Egypt Activities for the Next Two Weeks

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Egypt Activities, Day trip to Pyramids and Sphinx

Two weeks of Egypt activities. Day 1 - Tour of Pyramids & Sphinx.

After 140 days of scenic Europe rail travel, I’ve now moved on to a completely new area of the world: Egypt.

I had doubts about going to Egypt from the (seemingly) constant negative news about the country’s social/political instability and from fear about being hassled for travelling alone as a woman. But, it seemed crazy not to make a stop here if I was already nearby in eastern Europe because I’ve dreamed of seeing the Pyramids since I was eleven years old.

Traveller friends like Connie Hum, among others, reassured me they had a good experience travelling alone in Egypt. Checking the Canadian government’s travel advisory on Egypt, I only saw had a “exercise high degree of caution” rating, which is the warning level Canada has for most developing countries.

Still, I was scared to go to Egypt alone.

I considered joining another Gap Adventures tour (like the “Roam India” tour at the start of my round-the-world). However, I didn’t know how I’d handle an extended tour after travelling at my own pace the last ten months through Southeast Asia and Europe.

When the opportunity came up to work with GetYourGuide.com, an online tour aggregator (think Expedia.com, but for local tours worldwide), I was thrilled at the idea of having a self-paced trip with the mental comfort of knowing I’d have local guides during some portions of my time in Egypt.

As a final check about the travel situation in Egypt, I emailed two major, Gap Adventures and Intrepid Travel, to check the status of their Egypt tours. A week before my flight to Cairo, both companies confirmed their Egypt trip activities have been running normally for months. Phew!

My Egypt Travel Itinerary/Activities


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Cairo (CAI)

Aswan

  • Fly to Aswan (ASW) from Cairo
  • Browsing bazaars, wandering around the city

Luxor

Sharm El Sheikh

I’m also considering a stop in Dahab after Sharm el Sheikh, which I’ve heard is a great spot to snorkel/scuba dive and to relax in.

>> Any other areas of Egypt I should add to my list? What are the must-see or must-do’s while I’m in Egypt? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

A special thank you to GetYourGuide and Egypt Excursions Online for sponsoring my Egypt tours and airport transfers. I just finished my second tour with them, and I’ve been amazed by their hospitality and how their guides have treated me like family. (Updates and photos from my the Pyramids and camping in the White Desert coming soon!)

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  • Egypt sounds like a great place to see glad you check with tour company first to see if everything is still working. Safety always come first right : )

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  • Maple Leung

    Cool! I want to see the pyramids too :) Maybe in a year or two :).
    The white desert looks really pretty ;) Looks like you will have lots of fun during the rest of your trip!

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  • Anonymous

    I exercise a high degree of caution when drinking a beer on my couch at home, so I would say that alert means you should be safe. Enjoy your time in Egypt.

  • Glad to see you’re including Dahab and the Coloured Canyon – that was one of the highlights of my trip to Egypt.

    I would cruise by boat from Aswan to Luxor – more scenic and most boats stop off at a couple temples along the way. In Aswan, you might take a ferry to the opposite side of the Nile and visit the Tombs of the Nobles – they aren’t on most tourist itineraries, we had a local just take us through them. Very cool and they are high up so you get a great view of the whole area.

    And I would definitely add in an excursion to Abu Simbel from Aswan – I personally think that is more impressive that the pyramids! You go by early morning bus convoy and return by mid-day so you still have a whole afternoon free.

    Sounds like you already have a packed trip, but the only other thing I would add is Mt Sinai – we climbed it to see the sunrise, which was incredible.

  • Peng Leong1

    Congratulation! -lily,you dreams come true!