you stay at one of the top 5 star hotels, have a driver and guide, you'll be just fine. To be sure you'll attract attention being a foreigner, but just avoid the bazaars and learn a few phrases in Arabic and that should do it. One needs a bit of a thick skin to get what they want in Egypt, so don't be afraid of raising your voice. But on the whole, the vast majority of people are hospitable and will go out of their way to make your trip go smoothly.

All that said, avoid the tour buses, avoid Sinai. For internal travel within Egypt, using regional Egyptair flights is much safer than road transport - which is risky at all times.

IAN-UK

An avowedly experienced female traveller wants to visit Egypt - a country set up as few other with a tourism infrastructure?

For heaven's sake GO The dos and don'ts are pretty obvious to a halfway sensible traveller.

For touring you'd be well served by nation-wide agencies who can supply whatever reservations, facilities and services you require. E.g. Thomas Cook http://www.thomascookegypt.com/our_branches.aspx

bibbju

Personally I wouldn't travel to Egypt as a solo female traveller. I'm well travelled and frequently travel solo both for pleasure and business all over the world. Egypt is the only country I've been to that I don't particularly want to re-visit.

It's a fascinating country and I especially LOVED Luxor but the constant hassle/harassment my friend and I received as two women travellers ruined it. We stayed in a Novotel (recommended to me by my father and his partner who travel to Egypt frequently and prefer the hotel location - and floating pool on the Nile - over other more expensive hotels). As two blonde unaccompanied women, we knew we would receive unwelcome attention but didn't realise just how bad it would be. Please note that we're both Londoners and very streetwise (I lived in a particularly rough part of the East End for many years) and are as far from "victims" as you can get. Like most Londoners, we can be spectacularly rude and unpleasant when provoked and we know how to look after ourselves. I learnt Muay Thai in an old school Bethnal Green gym, my friend speaks some Arabic and Farsi (her husband is Iranian). Despite this, the harassment was just constant. We had male hotel staff repeatedly finding excuses to come to our room and/or lurk in the hallway outside. We were pestered by the chef at breakfast who wouldn't leave us alone, pestered by the restaurant servers....it went on and on and we hadn't even set foot on the street. Once outside, it was 100 times worse. We actually called it "running the gauntlet" as that's how it felt. We were spat on and sworn at as we visited sights because we ignored the offers that were made in our direction. At times it was very intimidating and I was very relieved that there were two of us. I would not want to be in the position as a lone woman. I'm sorry to sound so negative but I would not put myself through that again, and most definitely do it alone. If I ever go back, I'll be taking a man with me. As a strong independent woman that irks me no end but on rare occasions like this, personal safety (and happiness) comes first.

LAX_Esq

Not sure that infrastructure is the issue here....

And the situation in Egypt is pretty fluid so it's not exactly clear to even an experienced traveler what dos and don'ts are obvious. Don't think many people called a bus full of Koreans getting blown up.