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Budget travel tours to egypt For many, a trip to
Egypt may be a vacation of a lifetime; something that one has always
wished to do but unable to afford. One can arrange budget travel to Egypt
at anytime. However, when times are bad in Egypt, which is a reoccurring
event caused by world conflicts that seldom have much to do with Egypt
such as the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, tour operators sometimes provide
amazing deals. Tourists have remained safe during these periods in Egypt,
and for one who wishes to make an Egyptian journey, not only are tours
cheap, but monuments and other sightseeing locations are less crowded. So
for the individual who has always wanted to got to Egypt but hasn't been
able to do so, keep these periods in mind.
The costs associated with a budget trip to Egypt include, but are not
necessarily limited to, the airfare or other transport to Egypt, lodging,
food, transportation to different destinations in Egypt and tickets to
enter the various attractions one wishes to see, with the possible hiring
of guides. Most people will also be interested in finding the least
expensive places and means of buying a few souvenirs. Of course, this is
for a fairly standard classical excursion.
Budget travel does not necessarily imply independent travel. In many
instances, an economy tour may ultimately yield a much more pleasant and
even less expensive Egyptian holiday then an independently arranged trip.
Tour operators frequently receive deep discounts from hotels and airlines
as well as provide more efficient means of transportation within Egypt.
Even the most experienced independent traveler may not be able to beat the
cost of a value tour, particularly if a full agenda of sight seeing is
required. Not infrequently in fact, packaged tours may be as little or
less then the cost of airfare to Egypt if arranged independently.
This is particularly true when visiting Egypt from Europe. There a number
of European charter services and travel houses do a large volume of
business in Egypt, allowing them to negotiate huge discounts with hotels
and ground operators in Egypt, resulting in prices that are extremely
affordable.
As we advise in our section on independent verses packaged tours, perhaps
one of the most inexpensive means of independent travel in Egypt is often
a hybrid, where one accepts a relatively defined package tour but allows
themselves extra time to do independent sightseeing or other activities.
That way, they take advantage of inexpensive tour packages while allowing
themselves independent time.
Yet travelers should be advised that independent travel within Egypt is
nothing to fear. One of the most unusual aspects of Egypt in regards to
other tourist destinations is that Egyptians in general will go out of
their way to help tourists. They are gracious hosts, even those outside of
the tourism industry. Most hotel personnel, if asked, will provide a world
of information and be very helpful. They will almost always be able to
arrange various tours, and in the case of some chains, be able to guide
and accommodate you from one end of Egypt to the other.
In addition, most monuments, particularly the better known monuments, will
have identification plaques and often detailed descriptions. Along with a
good travel guide, one who is intent on independent travel should have
little trouble in doing so.
In general, everything from hotel rooms, to flight reservations, to full
tours will be less expensive during the off season. Most tourist traffic
to Egypt begins in the latter half of June, and continues through the
middle of September. Ramadan is also a busy time for Egypt, but also very
fun, while the ultimate peak season starts just before Christmas and ends
after New Years, due to the holidays in European countries. During this
short end of year period, prices will be at their highest, and in many
cases hotel and other reservations cannot be had at any price unless
planed well in advance. There are other periods to consider as well. Many
of these have to do with European holidays, particularly in the Autumn and
at Easter, when vacations flock to Egypt. October is a busy month in
Egypt, as are usually several weeks between March and the end of April.
The slowest months in Egypt are usually September and all of November.
Air Fare To and From Egypt
For many, the most expensive part of a budget holiday to Egypt will be
airfare. Those from Europe will pay much less, perhaps below half as much
for air fare as North Americans. For example, using a normal discount
booking service checking fares from London to Cairo and from New York to
Cairo (using travelocity.com for departure dates in mid September), the
London round trip ticket to Cairo would cost just over $500 US, while the
New York ticket to Cairo would have cost almost $900.00. (I should note
that these rates have not significantly changed for several years) Using a
regular local travel agency would probably result in tickets costing as
much as several hundred dollars more for each.
However, off-line services, particularly in Europe, may yield better deals
then on-line air reservation systems. This is probably due to the somewhat
smaller charter services, some of which are becoming scheduled flight
providers.
To obtain the very least expensive airfare to Egypt one must usually go
beyond the Internet, and depending on the time, effort and long distance
calls required, it may not be worth it to everyone. One is really only
likely to improve their ticket pricing using true air consolidators,
bucket shops or charter services but these companies rarely quote on-line
fares. Further, Internet searches for air consolidators will mostly yield
companies claiming such, but with fares no different, or even higher then
the normal on-line discount air booking companies. Others will have cheap
fares to specific destinations, but not Egypt.
Those people looking hard for discount airfare are likely to become
frustrated. Most on-line discount services require a registration process,
only to yield no different ticket pricing then all the others. There is a
good reason for this, as most on-line services must use published rates.
We would highly advise people searching out the lowest possible ticket
pricing to read the FAQ on cheap airfares, consolidators and bucket shops
at http://www.travel-library.com/air-travel/consolidators.html. This is an
excellent reference particularly on international air fare.
In general, we have found that the earlier one books a flight to Egypt,
the better the fare will be (in many cases, but there are exceptions). One
example of on-line air discount services which appear to yield good
results is Travel Secrets at http://travelsecrets.com/. There, we find
rates from New York for about $705 USD. They show no fairs, however, from
the UK. For UK flights, check with airfares.co.uk. There, we found flights
to Egypt from London for 295 USD plus taxes. Several others with good
fares from London included FlightSearch and Lastminute.com.
In Germany, Air Berlin is a good bet. They service twelve countries, with
departures from a number of different cities in Germany.
Many of the best airfares from specific countries can be found from
on-line systems specific to those countries, rather than the large
international booking systems, and it would be very difficult for us to
name specific systems for each country. Hence, one must explore.
Hotels in Egypt
It should be mentioned that at many of the budget hotels, and particularly
in places like Luxor and Aswan, the management can get somewhat pushy
about their tours. This is an additional source of income for them. In
some instances, they present very reasonable tours at good pricing but it
is really somewhat of a hit or miss venture and frankly, difficult to
assess. Probably the best way to do this is, once at the hotel, ask other
guests to see if they have taken any of the hotel's tours.
Hotels, for the most part, are the easiest for us to provide advise about,
as we have specifically stayed in or toured budget hotels with this very
article in mind. Most people who wish to visit Egypt independently on a
tight budget will usually wish to stay near downtown Cairo upon arrival.
This is the area where the Egyptian Museum is located, and is close to
Islamic Cairo and the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, as well as Coptic, or old
Cairo. It also probably has the best selection of budget hotels. From
here, most people can make a day tour to most of the important pharaonic
sites such as Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis.
All of the budget hotels we review below have air conditioning and
telephones, the availability of televisions and private baths. Most have
single occupancy pricing between $30 and $50 USD per night. Less expensive
hotels may be found ranging as low as $2 to $5 USD per night, but will
often lack even basic comforts such as private baths, and other guests are
likely to be poorer Arabs rather then tourists. Prior to checking in to
such hotels, it is highly advisable to make a tour of the facilities.
The Hotel Longchamps (see also review) has and continues to be one of our
favorite budget hotels. It is located in Zamalek which is on an island in
the Nile just across from downtown Cairo. At $36 USD per night for a
single, the Hotel Longchamps can't be beat The area is nice, quiet and
upscale. The hotel is bright, friendly and modern. The Hotel Longchamps,
like many budget hotels in Cairo, occupies only the 5th and 6th floors of
the building in which it is located. In the event that this hotel is full,
below it is the Horus hotel, which also appears to be nice, though not on
the same standards as the Longchamps.
Restaurant at the Horus House Hotel
In downtown Cairo, is the Victoria hotel, another good choice and probably
our second favorite, though somewhat more costly then the Hotel Longchamps.
It occupies an entire building and does have a lovely ground floor garden
and reasonably priced Internet cafe.
Bar at the Victoria Hotel
Nearby the Victoria are two hotels which are also noteworthy, the Carlton,
because it is the least expensive of all the hotels we visited, and the
Windsor Hotel (also see Historical Reviews and Bar Review). The Carlton is
clean, has a nice roof top garden restaurant with a good view. As for the
historic Windsor hotel, we have reviewed it this month in another feature
article on historical hotels in Cairo, and last month we reviewed its
landmark bar.
Finally, there is the Hussein hotel (review) located within the Khan
el-Khalili Bazaar. Again, this hotel has all of the basic necessities,
including rooms with air conditioning, private baths, telephones and
televisions. It is ideal for commercial buyers who plan on spending most
of their time within the Khan, and has a great view of the Khan from many
of the rooms. From huge roof restaurant, it also has an excellent view of
Islamic Cairo in just about all directions.
The Hussein Hotel Restaurant, and View from the Restaurant
Money in Egypt
One of the secrets to budget travel in Egypt is to carry plenty of small
Egyptian notes, such as one pound and 50 piaster (half pound) notes.
Actually, small bills sometimes seem hard to find, but many hotels,
particularly the five star variety, have banks where one may load up on
these.
In many instances, taxi drivers and merchants who sell tourist items will
claim to be unable to make change for larger bills, so being able to pay
the exact amount is important. Also, as noted below, small bills will be
very handy for tipping. Keep in mind that the exchange rate in Egypt has
widened in recent years. One may, today, exchange US dollars for just
about twice as many Egyptian pounds as they could several years ago.
For information on the latest exchange rates, one may wish to visit the
Egyptian American Bank.
Local Transport
In addition to this, one may also wish to refer to our "Getting Around in
Egypt" section and our "Getting Around in Cairo" feature article.
Most people who travel independently to Egypt will still be better off
arranging day or half day tours to most sight seeing areas. Such tours can
be arranged from most hotels, or the hundreds of travel agencies scattered
about downtown Cairo. Larger hotels will frequently have more then one
tour operator available. While one may visit areas such as the Khan
el-Khalili Bazaar, or the Citadel within Cairo very inexpensively by Taxi,
the same does not hold true for tours of Saqqara and Memphis, for example,
outside of Cairo. For this, companies such as Misr Travel offer half and
full day tours, including guides at very reasonable prices. For example,
Misr Travel Company's half day tour of Memphis and Saqqara is about
$40.00, while a full day trip into the Fayoum and Lake Qarun is $65.00,
and can be arranged from most hotels.
Taxis in Egypt
Regardless of whether one takes organized tours to sightseeing areas, a
taxi ride or two is inevitable. Most people will not wish to rent a car to
drive, particularly in Cairo, and will probably not have the proper
international drivers licenses and insurance even if they wished to. For
the uninformed, taxis can be very expensive. At worst, a tourist may exit
a five star hotel, climb in the nearest taxi and request a destination.
Upon arrival, the tourist asks the price, and pays perhaps four or five
times the Egyptian price for a similar ride. This can quickly destroy a
planned budget, even for someone who can afford the five star hotel.
Typical Black and White Taxi
Egyptian travel sites will often advise people to negotiate the price of
the Taxi in advance. This continues to be good advise for someone who
wishes to rent a taxi for a day, a number of hours, or who expects the
taxi to wait while one visits sightseeing areas.
But for normal trips around town, this simply is not the way to get the
best fares. Egyptians hail a cab without negotiating a price because they
know the approximate cost for their destination. In order to hail the
taxi, while facing traffic, hold the right arm somewhat down with the hand
open. When a taxi pulls up, simply state your destination. If it is not a
very well known location, such as an business office, you may wish to have
the address written in Arabic (supplied by your hotel, for example). The
driver will indicate if he wishes to take you to that location. Men should
usually sit in the front passenger seat, while women normally sit in the
back of the taxi, though these standards are becoming more lax.
Upon arrival, simply pay the amount required for the trip. The table below
supplies typical prices for typical destinations. There may even be a
small tip involved if the taxi driver is particularly courteous,
informative or funny, but the amount is paid as a lump sum. Hence, it is
important for tourists to have an idea of what the taxi driver expects for
trips to various parts of the city. Even so, one might find the taxi
driver arguing the price if the tourist appears overly wealthy. For this
reason, it is often best to walk a short distance from a five star hotel
prior to hailing a cab. There does not seem to be the same problem
involved with three and four star hotels. However, other tricks include
making camera equipment as inconspicuous as possible and not engaging the
taxi driver with tourism questions. Invariably, the taxi driver will wish
to become your tour guide. In fact, one trick we have used is to have the
hotel write the destination in Arabic, handing this to the taxi driver,
and then saying little if anything while in route.
On the other hand, taxi drivers who speak the language of the tourist can
be helpful, and will try to be. Allowing the taxi driver to provide
information should result in a small increase in the fare from the prices
outlined below.
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