Egypt budget tour

country:	Egypt
departures:	2009: 21 Nov, 5 Dec
price:	From £430 - £530 (15 days) excluding flights. From £480 - £570 for private group departures. Price includes accommodation, transport, including transfers and some meals
vouchers:	Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday

Egypt holidays here

Small group country tours here

the amazing things you'll be doing

Throughout history Egypt’s vast array of breathtaking monuments has proved an irresistible draw to travellers from all over the world. Combined with the sea-life of the Red Sea and a warm and friendly people, Egypt is a country you cannot afford to miss. This comprehensive tour gives a great introduction to the country, leaving you with memories you will treasure for a lifetime.

The tour starts in Cairo with the majestic Pyramids and Sphinx at Gisa. We also allow time to explore the city and sites like the Citadel of Saladin, Coptic Cairo, the famous Cairo Museum, and the Khan al Khalili bazaar.

Next stop is Aswan and the peaceful beauty of the Nile. Here you’ll find lush green islands and traditional felucca sailboats among the cascades. We visit the island Philae temple and the High Dam, before boarding feluccas to drift lazily down the Nile. We stop at Komombo & Edfu temples en-route to Luxor where we have plenty of time to explore.

On the east bank we visit the remarkable Temples of Karnak and Luxor, a tribute to the greatness of King Ramses II. On the west bank, we visit the Valley of the Kings, with its elaborate burial tombs, the colourful Medinat Habu temple, Queen Hatchepsut's temple, and the Colossi of Memnon.

After a brief stop back in Cairo, we head for the coast and the laidback beach resort of Dahab. With golden sandy beaches, stunning coral reefs and crystal blue waters, this small Bedouin village makes an ideal base for the next few days. Between sunbathing and eating at Dahab’s many excellent restaurants we take time to snorkel the Blue Hole, and do a camel ride. You also have the chance to visit Mt. Sinai & St. Catherine's monastery.

Finally we return to Cairo and after some last minute souvenir hunting and sightseeing our tour ends.

day-by-day itinerary

Day 1:	Arrive in Cairo. Transfer from airport to hotel.
Day 2:	Cairo - Pyramids, Sphinx & Saqqara tour (B).
Day 3:	Cairo - free (Museum & City Tour option). Overnight train to Aswan (B).
Day 4:	Aswan - afternoon tour to Philae temple & High Dam.
Day 5:	Aswan. (Abu Simbel option). Island boat trip. Start felucca sailboat cruise (luxury cruise upgrade option) (B,L,D).
Day 6:	Nile felucca cruise (B,L,D).
Day 7:	Finish on felucca. Tour Komombo & Edfu temples. Luxor - east bank temples of Luxor & Karnak (B).
Day 8:	Luxor - west bank sites (Valleys of the Kings, Queen Hatchepsut & Medinat Habu temples). Overnight train to Cairo (B).
Day 9:	Cairo. Free day (optional Alexandria, or Wadi Rayan & Valley of the Whales day trips).
Day 10:	Early morning drive to Dahab - free time (B).
Day 11:	Dahab - Snorkelling at the Blue Hole. Sunset camel ride.
Day 12:	Dahab - free day (optional climb of Mt. Sinai).
Day 13:	Dahab - free day.
Day 14:	Coach to Cairo, free time.
Day 15:	Cairo - free time. Transfer to airport for flight home (B).

how this holiday makes a difference

As well as visiting some of the most important Pharaonic sites and learning about Egyptian history, this tour is designed to introduce our travellers to the people, culture and country of Egypt, and not cocoon them from it. This is helped by keeping our group sizes small (max 18, normally 8-14) and also running the tour privately for families, couples or groups of friends.

We take responsible travel very seriously, and have given some details below of how this is implemented on this tour.

Local people:

We started our operations in Egypt jointly with a new local supplier and have been working and growing with them ever since, creating many new jobs in the process.
We use fully-trained local Egyptians as our Egyptologist guides, reps and tour leaders, rather than flying in Western leaders whose knowledge and love of the country will never be as full or passionate.
We use locally owned and operated hotels wherever possible, and one of the highlights of the tour is finding and enjoying a wide range of small local restaurants and snack shops.
The felucca sailing boats that we use on this tour are owned and crewed by local Nubian people, not large companies, and their use is an essential support to this community, as well as reducing pollution and energy use.
We give information and advice to our travellers on how to respect local customs and religious practices, giving them a greater understanding of the local people and culture.

Environment:

The long journeys between cities are done using public transport, including overnight trains and public tourist coaches, so reducing extra vehicle miles and resulting pollution and energy use. Speed limiters are fitted to the vehicles we use for safety and reduced fuel consumption.
Using felucca sailboats instead of Nile cruise boats also reduces pollution and energy use and damage to the river banks. While on board, we explain the importance of keeping the river environment clean to all our travellers and ensure any waste produced while we are on the river is either buried (if suitable) or taken away with us.
Explanations are given in Dahab of how to protect the fragile coral reef environment while snorkelling or scuba-diving.
We have a recycling policy in our UK and local offices and re-use or recycle the information booklets we provide to every client on arrival wherever possible.
We do not produce a glossy brochure, concentrating on a comprehensive website, and providing as much information to our travellers as possible electronically, reducing the use of paper and inks.

Local projects & charity support:

We donate £2 for every person travelling on this tour towards local projects – one supporting a small orphanage in Cairo, and another in which we arrange desert clean up trips and promote responsible use of fragile desert environments, particularly in Wadi Rayan and the Valley of the Whales, an important protected area and World Heritage site.
Our travellers are welcome to visit either of these projects and support them personally if they wish.
The company also supports further projects and charities internationally.

Responsible Tourism: We send all our travellers a copy of our responsible tourism policy before their holiday, and encourage them to read it and join us in following the ideas and suggestions contained within it.

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.