TRAVELING TO EGYPT: TALE OF TWO TOURS

My two trips to Egypt were via tour companies; first trip was through Contiki and the second trip was with Trafalgar. Both companies contract Spring Tours to run the tour in Egypt. I chose to visit Egypt with a tour group for a number of reason but mainly because of the language barrier and the perks that come with having a tour guide. My first visit to Egypt was not that enjoyable but the second was near perfect. The first trip definitely provided a lot of lessons learned on international travel, selecting tour companies, and visiting Egypt. 

This post will provide a general overview of the three companies along with information and tips on planning a trip to Egypt and selecting a tour company. In future posts, I will provide more detailed information, with pictures, on my hotels, cruise, meals, flights, etc. 

BASICS

Contiki is geared towards young adults, many whom have a limited budget, therefore most tours are what one considers a ‘budget’ tour where transportation and accommodations are very basic.  Trafalgar on the other hand caters to older adults who have a greater disposable income and prefer 4 to 5 star hotels and ships, nicer restaurants, and more sites and activities included in the tour. 

Except for the Nile Cruise, there are stark contrasts between my tours with Contiki and Trafalgar in regards to the lodging, roundtrip transportation to southern Egypt, restaurants, tour guide, and overall experience.  

ITINERARIES

There are many companies that offer tours of Egypt so the best way to start the selection process is by reviewing itineraries. And this can be an overwhelming task if you are not familiar with Egypt and know what are some of the must see sites. 

How to best select a tour? 

Length and Type of Tour - I have seen tours of Egypt range from 7 days to 1 month. It all depends on how much you want to see, if you want free time or prefer a packed schedule, and if you will be visiting just one region or the whole country. Egypt is a large country with tons of wonderful sites and activities.

Contiki, Trafalgar, and many other companies provide ‘overview’ tours where you visit several cities seeing the most important and popular sites, i.e. the Pyramids at Giza, temples of Luxor and Karnak, etc. My 12 day Trafalgar tour included a lot of the standard sites plus visits to Memphis and the temples in Dendera and Philae. The visit to Dendera was one of the main reasons why I selected Trafalgar since in my search for a tour company, I found none that included that stop. 

For those that enjoy water activities (i.e., snorkeling, diving, etc.), there are tours that include Hurghada, a Red Sea resort town, or you can plan a trip to Sharm El-Sheikh, another popular resort town in the Sinai Peninsula. If you are into adventures, some tours offer trips into the desert visiting sites like the Bahariya Oasis and Farafra, location of the famous White Desert. 

My 8 day trip with Contiki covered several cities throughout Egypt and had a “rushed” feel to it. The tour covered a lot of sites and activities in just 7 days and provided minimal free time at the sites or on the cruise. The Trafalgar trip I selected was 12 days of which 9 were for sightseeing and 1 was for spending a day relaxing on the Nile cruise. Since it was a longer tour, we had more free time, especially on the Nile cruise, extra time to spend at certain sites, and more flexibility to do extra activities like visiting a beautiful local market in Aswan.  

NOTE The number of days listed usually includes one or two travel days so a 7 day trip may only include 5 days of sites and activities. One lesson I learned on the first trip is to arrive a day early to give yourself time to adjust to the time change and to get some rest after those long international flights. 

2018 Trip - Map of Archaeological Sites in Egypt (Egyptian Museum)

Price - It is important to see what is included in the price when it comes to sites, activities, and meals. 

Contiki offers a very inexpensive tour, currently priced at $1,319 per their site; however, as you look through the itinerary one notices that most activities are an additional price. When I took the Contiki tour in 2010, the temples at Kom Ombo and Edfu and the Temples of Luxor and Karnak were all included but now they are listed as optional tours. The Trafalgar tour costs more, I paid $2,750 for the 12 day tour, but it includes 18 sites that require admission tickets. And on this trip, one activity that I thought was optional, the Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids, turned out to be an included item on the tour. The extra activities I paid for totaled about $20 - ticket to enter Menkaure’s pyramid, admission to the Solar Boat Museum, a camera pass for the Egyptian Museum, and admission to the Royal Mummy Hall. Some of my tour mates paid to enter King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings; however, I did that during my first trip not the second.  

One major site that doesn’t seem to be included in any tour is the trip to Abu Simbel. The optional tour is a bit more expensive since it includes roundtrip airfare and shuttle to/from the temples. This trip I paid $295 and in 2010, I paid $264. (I prepared detailed expense reports for both trips.) In a future post I will write more about Abu Simbel and why I highly recommend people do not skip this tour. 

Aside from included sites and activities, meals are a major expense of any trip. Fortunately, it appears as though most Egypt tours include the majority of meals. During the Contiki tour, I paid for 2 meals and in this recent trip, I paid for 3 at an average of $8 per meal. Egypt is a very inexpensive destination so you can get delicious meals without going bankrupt. I still advise to look carefully at the itinerary to see how many and what type of meals are included.

2018 Trip Site Tickets

Activities - Some tours include activities such as cooking classes, shopping excursions, visits to local towns, and/or water activities (i.e. diving). In the Contiki tour, we were dragged to several markets and stores, many that proved to not be interesting and a waste of time. Fortunately, during the Trafalgar tour, we spent considerably less time shopping. On both tours we visited the Isis 2 papyrus museum and store in Luxor which was very interesting in that the store manager held a demonstration on how to make papyrus paper and we could purchase authentic papyrus paintings. I have purchased 3 paintings from that store and all have been high quality and worth the money. Contiki and Trafalgar both offer the option of visiting a local village. The visit is interesting but a bit pricey for the short amount of time you actually spend walking around and seeing inside a village home. I noticed that Contiki no longer lists this as an optional tour since it is now part of the regular tour.

Papyrus painting purchased in 2010
(pic taken at angle to avoid reflection)

When selecting a tour, not only comb through the itinerary looking for extra activities but visit travel sites like TripAdvisor to see what other “surprises” you may encounter during your tour. You have limited time in Egypt so last thing you want is being dragged to an essential oils store and spending 30 minutes listening to the history of essential oils followed by 30 minutes of a sales person chasing you around the store to buy low quality, expensive oils. And no, that is not an exaggeration. That is what happened during my 2010 trip while in Aswan. 

The infamous essential
oils that smell horrible! 

NOTE Be warned that some of the stores you are taken to while on tour are specifically geared towards tourists so prices tend to be higher and your tour guide may be receiving a commission on sales. During my last trip, since we had free time, I asked Tarek if we could visit a market in Aswan and he took us a wonderful local market that had all sorts of food stalls and little stores. When in Egypt, talk to your tour guide to see if visits to local markets and stores can be arranged instead of the usual tourist traps.

HOTELS 

The stark contrast in hotels used by Contiki compared to those selected by Trafalgar is one of the important reasons tourists need to do their research before selecting a tour company. I understand Contiki is a budget tour so I wasn’t expecting a deluxe luxury hotel; however, security was lacking and the services provided were very basic. And it just wasn’t the hotel, the area around the hotel was dark and generally void of people and traffic in the evening. I am not a hotel snob - just need a clean bed and bathroom, decent service, and a sense of security - and unfortunately, the hotel felt short in those regards. During my trip last to Egypt, a Spring Tours representative informed me that Contiki no longer uses the Victoria Hotel. 

Trafalgar selects hotels that tend to be rated four or five stars and provide an array of amenities. The first hotel on this recent trip was Le Meridien in Giza which was a definite improvement to my stay at the Victoria Hotel. I had three very wonderful evenings at Le Meridien. The hotel was secure, staff was real courteous, general areas, rooms, and bathrooms were all clean, and the food provided by the restaurant was exceptional. Le Meridien also had a bank, gift stores, spa, and pool. The second hotel was the Ramses Hilton in Downtown Cairo. I had some issues with this hotel, particularly the dirty room and rude front desk staff, but the hotel was secure, had a decent breakfast, a good restaurant for dinner, and a bank and ATM. I only stayed one night at the Ramses Hilton. 

So yes the Trafalgar tours are a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for and lodging in Egypt is something you don’t want to skimp on. I found that having a restaurant, bank, and ATM on site are priceless amenities. Why the bank and ATM? The ATM for currency exchange and the bank to break large bills into smaller denominations, which are very useful for tipping and for purchasing souvenirs at the sites. 

On a later post, I will provide a detailed review of Le Meridien and the Ramses Hilton. 

CRUISE

My Nile cruises have taken place on board the MS Norma and the MS Medea with both providing exceptional service and meals. The MS Medea was a more luxurious ship, elegant lobby and beautiful wood paneling in the hallways, contained fewer cabins (59 cabins/suites per Spring Tour’s website), and provided a small gym and library. On the MS Norma and MS Medea, all meals were included plus there was tea time in the afternoons on the upper deck. Both cruises hosted an Egyptian party where guests dressed up in belly dancing outfits and galabayas and another evening, had a Whirling Dervish and belly dancer. 

For those seeking a unique experience, Spring Tours offers trips on the S/S Karim which is a steamboat dating from the early 1900s. Another unique experience is traveling the Nile aboard a ‘dahabiya’ which are smaller boats powered by two sails. Several tour companies offer excursions aboard a ‘dahabiya’.  

When looking for the perfect trip to Egypt, do research on which type of Nile cruise boat is used by the tour company. Companies that contract with Spring Tours seem to use the MS boats, such as the MS Medea, which were perfect for me but may not be a good fit for another.

NOTE The MS line does not have elevators so you need to be able to climb stairs to reach the lobby, dining area, and upper deck. If you have mobility issues, I suggest you reach out to your tour company to find out if the Nile cruise will have elevators and ramps.

2010 Trip: Picture taken while cruising Nile

TRANSPORTATION 

For both my trips, Contiki and Trafalgar contracted with Spring Tours to provide the airport transfer shuttles and tour buses. Spring Tours does an excellent job maintaining their fleet - all shuttles and buses are super clean inside and out. The drivers are excellent and super courteous. On my last trip, we had two individuals with mobility issues and some of the drivers went the extra mile to help them on and off the busses. I did use the bus bathroom once and it was clean and fully stocked with toilet paper and paper towels. 

The biggest difference between Contiki and Trafalgar is that Contiki tours travel to southern Egypt aboard a sleeper train whereas Trafalgar uses EgyptAir. That sleeper train was quite the adventure and on my 2010 trip, we spent two nights on board what I call a nightmare on wheels. The rooms were extremely small and did not provide a closet or storage area for the luggages, the bathrooms were questionable (just one per car), and our tour guide warned us not to eat the dinner and just eat the bread and jam for breakfast. I am very glad I chose Trafalgar because flying to/from Luxor is definitely worth the cost even though airport security can sometimes be a hassle. At least EgyptAir provides delicious guava juice and cookies!! 

In neither of my trips did I use public transportation - taxi, train, or tuk-tuk. There are tons of taxis in Egypt and during my first trip, some of my tour mates used taxis to get around before the start of the tour. Since I haven’t used public transportation I can’t give personal feedback but I have read that the key to success with taxis is to select one with a meter and to determine a fare before accepting a ride. I have also read in articles that UBER is now available in Egypt so that is an alternative to taxis.   

Tuk-Tuk in Giza.