Family holiday to Egypt, Egyptian discovery
| country: | Egypt |
| location: | Middle East |
| departures: | 2010: 28 May, 27 Aug, 29 Oct 2011: 27 May, 26 Aug |
| price: | From £999 - £1051 (10 days) per adult and from £944 - £996 per child including flights from the UK, from £618 - £665 excluding flights. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Family holiday to Egypt, Egyptian discovery
Pyramids & All Aboard to Luxor
We start our adventures in Cairo where we visit the Pyramids as well as the mighty Sphinx; probably the greatest monuments on our planet and the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. The afternoon has been left free to either relax at your hotel or visit a local children's theme park in the city (optional). The following day we head downtown in the late morning to the Egyptian Museum, home to numerous antiquities including Tutankhamen's famous gold funerary mask. That evening we take the overnight train to Luxor in a first class sleeper cabin, arriving the following day.
Felucca Trip & Valley of the Kings
After the morning at our hotel in Luxor, we take to the Nile and board the feluccas to set sail downstream for a few hours and enjoy the beautiful scenery and calmness of this great river. The following day, we have the chance to take an optional hot air balloon flight over ancient Thebes. We also travel to one of Luxor's highlights by donkey (children travel by carriage) - Queen Hatshepsut Temple. Far from being hidden away, it occupies an area the size of a pyramid. We also visit the Valley of the Kings and its tombs buried in the rock with a chance to visit the most famous burial chamber, Tutankhamen's Tomb. The afternoon allows for a visit to a newly established 44 acre farm belonging to old friends of Explore where we can learn about its animals.
Red Sea Corals
We travel onto Safaga, a quaint fishing village on the Red Sea. During our time here we travel by boat to explore tiny islands and coral reefs that are found off shore. There's plenty of opportunity for snorkelling, swimming or just relaxing before our journey back to Cairo, where there is time to visit many of the stunning sights in and around this amazing city or relax before the journey home.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Join Cairo. |
| Day 2: | In Cairo, visit Pyramids and optional theme park trip. |
| Day 3: | Visit Egyptian Museum; overnight train to Luxor. |
| Day 4: | PM Sail on Nile aboard felucca. |
| Day 5: | In Luxor, trek by donkey to the Valley of the Kings and bus to Queen Hatshepsut Temple; PM visit farm. |
| Day 6: | Visit Karnak Temple; PM drive to Safaga. |
| Day 7: | Full day boat trip to coral reefs, swimming and snorkeling. |
| Day 8: | Free day on the coast. |
| Day 9: | Fly to Cairo; PM free. |
| Day 10: | Tour ends |
small group family holiday - toddler
This is a 'small group family adventure' specifically for families with toddlers. They are designed with very young children in mind so they tend to be at a slower pace with child friendly accommodation. The minimum age for these tours is two, with no upper age limit, so you can bring kids of all ages along, in fact, older kids will love these tours as much as the younger ones! Typically you will join several other families and travel in a group of approx. 16 people. The trips are great value and a great way for you and your children to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is also some flexibility and you'll have plenty of time to yourselves. award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Community
A family tour is a huge opportunity to educate children about the world around them in a fun way and Egypt is just brimming with history and culture! One of the reasons we prefer to use local tour leaders where possible is they can give a real insight into the local culture; anything from learning about the education system, to making sure we don’t fall foul of any taboos! Secondly it is our policy to generate business and employment opportunities in the countries we travel to by employing local people. All our leaders in Egypt are locals and we’ve personally trained them all too so they are comfortable in their work and you get great service. You can be fairly confident that your money is benefiting the local community in the areas we visit. We use a huge number of small local suppliers, such as restaurants and cafes (where we can also sample delicious local food!), donkey owners, drivers, calesh drivers, boatmen…all of whom get a benefit from us being there. The fact that we have worked with lots of these people for many years has really given them a stable source of income and we’ve also helped them out in difficult times. We’re delighted that you’ll have the chance to meet so many of them on your trip! We really think meeting the people is one of the best things about overseas travel and try to find opportunities for you to get a real flavour of local life. Whilst you are in Luxor you will have the opportunity to visit the Sunshine Orphanage which we have supported for many years. Environment We’re very much aware of the fragile environments around us as we travel through the desert and snorkel in the Red Sea. Our robust Responsible Tourism Policy covers all such activities and all our leaders, guides and suppliers are required to work to its strict guidelines. As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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