Our Egypt trip went better than expected

Picked Egypt over Japan even though we were a bit worried after reading so many posts. I kept seeing so many complaints about Egypt tours here, so when my wife and I planned our trip in Feb 2025, we avoided all tour packages and did the planning on our own. It worked well.

We hired a concierge service the moment we landed. They handled the airport, immigration and hotel transfers. This alone made a huge difference.

We picked our own hotels. Baron Hotel in Cairo, Marriott in Hurghada and Steigenberger Resort in Luxor. All three were clean, safe and comfortable.

For the Nile cruise, we spoke to many fellow travellers before choosing one. We picked a recommended option and did the Aswan to Luxor route.

We also took two domestic flights and used GoBus. Everything worked smoothly.

For Egypt, a few simple rules helped us.

1. We explored Cairo and Alexandria walking. But we did not feel the same comfort in Aswan and Luxor.
2. We avoided talking to strangers. We do the same everywhere.
3. Book an Uber or InDrive every time instead of negotiating with local cabs. Even for 1 to 2 km.
4. Say no to everyone who tries to sell you something. Just say 'La Shukran' and move on.
5. Do not book a full trip package that looks too good to be true if you can plan.
6. No street food. No tap water.
7. Do not buy anything from the perfume shop, papyrus painting on the site, and decor shops even if your guide recommends. Most likely you can get the same things in Cairo at half the price.

We did our shopping in Cairo and that was enough.

With these small precautions, the trip was amazing for us.

Edit: I was a bit blunt about not talking to strangers and exploring on foot. Also someone pointed out that the correct phrase is La Shukran which means no thank you.

Author: megamind114