Thinking of going to Egypt solo for 10-12 days, May 20. Any must sees other then the obvious pyramids and luxor sites, preferred flight options, and preferred methods of transportation (nile cruise worth it??)? Was also thinking of adding a side trip to Dubai??

Egypt is not safe as late, Dubai is

Its safe…forums on trip advisor says its good, heavily touristy area (many are newb tourists…I am not)….common sense is all. Been to many countries where some worried for my safety, yet never saw anything worth being worried about.

They shoot yesterday in Hurghada and day before in Cairo and blow out a Russian plane with 234 people in October

I wouldn't go to Egypt either. Tourists were stabbed at a hotel in a tourist area there yesterday. I'd recommend Jordan. Much safer.

I'm not going to Hurghada, and I'm not asking for safety advice, but thanks for the concerns. I have no interest in Jordan.

Sounds great. It's safe. Use common sense and have fun. Typical calgarian vacation is Phoenix, Vegas, Mexico, or cuba. Go for Egypt! Enjoy

It may be cheap to go there since Russians abandoned that place because of danger.

Maybe...lol

Ben we went to Egypt for 12 days (with our two teens) as independent travellers (no tour group). Totally safe and hands down one of THE best international trips we've taken (and we've travelled a LOT). We stayed about three blocks from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. We hired a car and driver from our hostel (cheap) and hit many amazing sites in Cairo. The pyramids are great of course but there are other outstanding pyramids close by (Sakkara, the Bent Pyramid, the Step Pyramid) and you actually get WAY out into the desert. Lots of people do not realize the pyramids of Giza and the Sphynx are actually barely outside the city limits--and it is really dirty and rather run down. Also do not miss Coptic Cairo--outstanding! Plus the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, etc etc.
We took a sleeper train to Aswan. The trip was fantastic! We were up early enough to watch the terrain for a few hours. No word of a lie, on one side of the train was a moonscape of rocks and desert, but out the other window was lush and tropical and we could catch glimpses of the Nile. We spent two days there with the major goal of joining the 3:00am convoy to Abu Simbel. Incredible and so worth the long day.

Oops didn't mean to post yet... stand by for more.

We hired a driver to take us north to Luxor via Kom Ombo and Edfu (stopping at the antiquities in each city). In Luxor we stayed right outside the Luxor Temple ruins (and walked over to explore tham at night--they are illuminated--totally cool). We walked to the Karnak ruins and hired a driver to take us to the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. We booked a sunrise hot air balloon tour through our hotel. Oh my gosh! Seeing the sun rise over the Nile is unforgettable, and seeing the line in the sand (literally) between desert and green. We flew over the Valleys of Kings and Queens and our pilot was so skilled we skimmed a corn field with perfect control and he reached over and grabbed some corn tassels for me--I still have them! Our balloon was for eight people. I would avoid the giant ones that hold upwards of 20.

great, thx! How much are the private drivers? Going solo, might add up fast

Cheap cheap cheap. I think our driver in Cairo per day was $20. To be driven from Aswan to Luxor (with the stops in Edfu and Kom Ombo) was about $40.

We did other things in Luxor but those were the highlights. We then caught another overnight sleeper train back to Cairo. Somehow I feel like I'm missing a day or two, but you get the idea. We felt 100% safe. We were followed by men who wanted us to come to their stalls at the market (or buy whatever they were carrying) but you get really good at saying La shakram (no thank you). The funniest thing is we were never called Canadians, we were always addressed as "canada dry"! You can actually buy Canada Dry and for many Egyptians, that is their ONLY knowledge of the word lolol.

ha, nice! Yeah, I was debating on either flying one way to Anwan, or eve consider nile cruise, but that would eat up a ton of time.

We booked two 2-person cabins. Small wash basin and bunk beds (as there was four of us).

Supper and breakfast included.

correct the sleeper trains are roughly $120-ish each way?

Everything we did was for four people so I'm a bit fuzzy on totals. Strikes me it was $60 per two person cabin, one way.

...but it might depend on night of the week, time of year etc. We travelled in October. Daytime temps around 35-40.

The sleeper train was cheap too. We booked our berths on-line and brought our e-tickets with us. Unexpectedly modern I thought. One thing that might shock you is the sheer volume of garbage EVERYWHERE. Piles and piles of it. All over the streets, in ditches, along bridge decks, you name it.

Definitely do a Nile tour however you want. All the sites on the way as Holly says.
Also do Lake Nasser south of dam.
I did not find Abu Simbel worth extra
The museum in Cairo incredible.

In fairness, when we were in Cairo there were big protests in Tahir Square (I think even some deaths and lots of injuries) but what is almost impossible to believe is when you travel two blocks in any direction from Tahir Square, life is 100% normal ho-hum mundane daily activity. We sat in a small restaurant two blocks from the square and watched the protests on a big tv there as we casually munched our food. Not a single person could care less! Business as usual. If that was here, the entire city would be locked down lol.

Same when the bombings were happening in Bangkok…didnt even realize when there.

Protestors also blew up a bus a block or two from our hostel (it was empty thankfully). Made international news (and talk about something to experience--we could "feel" the bomb as much as we heard it) but we still went on our Nile River supper cruise 30 minutes later! We could see the flames as we got to the street. The next day we walked right up to the burned out bus and took pictures lol. Noone cared. Susan did you go to the museum in Aswan? It was really good too...quite new, beautifully laid out and lots of English. The Egyptian Museum was so huge and hot and with so many of the displays in arabic, it was really hard for us to understand the amazing things we were seeing.

Try to get out to the Bahariya Oasis/White Desert/Black Desert…. some incredible landscapes out there.

Tess we wanted to so badly but didn't have the time
Hopefully Ben can!

Sorry I took over your thread Ben!! I'd love to hear some of the ideas you had for your trip--the possibilities are endless

* have

so far considering day trip to Alexandria, train to Aswan, then hit up Luxor and a few other spots, then fly back to Cairo ($95) so Im able to have 2-3 days in Dubai. Things are adding up fast though lol

If my travel VISA comes back from the Indian Consulate in Vancouver in time, I'll be flying to Chennai, India next Sunday via Abu Dhabi. I'll have five hours to explore lol. Just a small taste and not enough time to make it to Dubai, sadly.

Chelsea Roemer

Emirates just announced a special offer from Calgary to the middle east

Not a good time to travel there now.

I'd go to Israel...incredible country

My husband and I just spend 3 weeks in Egypt, Israel and Jordan this August for our honeymoon.
We flew into Cairo with a layover in Amsterdam, and it was reasonably priced.
We took a train down to Luxor (overnight), wouldn't recommend it. 10+ hours very very bumpy and 100USD/person, flights are actually cheaper through egyptair. We didn't do any overnight nile cruises as we didn't have a ton of time, you can get the same idea doing a day trip from either Luxor or Aswan.
We did some camping in Nuweiba in the Sinai peninsula with out any concerns, in fact we felt safe everywhere we went.
We enjoyed the quietness of less tourists so it is kind of an ideal time to go really...if you avoid the "tourist" hot spots/hotels which by the sounds of it you will.
We took a ferry into Jordan and SUPER enjoyed it there too (I know you said you weren't interested but I think it's worth stop over for a few days over Dubai especially if you are already over there!) We also did a week in Israel which was facinating... depend on how long you have to travel! You could spend weeks upon weeks in each country and not be able to experience everything!
PM if you have any other questions... I'll also see if I can find the guide we had in Luxors card, he was awesome and we don't usually do guided tours but I would highly recommend him! Also do Sinbad hot air balloon ride over valley of the Kings! Amazing way to see the vastness of the area!

Awesome! You do a tour package, or book everything on your own? So far, G Adventures package for 12 days is $2300, but if I do everything on my own, price looks to be roughly $1900.

We did it on our own but transport is a bit tricky as online bus timetables aren't up to date so we hired private taxis a lot. With flights our 3 weeks were roughly 6500 for 2 people

That seems about right. For four of us to travel I usually budget around $8 to $10000 per two week trip (incl flights). We book everything on our own as well.

We went from Aqaba in Jordan to Nuweiba. It was an hour by a fast ferry, and an 8 hour bus ride to Cairo.Jordan was a must see country. Dubai is very much like Las Vegas (lived there for 8 years).

Hi Ben, I travelled to Egypt about 3 years ago.... not many tourists as it wasn't on the safe list, but it was fantastic. I did a 3 day Nile cruise which was amazing as because of the lack of tourists, there were very few passengers and such great service. It stopped at all the temples/places you would want to see, so it was easy and comfortable. A day trip to Abu Simbel temples is a must in my opinion. I also did the early morning hot air balloon ride over Valley of the Kings and loved it. Just be smart, hire guides (support the locals!) and enjoy!

Right when you sent this, I was researching 4 day/3night Nile cruises from Aswan to Luxor. Really hard finding ones ideal for a solo traveller not leaving on a Friday, yet still 5* and under $600 lol