Egypt

Things I wish I knew before going, tips I learned while I was there that would have been helpful, and our itinerary: I want to start by saying we felt completely safe the entire time! My whole like I have wanted to go to Egypt and everyone always said "it isn't safe" Well...I would argue Mexico isn't stereotypically safe either, but people go all the time (myself included) and love it! You just have to make smart choices, stick to the better known areas and have some common sense...in my opinion.

We stayed in Cairo, and I am so glad we did because there really isn't anything to do in Giza except for see the pyramids. There are very nice hotels like the Ritz and Four Seasons in Cairo, great restaurants on the Nile, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, shopping, the Opera House, a beautiful city view from the Cairo Tower and it is only about 30 minutes from the airport.

We were there for 5 days despite this being a week long trip due to travel time. 5 days was definitely not enough, but had I known more about some of the things I had booked, I would have allocated my time differently and probably would have felt like we accomplished more. There are endless mysteries to explore in Egypt, so depending on your preferences, the time you want to stay will vary. I do feel like we accomplished everything we wanted, but there is so much more to see still!

In our 5 days we started by relaxing, not knowing how we would feel after traveling for a day and a half. I wish we would not have rested this day because we ended up never making it to the Grand Egyptian Museum where King Tut's mask is!! They close at 5 daily, resulting in us never being able to go by the time we returned from our daily excursion. That evening we went on a Nile River dinner cruise. It was NOT what I expected, it might be fun for some, but it was a very large boat with a buffet and pretty cheesy entertainment. I would have rather had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Nile so we could actually see it, inside the boat the windows were too reflective to even see out. I had thought it would be an open-air boat (like this), which there ARE plenty of...it just wasn't what we had gotten.

Our second day we hired a private tour to take us to see the Pyramids! Our first stop was Saqqara, where the first pyramid was ever built! You can still see the step-pyramid design standing in great condition and you can also go INSIDE of one of the pyramids here. You can go inside of the Great pyramid in Giza as well, but it is empty. Instead, we chose to go inside the Saqqara pyramid to see the beautiful carvings and tomb. After Saqqara we went to Memphis, the first capital of Egypt where the 10 meter statue of Ramesses the second lies. Finally, we visited Giza to see the world famous pyramids! It was breathtaking!! Not only did we get to see the pyramids, the Sphinx, and ride camels, but the tour guide was incredible and had so many additional facts for us and gave us information we would have otherwise missed in a large group. I really feel that a private tour is the best way to go for this situation, if possible. While VIP tours would always be ideal, of course, that isn't in my budget typically...so I do not always opt for that but in this instance I valued the 1-1! Our guide was Sam, he was incredible and known by many at the places we went! Would highly recommend this tour and recommending him if possible.

The next day we left bright and early for Luxor, an overnight trip from Cairo by plane. I did link this tour in that last sentence, but please be warned....they put you up in a TERRIBLE hotel! DO NOT expect it to be nice. Otherwise, the trip was astounding! While in Luxor we went to the Luxor temple, Karnak, a hot air balloon ride, took a river boat on the Nile, enjoyed local food, went to Valley of the Kings, Medinet Habu, Memnon Colossi and Temple of Hatshepsut which were all included in our package. I really wanted to see the Valley of the Queens as well but our guide informed us that the only tomb really worth seeing there was Nefertati's and it was currently closed. If you are doing these separately I would skip Medinet Habu, although beautiful, it was not as significant as Luxor and Karnak if you are short on time/money. Memnon Colossi are two statues you can quickly stop and see from the road, worth stopping if you are near, but not worth a trip to see. Finally, the temple of Hatsheput was a major disappointment only because if has all been remade. It is not the original and is all fabricated, I am personally uninterested in a recreation when so may are still the originals, which, in my opinion, is what makes them so fascinating!

On our last say we went to Alexandria to see the Mediterranean. By this time, we had met a local driver and had him take us since everything in Egypt is SO CHEAP! In hindsight, I wish we hadn't taken this trip all the way there. Our driver was AWESOME and I would use him for all of our other tours if I hadn’t met him towards the end of our trip.

. It is a cool place to see if you are close by but it was not worth the trip to me. We visited a citadel which was GORGEOUS, the catacombs, and one other spot I honestly don't remember because it was not incredibly noteworthy.

Tipping culture here is more prevalent than anywhere else I have ever been. They want tips for EVERYTHING! Not just dinner and drivers and tour guides, etc. If you go to the bathroom they expect a tip, if an employee at a temple takes your picture or even shows you a good photo spot they want a tip. And I don't mean this lightly, they will repeatedly ask you and even follow you!

If I had to do it over again, I wish we would have done one of the 4 or 6 day Nile River cruises so there was less movement and separate planning by us. Take a look at the excursion ideas I've written about, feel free to ask me any questions, and please use my links if you are going!