Essential Egypt

What's Included

• Accommodation
  Hotel (5 nights), Overnight train (2 nights), Felucca (1 night)

• Cairo - Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx

• Aswan - Kayaking

• Aswan - Orientation walk & bazaar visit

• Nile - Felucca overnight sailing trip

• Nile - Dinner and Music Felucca

• Luxor - Valley of the Kings (entrance to 3 tombs)

• Cairo - Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar

• Meals

  8 breakfasts, 1 lunches, 4 dinners

• Luxor - Visit to Animal Care in Egypt (ACE)

• Luxor - Animal Care in Egypt (The Intrepid Foundation Partner) Visit

• Luxor - Animal Care in Egypt (The Intrepid Foundation Partner) visit

What's Not Included

• Tipping and Gratuities

• International Travel

Included Activities

• Cairo - Pyramids and Sphinx
• Cairo - Egyptian Museum
• Aswan - Nile River Kayaking
• Aswan - Orientation walk & bazaar visit
• Nile - Felucca overnight sailing trip
• Nile - Dinner and Music Felucca
• Luxor - Valley of the Kings (3 tombs)
• Cairo - Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar

Transport

• There are some long travel days and some rough travelling in areas away from main tourist routes. Windy roads, rough surfaces and cramped conditions make for some challenging travel experiences. On some long travel days we depart early in the morning to ensure we optimise our time at our next destination. If you experience travel sickness we recommend you consider medication to help ease the discomfort.
• SECURITY WHILE TRAVELLING
• Occasionally you may experience a Tourist Police Escort in your vehicle and whilst not common convoys between select towns or regions are possible. This practice has been implemented by local authorities to monitor the safety and security of visitors to Egypt.
• OVERNIGHT TRAIN
• On this itinerary, you will be travelling by overnight sleeper train. The sleeper cabins are about 2x1.5 meters and are 2 berths. There are 2 beds on top of each other. Pillows, sheets and blankets are provided. There is also a compartment next to the upper bed for luggage storage and a small sink. Toilets are located at the end of the carriage. Each carriage has 10 cabins which are all lockable from the inside. If you have booked a single supplement you will be assigned to your own berth.
• During your journey dinner and breakfast are provided however the meals are very basic and you may wish to bring along your own fresh fruit, snacks and water to supplement these.
• OVERNIGHT FELUCCA ON THE NILE
• On this trip you will be travelling and sleeping on a felucca. A felucca is a traditional wooden boat with broad canvas sails. The felucca offers some shade and protection from the elements. However, there is no cabin or enclosed section. You will be sharing a sleeping area with your fellow group members for the night and a shared bathroom facility (western style toilet). You'll sleep outside on a simple mattress, there is a wooden ceiling above you but the area is otherwise open. If you feel the cold you should consider bringing a sleeping bag. These can also be rented locally. Please advise your leader during the welcome meeting. You may also wish to bring a sleeping sheet from home. Conditions will be basic during your felucca trip. If you are prepared for this, you’re sure to have a memorable adventure. During the colder months (October to March) temperatures can get as low as 5°C at night.
• Our Nubian sailing crew ( normally 2 for sailing, 1 for cooking ) provides all the meals, which are hearty and delicious.
• We recommend that you pack everything you may need for the night in a small day bag.
• The felucca will stop a few times during your journey and overnight stay.

Accommodation

• The style of accommodation indicated in the day-to-day itinerary is a guideline only and may change. On some occasions, alternative arrangements may need to be made due to the lack of availability of rooms in our preferred accommodation. In these cases, we will use a similar standard of accommodation.
• Throughout the trip, we request that our properties prepare rooms in time for our arrival, especially if we're arriving prior to normal check-in time. However, this isn't always possible which means we won't be able to check-in immediately on arrival at some hotels. Instead, we can store our luggage and explore our new destination or on some trips, have use of shared day rooms until all rooms are available.
• OCCASIONAL ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION
• The style of accommodation indicated in the day-to-day itinerary is a guideline. On rare occasions, alternative arrangements may need to be made due to the lack of availability of rooms in our usual accommodation. A similar standard of accommodation will be used in these instances.
• ACCOMMODATION STYLE
• Some of the accommodation along the way is basic or simple, three and four-star accommodation in the Middle East (with the exception of Israel)  is often not equal to same-star facilities in some western destinations. Rooms are clean and comfortable, however, you may note some small maintenance issues that have been overlooked, please assist us by bringing these to the attention of your group leader or local representative so that we can follow up with our hosts. Many restaurants and hotels do not serve alcohol for religious reasons or due to local laws. Breakfast is included in 95% or our hotels, pleaser refer to our daily itinerary for meal inclusions.
• TWIN SHARE / MULTI SHARE BASIS
• Accommodation on this trip is on a twin/multi-share basis.
• CHECK-IN TIME
• Throughout the trip, we request that our hotels prepare rooms in time for our arrival, especially if we're arriving prior to normal check-in time. However, this isn't always possible which means we won't be able to check-in immediately on arrival at some hotels. Instead, we can store our luggage and explore our new destination.  Standard check-in time is 1400 hours.
• PRE/POST TRIP ACCOMMODATION
• If you've purchased pre-trip or post-trip accommodation (subject to availability), you may be required to change rooms from your trip accommodation for these extra nights.
• SHOWERS
• Showers at some hotels only have hot water at peak times (usually morning and evening). Outside of these times, you may need to speak to reception to obtain hot water.
• HEATING AND AIR-CONDITIONING
• As a desert region, this part of the world has extremes of weather. Winter months (approx December to March) can be very cold. All of our hotel accommodation contains suitable bedding, and simple light bedding is provided during camping activities such as an overnight felucca, desert camps or at the Red Sea Beach camp stay. Most of our travellers find the bedding provided here adequate, but for your own comfort and if you are particularly sensitive to the cold, consider bringing your own sleeping bag, thermals, scarf, gloves and a warm jacket. Some of our guesthouses/hotels don't supply heating. In many cases, this would be a major financial and environmental strain on our hotels and the local towns. Summer (approx June to August) can be very hot everywhere we travel, which means that it can be quite uncomfortable for those not used to the heat. Not all our hotels have air-conditioning, and in those that do, it's not always functioning.
• ROOM ISSUES
• If you have any issues with your room, please speak to the hotel and your group leader or local representative right away so that the problem can be addressed without delay.

Important Information

• 1.Some entrance fees are not included. If you wish to take part in these activities, you pay these fees as you go along.
• 2. A single supplement is available if you’d prefer not to share a room on this trip. The single supplement excludes Day 2,7 (Sleeper Train) and Day 5 (Felucca) where you will be in shared accommodation and is subject to availability. Please speak to your booking agent for further information.
• 3. Following recent safety incidents we recommend that you check your government's advice for their latest information on travelling in Egypt before your departure and ensure that your travel insurance covers you for all areas of your itinerary. We have links to prominent government travel advisories and regular updates on issues affecting this trip on our Travel Alerts page - https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/travel-alerts.

Mode of Transport

• There are some long travel days and some rough travelling in areas away from main tourist routes. Windy roads, rough surfaces and cramped conditions make for some challenging travel experiences. On some long travel days we depart early in the morning to ensure we optimise our time at our next destination. If you experience travel sickness we recommend you consider medication to help ease the discomfort.
• SECURITY WHILE TRAVELLING
• Occasionally you may experience a Tourist Police Escort in your vehicle and whilst not common convoys between select towns or regions are possible. This practice has been implemented by local authorities to monitor the safety and security of visitors to Egypt.
• OVERNIGHT TRAIN
• On this itinerary, you will be travelling by overnight sleeper train. The sleeper cabins are about 2x1.5 meters and are 2 berths. There are 2 beds on top of each other. Pillows, sheets and blankets are provided. There is also a compartment next to the upper bed for luggage storage and a small sink. Toilets are located at the end of the carriage. Each carriage has 10 cabins which are all lockable from the inside. If you have booked a single supplement you will be assigned to your own berth.
• During your journey dinner and breakfast are provided however the meals are very basic and you may wish to bring along your own fresh fruit, snacks and water to supplement these.
• OVERNIGHT FELUCCA ON THE NILE
• On this trip you will be travelling and sleeping on a felucca. A felucca is a traditional wooden boat with broad canvas sails. The felucca offers some shade and protection from the elements. However, there is no cabin or enclosed section. You will be sharing a sleeping area with your fellow group members for the night and a shared bathroom facility (western style toilet). You'll sleep outside on a simple mattress, there is a wooden ceiling above you but the area is otherwise open. If you feel the cold you should consider bringing a sleeping bag. These can also be rented locally. Please advise your leader during the welcome meeting. You may also wish to bring a sleeping sheet from home. Conditions will be basic during your felucca trip. If you are prepared for this, you’re sure to have a memorable adventure. During the colder months (October to March) temperatures can get as low as 5°C at night.
• Our Nubian sailing crew ( normally 2 for sailing, 1 for cooking ) provides all the meals, which are hearty and delicious.
• We recommend that you pack everything you may need for the night in a small day bag.
• The felucca will stop a few times during your journey and overnight stay.

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