Planning to visit Egypt in November or December for four or five days. Anybody ever been? Looking to go to the pyramids, the national museum, and on a cruise along the Nile at the minimum.
Planning to visit Egypt in November or December for four or five days. Anybody ever been?
Yeah, I've been twice. If you've been to a third-world country before, it's nothing you can't handle. Lots of touts and scammers in Cairo, but you don't really have to do anything except say "la, shukran" to get rid of them.
Sheltered babbies here and on Reddit will say it's a TERRIBLE destination, but that's because they're whiners who thought impoverished Egyptians wouldn't treat them like a walking wallet (at least IME, people outside of touristic areas were 100% fine, most were very friendly and helpful).
Get someone to drive you to the Red and the Bent Pyramids + Saqqara early in the morning. Pyramids at Giza is a shithole in comparison and filled with scammers and touts, unironically one of the least interesting sites in Egypt and Cairo. Still worth seeing though, but there's much cooler stuff around.
Never did a cruise, but I don't think you have time with only four or five days. Does that include the days you are arriving and departing? You should really consider adding a few days, then you could to a tour up to Luxor and/or Aswan as well. Probably the smartest would be to go to Aswan first, and then take a boat downstream to Luxor.
>"la, shukran"
I agree with everything you say, especially about people being friendly outside of touristic areas. Vegetable and falafel sellers will literally run after you to give you back 1EGP in change. But to say touts will leave you alone if you say la shoukran or halas is not even remotely true, they'll keep following you. Even guards and especially the beduin trash at the ancient sites will walk after you, saying meaningless drivel, pointing where you are already looking to say "picture, picture" and demanding money for helping you by pointing out things. Frick these people.
And yeah OP I hope you aren't a sheltered baby. Go to the rock church in the trash-collector district if you want a really dense and soulful aesthetic experience.
>Use only Uber, no taxi
>Don't speak to any egyptians
>2 days maximum in Cairo
>Pyramids, Saqqara and museum then get the frick out of Cairo
>Book a hotel in the suburb
Every egyptian is a scammer, seriously never saw so much people with no dignity. Cairo is a shithole, a township, nothing to see. You'll use uber for going everywhere, you can't walk. There's no sidewalks, no traffic lights, no crosswalks and no traffic laws, people don't know how to drive and just keep honking each others. Egyptians are rude, never ever talk to them. Be ready to go through infinite "security" checks. Luxor is a little bit better but not much. You have to understand that it's a cheap destination for boomers, so people will want to sell you shitty papyrus, little pyramids and salt lamps. It's the only place I wish I had book a tour instead of going by my own. Prepare to experience hell.
Smelly egyptian spotted.
>Are you driving in a rental
>Egypt
>Driving
Kek
> or taking taxis/tuktuks?
Do you really want to argue over price with a scammer everytime you need to go somewhere ? Uber, never talk to a fricking egyptian ever, do you want to end up being coerced into buying some fricking papyrus or something ? Uber.
>Swimming in Sofitel's pool is beautiful, feels like you're in the middle of the Nile and the city is all yours
Sofitel is a shithole, you won't be able to sleep. Novotel is even worse. Avoid Zamalek, it's just a very noisy motorway like everywhere in Cairo. There's nightclubs boats on the nile river who blast music until 3 am, those 2 hotels have egyptians quality windows, you won't sleep.
>Every egyptian is a scammer, seriously never saw so much people with no dignity
Isn't it the case pretty much everywhere in the Middle East?
It is a case of poverty. Lots of egyptians have no income other than what they can trick from tourists, it is why the people hanging around monuments are complete scum. Vendors however will bend over backwards to give you back change as they already have a living profession and can afford to maintain common dignity. If you go to Jordan basically everyone lives in decent conditions, you'll see next to no touts anywhere and even the taxi drivers are surprisingly chill.
Egypt is worse than the others.
Cairo and Alexandria have that real African city feel to them. Luxor feels like the actual Middle East, more laid back, quieter and nicer architecture. Aswan is like a quintessential sub-saharan town/city (except with the tourism $ propping it up - vendors in Aswan were very chill and kind, total opposite of more northern areas).
>Saqara/Dahshur
When my Mom went to Egypt in the 90's she wanted to go to Darshur and was told it was a "maybe" because of terrorist threats. Snipers liked to hide in the tall grasses in hills surrounding the place. They got escorted in by armored vehicles with mounted machine guns. Thankfully its very much safe/open now.
In Cairo rn after doing all three of these things.
Town is a complete shithole + dirt cheap and traffic is absolutely not safe but otherwise it’s cool.
Museum and Nile cruise are the best part. Pyramid is surrounded by trash/peddlers/tourists.
Are you driving in a rental or taking taxis/tuktuks?
Been there once, it sucked.
I've been once. Mom has been 3 times. My boss also recently went, and did it without a tour group/private guide hired in advance. My advice, take it or leave it:
>Go with a tour group. Seriously. There are a lot of places that will be inaccessible or extremely difficult to get in to without having a guide who is a) familiar with the armed guards at attraction entrances and b) knows how to get advance tickets. Had to watch my guide argue/bribe/chat up the armed guards on more than one occasion. Giza plateau and museums are easy enough to get into on your own, but the really cool exclusive pyramids/tombs are impossible without the right connections
>Another advantage to tour groups - your guide will advise you of where places will try to rip you off, what places are legitimately certified by the ministry of antiquities (e.g. perfume shops, alabaster craftsmen) and not scammers selling cheap chinese knockoffs.
>For the love of God, do not eat ANYTHING that is not cooked. No fruit unless its dried/peeled. I don't care how many stars your hotel has, don't eat the damn salad. My mother and I were the only 2 in our group of 22 that didn't get the shits or get hospitalized during our 2 week trip.
>If you do hire a private guide while you're there, you may get someone who knows what they're doing but may still fail to get you in to certain places, or they may just rip you off.
>Bring a large amount of USD. Egyptians take payment in USD pretty much everywhere, save for very rural areas (e.g. south of Luxor). You also need $1 for bathrooms, and the more dollars you give the more TP you get. In hindsight I should have brought 3x the $1 bills I had with me.
>Get ready to barter. The only places you can't barter are papyrus factories, alabaster factories, and perfume shops. These are protected crafts under the ministry of antiquities and prices are fixed by the government to support the craftsman and keep their trades alive.
Adding to the other posters. If khalas or la,shukran isn't enough. You may try saying Imshi which means go away
>for four or five days
jfc why even bother? a vacation should be 2 weeks MINIMUM
Egypt is kino, but can be stressful. 4-5 days isn't really too much, tbh.
If by 'Nile Cruise' you mean the Aswan - Luxor cruise, then you won't have enough time.
Choose Cairo/Alexandria, or Aswan/Luxor, otherwise it'll be a rushed mess.
Cairo
>Forget Great Pyramids and goto Saqara/Dahshur pyramids. Nobody's there, and you get to feel like Indiana Jones fricking around in the desert. Can pay cops to let you ride quads around, as well.
>National Museum is shit - just a big warehouse. The new museum should be open soon/now though, which might actually have some logic.
>If you want a Nile journey, you can get a boat from Cairo to the 'Nile Barrage', which is a decent day trip.
>Falucca journey on the Nile during sunset is kino.
>Swimming in Sofitel's pool is beautiful, feels like you're in the middle of the Nile and the city is all yours
>Harraya bar in Downtown is an interesting place for cheap drinks. Proper old skool watering hole.
>There's a few rooftop bars which are nice in the evening. Odeon is decent.
>Zamalek is a quiet island in middle of Nile you should check out. Some decent restaurants and a few bars. Journos used to hang out at Flamenco Hotel bar, could get a few good conversations sitting at the bar there.