Cairo & The Nile by Air

From the first email it was clear that the Memphis staff member, Yosri, was not only willing but eager to plan the best possible trip for my husband and I. Our tour not only completely suited us but utterly thrilled us. And at a very reasonable price. From the moment we landed in Cairo a Memphis staff member was there making sure that we had a wonderful time. Each of the guides we had was extremely knowledgeable, imparting his knowledge in an informative and engaging manner, helping us to get a real sense of the wonder we were seeing. Unfortunately a death in the family at home forced us to cut our trip short, again Memphis showed their worth, their consideration and assistance in organising our rushed trip home was exceptional. We look forward to booking our return trip to Egypt through Memphis Tours, in fact I wouldn't use any other tour company.

 
My daughter and I were traveling on our own in October with a stop in Egypt. With the recent unrest and the chaos of a city of 22 million, we were uncertain about figuring this one out by ourselves. We wanted to maximize our sites and had only a short period of time so, after doing some research we solicited Memphis Tours. They were beyond amazing! They took such good care of us starting pre-trip and including every plane, train, automobile, hotel, tour, and town. Every pickup and drop-off was on time and professional and we were never left on our own which helped us feel safe. They shared so much good information; about visas, dressing respectfully, avoiding tourist scams, current affairs, and of course the history at each site! The rather overwhelming Egyptian Museum would have been just that if not for Mohmen who brought it to life for us. Memphis even made the impossible happen for us by changing our itinerary last minute during a busy holiday weekend. I can’t recommend them enough!
 
 

A year ago, a few friends and I planned for a different kind of holiday. We wanted to go on a-so-called more adventurous trip. I recommended Egypt. I had visited Egypt back in 2009 and fell in love with the country and its long history. It was only this year in March 2013, we finally all agreed to set a date. In the meantime, I was surveying for good and reliable local tour agents and was recommended by a relative to check out Memphis Tours. I contacted them and was responded most efficiently by Mrs Fatima. She promptly quoted the cost of a customised itinerary plus a 3 night nile cruise on Sonesta Moon Goddess.

Anyhow, July revolt came and we had already paid 50%, A few got a bit jittery. Fatima assured me that we could cancel. But I convinced my travel companions to wait-n-see. So we did. By September, all my travel companions agreed that we can proceed with the plan, well except for one. October came, we finalised our air-tix. We got into Cairo end of October. Visited Giza and Sakkara with an experienced egyptologist guide - Mr. Mahmoud. Mahmoud took me to visit the El-Fishawi cafe at Khan Khalili Bazaar, a place where Naguib Mahfouz wrote parts of his prize-winning Cairo Trilogy.

In Aswan and Luxor, we met the ever so passionate egyptologist Mohamed Emam. He guided us through the history of each Temples like he lived through it. M.Emam, you are awesome! The cruise was great and an incident at the Esna lock, will always be "locked" in my memory.

The services of Memphis Tours went beyond, when I left my travel bag in the van which transported us from Luxor to Aswan. Only to realise it an hour later. A quick call to Rouby, the tour manager in Luxor, pacified me that the bag shall be sent the next day. Rouby delivered it personally to me just before my flight back to Cairo. Thank you so much Rouby. Last but not least, our appreciation and thanks to Friday who took us to the Nubian Village and guided us through the magnificent monument of Ramses II at Abu Simbel.

In summary, I hope all the travel bans will be lifted so that Luxor and Aswan will come back to life as they should be. I wish all of you at Memphis Tours, all the best.

Everything is normal in Egypt. Despite what you may have heard or seen in the news, Egypt is not burning down. I just returned from a week-long trip to there and there were no riots, etc.. I was in Cairo during their referendum on Dec. 15, 2012, and the Egyptian men and women were lined up at the polling stations peacefully. I even went by Tahrir Square and nothing was out of the ordinary. The most dangerous part of the trip was the Cairo traffic and the touts.

In fact, with so many tourists avoiding the country because of the negative perceptions, the major sites were uncrowded. I even got to see the King Tut treasures up close without having to elbow someone out of the way. From Aswan to the Valley of the Kings to the Karnak Temples, the crowds were minimal, leaving the visitor more time and space to appreciate thousands of years of history. So, I say go now, and avoid the crowds.

I went with Memphis Tours and was very happy with the quality of the guides and organization. You can, of course, travel independently or with another group, but I chose Memphis Tours because they were an established tour operator, the tour schedule fit well with my vacation schedule, and the price was right.

Marwa Aziz was very helpful in arranging and customizing the tour for me online. However, as someone mentioned earlier on Trip Advisor, there is no hourly breakdown of the itinerary, so you cannot see the slack in the schedule. Fortunately for me, this was minimal and most of it was while sitting on the cruise ship; I just took advantage of the time to relax.

There was one issue with the schedule that I should point out. I spent three nights on the Nile cruise, followed by a night train to Cairo, followed by two nights in Cairo. After we checked out of the boat in the morning, and before we were driven to the railway station at night (in Luxor), we were given two options: stay on the boat (for a cost of $25, including lunch) or stay for a few hours at a two star hotel in Luxor (for $10). We were required to choose one or the other. It was not a big deal, but I just thought I should mention it.

During the time after we disembarked and before the train ride, we were free to do whatever we pleased; some people even took an optional tour at this time. This was not mentioned anywhere and I wish I had known about this; I did get to visit the small, but worthwhile Luxor Museum, though.

As with any tour, there never seems to be enough time spent at places like the Egyptian Museum. If I go back, I would schedule a free day on my own just to re-visit the museum and the Community of the Religious.

I had two guides: Ahmed El Prince and Mohammed Ritchie. I apologize if I misspelled the names. Ahmed was a very knowledgeable and attentive guide. Not only that, but he even gave us tips on how not to get scammed by some unscrupulous locals. Ahmed was a real trooper guiding us even with his bad back. He kept us on schedule and entertained from Aswan to Luxor.

My guide in Cairo, was Mohammed Ritchie and my driver was Ossama. I was driven from Giza to Cairo to Sakkara and Memphis. Ritchie was very friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive and I am very glad that someone like Ossama was at the wheel in the chaos that is Cairo traffic.

Memphis Tours also sent people to meet us at the airport and train stations. I should mention that I was on my own while checking in, filling out the customs forms and getting an entry visa, etc.. Not a big deal; just follow the signs. (Entry visas are sold by the same guys who change money.)

My accommodations on the boat and the Grand Pyramids hotel in Giza were better than expected, though the location of the Grand Pyramids hotel was a little dodgy. Both locations had pools, in case you needed them. There was free WiFi in the Grand Pyramids hotel, but it was only available in the lobby and it was really slow (and I mean really slow). You could also pay for WiFi on the boat, but it was expensive and slow. Surprisingly, the WiFi connection at the two-star hotel was quicker; that was worth the $10 in itself. That's just as well, I was on vacation, after all.

Also, the entertainment on the boat at night was minimal. We had one night involving a belly dancing show and it wasn't that good.

Generally, I was very pleased with Memphis Tours and would recommend them to anyone. Aside from the touts hassling us at every turn and that guy with the camel at the Grand Pyramids hotel who scammed me out of five bucks and the guy who offered to take my picture in one of the tombs and them demanded that I give him two bucks, I had an enjoyable time in Egypt and I look forward to returning some day.

Chris and I recently booked an 8 day tour of Egypt with Memphis tours. Fatima Sayed responded to our booking request within 24 hours of our first e-mail. She was incredibly helpful throughout the entire booking process and even followed up with an e-mail after our trip ended. She was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions in a very timely manner!

Chris and I arrived in Egypt at different times. Memphis was very accommodating and for a small fee we were each met at the gate at our respective times. Ahmed Badawi met each of us outside the gate and helped us get our visa on arrival, exchange money and exit through passport control. With his help the process was very efficient and stress free. We were then taken by private car to our hotel and at the end of our trip returned to the airport when it was time for us to depart..

In Cairo/Giza we stayed at Mena house and were very happy with the accommodations. They gave us excellent service and we had a nice, clean room on the ground floor with a view of the pyramids. The gift shops near the lobby of the hotel had nice cartouches at affordable prices! The Alyssa cruise ship was our next stop and it was wonderful as well. The rooms were clean, the food was good, and the sun deck was lovely. Spending time in one of the cabanas on the deck was very relaxing and the curtains provided shade from the sun and a little privacy. The views were beautiful and it was nice to see the daily life of those who live along the Nile. I would highly recommend staying both at Mena house and the Alyssa cruise ship.

On our trip we had a number of tour guides while traveling and each of them was excellent. All were very knowledgeable and we felt safe at all times during our trip. The tour guides that we worked with were Ahmed, Yessar, and Hend. Each of them was extremely professional as well as knowledgeable. I would recommend requesting a tour with any of them!