Holiday to Egypt in June

psd99

psd99

psd99

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Hey all I'm thinking of booking a holiday for my parents to go to Egypt in June.

They said they wanted to go to Sharm El Sheikh but I'm stick on deciding

anyone ever been to Egypt before?
My dad really wants to see the archaeology side and the historic sights of the country.
My mum would like the beach and to relax.

Is there a good place to go to that fits both of the above criteria?

Budget is around £500 what hotel is good out there?
 
Your dad won't really see anything historic in Sharm. You can fly to Cairo from Sharm to see the pyramids and so on but I can't remember the cost now.
 
My view, having done both, is you either do one or the other. You either go to Sharm or Hurgada, etc. for snorkelling and relaxing, or you do the historic sightseeing bits in Cairo and Luxor, etc.

It isn't feasible to mix the two. It is hundreds of pounds to jump from the Sinai peninsula to Cairo, even if you coach it. It also means you spend a huge chunk of your holiday travelling.

Both holidays were wonderful, but I'm glad I did it in two different trips.
 
Done something similar a few years back. We stayed in Sharm and then booked a day trip up to Cairo which I think was around £150 per person for the flight from Sharm to Cairo and the tour once we got there.

I thought it was well worth it as it was nice to relax & snorkel in Sharm and then visit the pyramids, muesum & markets up in Cairo. It's an early start but I'd have been dissapointed to visit Egypt and not see the pyrmads etc..
 
In 1996 i had 14 days in Egypt staying in Luxor at the Old Winter Palace hotel for 7 nights, I visited the temples in Luxor & the valley`s of the Kings & Queens on the west bank of the Nile. Saw inside the tomb of King Tutankhamen. Then i had a Nile cruise for 7 nights, to the Aswan dam and visited the temple at Abu-Simbel,on Lake Nasser. It was simply the best holiday i have ever had, to see all that archaeology was wonderful.
 
thanks guys already thinking of forgetting about sharm and looking for holidays to Luxor or Cairo

which is better? (for historic viewing)
 
Gilly said:
My view, having done both, is you either do one or the other. You either go to Sharm or Hurgada, etc. for snorkelling and relaxing, or you do the historic sightseeing bits in Cairo and Luxor, etc.

It isn't feasible to mix the two. It is hundreds of pounds to jump from the Sinai peninsula to Cairo, even if you coach it. It also means you spend a huge chunk of your holiday travelling.

Both holidays were wonderful, but I'm glad I did it in two different trips.
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We did 3 nights in Cairo, 4 nights in Luxor and 7 nights in Sharm and had an amazing time. The flights between each place was an hour or two which isnt really time consuming.:confused:
 
psd99 said:
thanks guys already thinking of forgetting about sharm and looking for holidays to Luxor or Cairo

which is better? (for historic viewing)
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Both are great. Cairo obviously has the Pyramids, Sphinx, Cairo museum the Grand Mosque which are must sees but Cairo is unbelieveably hectic and the place is smog covered. Luxor has Karnak and Luxor temples, valley of the kings, queens, workers, luxor museum and you can go on a sun rise hot air balloon ride over the valley of the kings into the desert and is quite relaxed. One thing to note is that Luxor in June will be very hot so it would depend if your parents could handle the heat

IMO both places are must sees.
 
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I rate Alexandria but its quite a step from your usual tourist destinations like Karnak, etc. making it a base and flying out to luxor for a few days can work quite well tho, in June its much more tolerable than Cairo or further south.
 
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Gilly said:
My view, having done both, is you either do one or the other. You either go to Sharm or Hurgada, etc. for snorkelling and relaxing, or you do the historic sightseeing bits in Cairo and Luxor, etc.

It isn't feasible to mix the two. It is hundreds of pounds to jump from the Sinai peninsula to Cairo, even if you coach it. It also means you spend a huge chunk of your holiday travelling.

Both holidays were wonderful, but I'm glad I did it in two different trips.
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We spent 3 days in Cairo before taking an hour long flight to Hurghada for a week (and did a day trip to Luxor one of the days in Hurghada). This cost a lot more than £500 though.

I'm not sure i'd want to stay for a week in either Cairo or Luxor, I can't see it being very relaxing and you'll have the option of going to see the sites and being pestered all day or staying by the pool. Not sure I could do that for a week.

Also bear in mind the trips and excursions can be expensive (quite easily £300+ if you really splurged) so take that into account. For £500 however if you want to go to Egypt have a look on travel Zoo, there are regularly 5* hotels up for grabs for less than that (One I looked at going to last Aug/Sept was rated the second best in Hurghada on trip advisor and it seems to be on there regularly).

I'd suggest a week in Hurghada, maybe a bit far away and you're unlikely to see the Pyramids unless you take a day/2 day trip to cairo (not as expensive as it sounds) but it's within a day trip to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings and the journey itself is an experience. :)
 
I went and stayed in Taba Heights, going up to Cairo/the pyramids on a two day trip. Got the beach and a decent couple of days with all the history as well :)
 
cheers guys keep em coming
distance between luxor and cairo is around 450 miles wow
not something I like the sound of! one or the other
 
DON'T STAY IN SHARM ITSELF! Stay in Shark's Bay just around the corner. You can snorkel from your hotel and there are tons of fish. A taxi to Sharm centre is peanuts. Oh, and take some imodium - you WILL get stomach trouble.

Make sure you do the desert quad biking - it's ace fun!
Don't bother with the snorkelling trip - if you stay in Shark's Bay you will see more from the private beach of your hotel. Trust me.
 
psd99 said:
it isn't the time that is the biggest problem it is the cost and annoyance.

I'm thinking of getting flights/hotel to Luxor can anyone vouch for a good hotel in that area that they can recommend?
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We stayed at the Sheraton which was really nice and right on the bank of the Nile so had a great view.
 
UltimateBadger said:
Oh, and take some imodium - you WILL get stomach trouble.
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I must have been the only one in the group who didn't have any trouble in this area when I went with work a few years ago.

I took the same precautions as the others as far as I know - brush teeth in bottled water, didn't eat much salad (tends to get washed in tapwater) and washed my hands after handling money (Egyptian banknotes are truly disgusting)

Must be my cast iron constitution :D
 
UltimateBadger said:
DON'T STAY IN SHARM ITSELF! Stay in Shark's Bay just around the corner. You can snorkel from your hotel and there are tons of fish. A taxi to Sharm centre is peanuts. Oh, and take some imodium - you WILL get stomach trouble.

Make sure you do the desert quad biking - it's ace fun!
Don't bother with the snorkelling trip - if you stay in Shark's Bay you will see more from the private beach of your hotel. Trust me.
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thanks but it if was me and the mrs that would be ideal
my parents aren't into quad biking or snorkelling.


cheers will see if I can get sheraton
 
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