Full package to Cairo-Luxor-Aswan-Abu Simbel 9 Days with tour guided & Flight

Our tour had many issues. We apparently missed our cruise boat so we were booked on a replacement for only 2 nights instead of the 4 nights in the brochure. The boat - no power, pulled by a tug down the river, with electricity and water turning off and on all the time - did not seem to have landing rights at ports along the river and we were left off in cow pastures and in sketchy neighborhoods to board and disembark over a gangway without rails or any safety features. However, the crew on the boat were very nice and were trying to make things go well for us. The food on the boat was very good. Fortunately, we survived the sewer gas and bugs in the rooms, no locks on doors, walking through garbage and dung, and long hours between meals. The guides were good (not great), a little too scripted and one had trouble with time estimates, but they were fine and trying to manage what was thrown at us. Future travelers, my warning would be about the tour organizer. He had the gall to tell us we were being “upgraded” to those conditions and put us in old moldy smelly hotels instead of on the cruise boat we had reserved. (Why not better hotels if we were being “upgraded?”) When he me with us the last night, he blamed us for requesting restaurants!?! Only one time did we have the option to request a restaurant and we opted to go to the hotel next door because the moldy hotel would only order carry out. The organizer’s persistent attitude was to deflect blame and play the victim. Buyer beware: Egypt was spectacular to see but do it with a tour company that treats you right and supplies the experience promised and paid for.

We had a great time with Egypt Direct tours. As a group of 3 women traveling alone, we felt safe the whole time. We especially loved our guides, and the trip was really seamless because the tour company took care of everything for us. We did have a few mixups with the original itinerary they had sent us, as well as some miscommunication about accommodations. However, when I brought these to their attention they were immediately responsive and made sure that we felt taken care of, which is why they are earning a 5 star review. Here’s what I would do differently next time: triple check the itinerary that they suggest and that it matches your expectations, add in some rest days, ask to eat more street food and some food with typical Egyptian families instead of just buffets (I think they assumed that Americans would like buffets, and they were good, but it would have been more fun to eat food with locals), ask to incorporate an adventure activity like ATVing in the Sahara (the historical sites are amazing but it can be a lot to see them day after day). All in all, I would recommend Egypt Direct and they will make you feel safe and give you a great trip. Thanks!

I read previous reviews before contacting Egypt Direct via WhatsApp. Our flight schedule allows us to have extra 2 days. The sales managers Almed El Kadi worked with us to customize our tour. We added a 0.5 day tour in Cairo to the civilization museum to see the royal mummies before the official 9 day program started. We also added a day tour to Alexandria after coming back from Aswan. To our surprise our group only has ourselves. The hotel in Cairo, Swiss Inn is very good. It is next to a golf course. We took some relaxing walks there after a busy day. We also chatted with some German engineers who are building the Grand Museum when we had dinner there. Almed also upgraded our cruise ship to have less Egyptian guests on board so that it will be more quiet and comfortable. On the last day our tour ended around 3pm but our flight is 2 am, Ahmed arranged a complementary hotel room for us to rest until the driver took us to the airport at 10pm. We had two guides, Hawida In Cairo, Hussan in Luxor and Aswan. They are very knowledgeable about the facts and history of the sights we visited. At the end we became friends, they shared their frustration about inflations and politics. And their personal experiences in 2011 revolution. I am kind of visitor who prefer explore myself and took pictures. They first finished the lectures and left enough time for us the explore. We ordered some additional excursions 1) camel ride in Giza Pyramids. You may ride camel to the back side the the pyramids and took pictures of all nine pyramids 2) hot air balloons in Luxor. It is amazing to view the Hatshepsut temple and valley in the air. 3) Nubian village. Take tak-tak to the top of the hill and watch sunset of Nile river