Egypt & Jordan Discovered By Nile Cruise (from Cairo to Amman)

28 Reviews

Excellent

59%

Good

41%

Average

0%

Rather Poor

0%

Bad

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• K

  Katrina
  Written on May 30, 2018

  4.0 - Good

  It was incredible trip! Sam was an excellent guide being an Egyptologist. He was interesting and funny, highly recommend this tour!

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• SM

  Simone
  Written on May 13, 2018

  5.0 - Excellent

  I had the most amazing time on this tour! I couldn’t believe the amount of sightseeing and activities we managed to squeeze in over the 15 days. The itinerary is jam packed, especially for the Egypt part. Our tour guide for Egypt was Sameh and for Jordan it was Raed. Both were very knowledgeable about their countries and the passion came through every time they spoke to us. I just wanted to leave some advice for anyone considering doing this tour that not everyone realised before booking: - you will need to be able to sleep on a bus otherwise expect to survive on as little as 3-4 hours sleep every night for the first week. There were a couple of 10 hour journeys on the bus for the Egypt part with lots of 3.30am starts due to the distances travelled. Jordan had shorter distances though so we managed to catch up on sleep during the last few days - you will need to pay £190 each to travel talk on arrival in Cairo to cover the remaining balance of the tour. This did not cover entrance fees which were collected every day in cash on the bus for sightseeing that day. You will also need to pay the tipping kitty and any optional activities which were extra but card payments were available if needed. The balloon ride in Luxor in particular was well worth the £80 as was the quad biking in dahab for £14 and scuba diving in the Red Sea for £40 - the river Nile cruise was for 2 days/3 nights and was the first opportunity we had to relax. They had a small pool on their deck which was perfect to keep us cool in the high temperatures. On our tour, only 6 out of the 40+ tour members chose this option with the felucca being the most popular option. We found having our own bed and ensuite was worth opting for the cruise to get some sleep but others enjoyed the experience of sleeping outdoors for 1 night on the felucca (the 2nd night was cancelled due to a sandstorm!). Those on the cruise still had the option to do a 1 hour Felucca experience for extra cost (around £7) - bring bug spray as many people got bitten - ladies it is worth bringing a long skirt/trousers and a shawl to cover up for the mosque in Egypt and downtown in Jordan - the last hotel in Jordan was next to a very noisy road so bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper! Overall this tour is definitely worth doing, we met lovely people and made many life long memories :) thank you travel talk and tour radar! X

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• CP

  chloe
  Written on April 8, 2018

  3.5 - Good

  Overall, the tour was good. However, the few things I wanted to note. 1. the average group size says 25-30, which is completely misrepresentative on your website. It should say the group size can range from 25 - 48. The group size was a little too large for my liking. 2. All the entrance fees are not included, and it should be reflected in the price of the tour, they are not optionals, so they should be built into the price of the tour. 3. If there is an option for flying between the cities that would be desirable. The extensive long drives were taxing on the body and it makes the tour exhausting and not enjoyable. We spent 3/4 days on driving alone. 4. Jordan was a really confusing component of the trip, no agenda provided when we joined the group. You need to provide the same welcome back (just like in Egypt). 5. Jordan, potentially include a longer time frame for the dead sea. Not many people were interested in Karak castle. Mustafa was great. He was always available for questions.

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  Jamie
  Written on April 7, 2018

  3.5 - Good

  - tour group size advertised as 25-30 but was 40+ - wasted time for Jordan tour component because not everyone was at same hotel - incorrect amount of tipping was specified on information sheet for egpyt component (lower amount specified than what guide told us to pay) Needs to be updated to manage expectations - for Jordan component, no tour info sheet was provided - would suggest to include in the tour price all the entrance fees or to indicate clearly total of all the entrance fees

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  Randy
  Written on February 28, 2018

  3.5 - Good

  Had an amazing tour with Sameh, he was hands down one of the best tour guides I have ever encountered. Very knowledgeable and made it very fun to learn and understand the history of Egypt. I highly recommend Sameh as anyone’s tour guide should you visit Egypt.

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  Nirvana
  Written on February 28, 2018

  4.0 - Good

  Was fun, enjoyed the tour, the destinations and the history is amazing. Sam was kind, knew his history and made us as comfortable as possible. I didn't enjoy the long bus rides as my feet was swelling it her than that we made friends and memories

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• JA

  Jo
  Written on February 14, 2018

  5.0 - Excellent

  Didn't know to expect when we started this tour as Egypt at this time was getting a lot of bad press . However, this tour was amazing!! Had a great time in the country from all the wonderful sights, culture and FOOD!! I would highly recommend anybody to get their bags packing and start booking this tour. It was well organised and the tour guide Sammy was one of the best. He is your Egyptian Aussie.

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• S

  Sianon
  Written on February 13, 2018

  4.5 - Excellent

  The best tour and guide to can ask for. Thoughtful, caring and oh so knowledgeable of Egypt and it’s history. Still the most memorable and fun trip I have had. Love you Sam, your the man. Sianon 2009 tour.

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• S

  Santosh
  Written on February 13, 2018

  5.0 - Excellent

  The best tour guide. He is not only knowledgable but very funny. His way of telling the history is very engaging and fun. I would highly recommend Sam. Sam is the best and he rocks !!

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• S

  Sarah
  Written on July 9, 2017

  4.0 - Good

  Hi to all those who read this, I wanted to write a detailed review of this tour and for company so that when looking at trips to Egypt and Jordan you can book with a understanding of what this will actually look like. Firstly, I booked this tour because when I compared it to others it covered similar ancient sites to those run by the major companies like intrepid and g adventures, the price however was on sale 47% off which is really appealing to me being on a budget. The itinerary read well but it was almost impossible to get all the information you can easily find with other companies.  The money you save booking this tour, they get it back in the end, through local taxes, tipping and some other payments they weren't quite clear on which aren't included in the price. On the first day of the tour I ended up paying an additional $US500.  Even having paid this money in the tour meeting on the first night, all activities listed as included in the tour you have to pay for out of pocket. This could have been made clearer in the itinerary and I believe is deliberately deceptive on travel talks behalf. I have never come across this before where activities listed as included you have to pay for during the tour.  So be prepared to have your wallet on hand several times a day to pay for things you thought you had paid for already. The first night of accommodation was changed and noone on the tour was told. For most this wasn't an issue as they had an airport transfer on the first day and it took them to the correct hotel. For me however I went there early to spend some time in Alexandria beforehand and became nervous when I had printed their itinerary with one hotel yet my transfer driver was saying another. Turns out it wasn't the one in the itinerary. They have been flexible and responsive to queries which is good because I have had many. They booked me a nights accommodation two days before the tour and included the airport transfer. The guy who picked me up was friendly and helpful getting me through the airport. Travel talk combine all versions of their Egypt tour into one by; Nile cruise, road and felucca. You can change which option you want to go on on the first night. This is helpful to give you an idea of who you will be spending time with in the middle of the trip. I went with the Nile cruise and was happy with this option. I travelled during June in their summer and wanted the air con and pool. Those who chose the felucca were also happy with their choice. This meant the group divided into two. There were 4 total on the Nile cruise which was great because we got to know each other well, we also got a new guide Michael  who took the time to have a conversation with us and communicated everything we needed to know upfront. Sam our main guide, on the other hand, left us all with questions constantly. I never knew quite what was going on, or if he even knew my name. His Egypt knowledge is great but communication could improve, maybe this is something that stems from the travel talk team as things aren't entirely clear from the beginning. Be prepared for 20 hour days and lots of bus travel. The second day of the tour we were up at 6 and didn't arrive at the hotel until 1am after travelling on the bus for 9hrs to get to Luxor only to have to wake up again at 6 or 7. It was like this 3 times during the trip. The Nile cruise was a good respite from this, before going back to the long days. As Sam put it, it is a mission not a holiday. The group was about 26 people mix of males and females ranging from mid twenties to mid thirties and a mum travelling with her children. Most are from Australia and new Zealand and some Americans and an Irish. Optional activities are really good, I did the hot air ballooning and Abu simbel. Both are really good options and definitely budget for these if you can. To confuse people further travel talk like to list prices in UK pound, however you can only pay in US $ or Egyptian pound. It's just another small example of the simple things that travel Talk could improve on. Last night for the majority of the tour was upon our return to Cairo. Only 6 continued on from there. Unfortunately there was nothing organised for the final night so most of us organised it ourselves to go out. Six of us who continued onto dahab on the red sea. We had a new tour guide for dahab, Ramy. Ramy is really cool and relaxed but took the time to sit us all down and explain everything that was going to happen over the next few days. Surprisingly for dahab travel talks included activities were included in the price. Dahab is amazing and definitely an extension of the tour you should include if you can. Especially if you love diving, snorkelling and fish!  The water is amazingly clear and there are so many fish. In 1.5 days I did 3 dives and loved it. Ramy was great at helping organising all of this. It was sad to leave dahab and go to Jordan. For the Jordan part of the tour only 3 of us continued and we had another person join us. We met or 4th tour guide (in a 15 day tour) Faysal. Faysal is a character and a genuinely nice guy. The driver, Ramadan, was nice too, but made us all a little uneasy with his pulsing of the accelerator. The Jordan part off the tour was well paced with not crazy start and finish times. For Petra, be prepared for a lot of walking, and remember what goes up most come down. Again for the Jordan tour travel talks included activities are actually included in the cost. All in all, it was a good tour. Simple things could have made it great. The group was good, I have made many friends. I saw sights I had always wanted to see. Dahab was definitely a highlight for me, along with Abu simbel. You will never regret going, you might just be frustrated with your expectations around communications and costs not being met. Note - those of us on the tour of Jordan and Egypt are asked to add to a tipping kitty on the first day that covered Egypt and Jordan tips, of which they have never communicated to their guide.  Also if going to Jordan, the Jordan pass is the way to go. It includes your visa costs but also all site entry fees

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