Egypt

Welcome to Shoestring!
Shoestring is looking forward to welcoming you on one of our unforgettable journeys. Be well prepared, get informed about your destination and make sure you know which vaccinations or other medication you require. During the trip, be flexible and don’t feel obliged to always stay with the group. Your guide will advise and assist you, but remember that he or she will have a lot on their mind to ensure that everything is running smoothly. We hope you have a fantastic time in this beautiful destination.

Before you travel
If your trip is unexpectedly cancelled, we will let you know at least three weeks prior to departure. Cancellations are very rare though, so go ahead and prepare yourself for your trip.

This holiday is classified as Category A

The difficulty of our travels varies greatly. Added to this is the fact that travel difficulty is a very personal perception. To give an impression of the difficulty of a particular holiday we have developed a classification system.
Category A: Light travel, possible for anyone. Short distances, good hotels, low travelling speed.
Category B: Feasible for anyone who prepares for the trip. Sometimes longer distances, good hotels or camping facilities, some adventure nights, average travelling speed.
Category C: Feasible for anyone who prepares well and is flexible, but some parts of the journey are difficult, distances may be long or require a day’s walk, there may be some basic facilities.
Category D: Reasonably difficult trip because of long travel distances, often primitive facilities or tents, long walks.
Category E: Difficult trip. The traveller knows him/herself and is well prepared, he or she realises that the holiday can be demanding.

This 7-day introductory tour falls under category A. It is suitable for everyone, although in summer the heat makes the journey more difficult than at other times of the year. We will stay in simple, but good quality hotels, although remember that we are travelling through a developing country which has a lower standard of living than Europeans are used to. It is also possible that bad weather or poor road maintenance may force us to take detours from the scheduled route, and the journeys we will make are often long. For this reason, a flexible and positive attitude is more important for this trip than a good level of fitness.

Nature of the Trip

During this packed week we will visit the most famous sites in Egypt, including the Pyramids of Giza and Saqqara, the medieval markets in Cairo, treasure-filled museums, the green Nile Valley, the large temples of Luxor and Karnak and the mysterious city of the dead, Thebes. We will stay for three nights in Cairo and two nights in Luxor in good quality hotels.

Day 1 - 3: Cairo

The tour starts in Cairo, Egypt’s capital city. You will have two days to explore the city. This metropolis on the River Nile is packed with extremes. Centuries of history combine with concrete buildings and streams of traffic. Water pipes and horse-drawn carts run past internet cafes and the first metro system to be built in Africa.

To begin with, the Pyramids of Giza and Saqqara are the most obvious must-see sites in the region. The burial site of Saqqara was built in the desert in order to avoid taking up valuable and scarce farmland in the fertile Nile Valley. Pharaohs and other important members of Egyptian society were buried here. On the walls of the diverse graves you can find stunning decorations which depict everyday scenes from ancient times. The tombs were marked with a mastara, which is a building where offerings and sacrifices for the dead could be placed. Royal tombs consisted of a number of these mastabas which were built on top of one another to form step-pyramids. The famous pyramid of Zozer, dating back to the 27th century BC, is a good example of this type of pyramid. The pyramid walls were then made smooth, as can be seen in the pyramids of Giza which have become known as one of the seven wonders of the world. The pyramids have attracted scores of visitors for centuries, all of whom are instantly spellbound by the awe-inspiring dimensions of these enormous structures, especially the tombs of the Pharaohs Cheops, Chefren and Mycerynos. At the foot of these immense monuments you will find the huge Sphinx, which hosts a very attractive lightshow in the evenings. Travelling on horseback is an ideal way to explore the area, or even travelling on the back of a dromedary (one-humped camel).

Another highlight of the stay in Cairo is the opportunity to visit the Egyptian National Museum, where Tutankhamen’s treasure is on display, as well as treasure from the tombs of other pharaohs. This is seen as one of the best and most historically valuable museums in the world.

The city itself is just as remarkable as its attractions. Exploring this medieval city, with its citadel and gigantic mosques and medressas (Muslim schools), is a truly fascinating experience. The Coptic churches and the immense tombs should not be missed either. Cairo is also home to the most beautiful oriental bazaars in the world, the largest and most important of which is Khan al-Khalili. Today, Cairo has all the features of a modern day metropolis and boasts long boulevards along the Nile, trendy restaurants and towers which offer spectacular views of the whole city.

Day 4: Cairo - Luxor

Today you will have plenty of time to further admire Cairo before we leave for Luxor in the evening. We will travel on the air-conditioned night train in reserved seating carriages (although we don't sleep in bunks, the seating is very comfortable). We will arrive in Luxor the following morning.

Day 5: Luxor

Since the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1923, this city, which is situated on the Nile, has become world famous. Luxor is the new name of the city formerly known as Thebes. On the eastern side of the Nile, you can find the huge temples of Luxor and Karnak. Karnak is an impressive temple complex, built in honour of the god Amun. Every pharaoh left their mark on this complex, each having built new obelisks and statues and having added new decoration to the existing temples. The complex used to be linked to the Luxor Temple by an alley of sphinxes. The Temple of Luxor is situated in the centre of the city and is much smaller than the Karnak temple complex. The temples are illuminated in the evenings, and you may wish to attend the spectacular light show at Karnak. You can visit the temples by bike or by horse and cart, as the complex is situated outside the city. On the western bank of the Nile, you can find the Valley of the Kings, the burial site of the ancient pharaohs. The tombs are carved out of the rocks and are exquisitely decorated. It is advisable to bring a torch when visiting the tombs.

The labourers, craftsmen and architects who created these works of art had their own separate village, Deir el-Medina. Their own tombs can be found there. You can visit the various tourist attractions by bike, by horse-drawn carriage or on the back of a donkey! The Egyptian Art Museum is also worth seeing.

Day 6: Luxor – Cairo

Last day to visit Luxor. In the evening you will take the air conditioned night train with reserved seats back to Cairo. Arrival in Cairo in the morning on day 7.

Day 7 - 8: Cairo

Day 9: Cairo