Holiday FAQ's
Q: We are planning to visit Egypt from late December to January -- about 17 days. What is the best way to arrange our travel? Should we contact a travel agency in Egypt or could we arrange the tour ourselves? Do you have any travel recommendations for our first visit to Egypt?
Thanks.
Bichuan Li
USA
A: For a first-time traveller to Egypt, I recommend you contact a travel agency, either in the US or Egypt. This will save you the hassle of booking a hotel, arranging tours and hiring a professional guide by yourself.
There are a number of tour operators in the US that organise travel packages to Egypt, such as Abercrombie & Kent (800 323 7308 or www.abercrombiekent.com), Adventure Centre (800 227 8747 or www.adventure-center.com), Oversees Adventure Travel (800 955 1925), Cox and Kings (800 999 1758 or www.zenonet.com), and Globus and Cosmos, (800 851 0728 or www.globusandcosmos.com).
In addition, there are reliable Egyptian travel agencies, such as Emeco Travel (00+(202) 574 9360 or e-mail at management@emeco.com), Thomas Cook (00+(202) 417 1260 or e-mail at inquiries@thomascook.com.eg), Abercrombie & Kent (00+(202) 393 6255 or e-mail at akegypt@abercrombiekent.com.eg), Wings Tours & Nile Cruises (00+(202) 407 0511 or e-mail at main@wingsegypt.com), Travco Travel (00+(202) 738 2224), National Travel Service (NTS) (00+(202) 575 7215 or e-mail at ntscairo@ntsegypt.com), Escapade Travel (00+(202) 417 0311 or e- mail at escapade@escapadetravel.com.eg) and Flash Tours (00+(202) 419 3451 or e-mail at flash@flashtour.net).
My advice is to book your flight on Egypt's national carrier, EgyptAir. This would save a lot of money because EgyptAir issues package tickets that include domestic flights for a very good price. EgyptAir flies from New York and Los Angeles to Cairo (www.egyptair.com.eg).
You should book your reservations soon as the peak tourist season is coming up and most hotels will be full and airlines busy. You should also bear in mind that the rates will be higher as well.
If you need some travel tips, check out some of these useful sites: www.touregypt.net, www.intoegypt.com and www.musafereen.com
