The Disco Ball Traveler

So which tour did we choose? DRUMROLLLLLLLL:

• We chose the 12 day guided tour including a 6 day Nile River cruise – low stress, tell me where I should be and when vibes lol. There’s a certain peace to having someone tell you when and where to be somewhere every day! Dreamy. We also factored in the efficiency of sites we would see over time due to vacation time constraints. We didn’t have time to mess around with potential hiccups and booking things individually.
• Our tour was with Gate 1 Travel, but I found many very similar itineraries with different levels of service. A few factors here:
  • Cost – Budget friendly for sure
  • Local flair – Essential oils, papyrus, rugs, meals at local restaurants, felucca boat ride
  • Past traveler experiences – Two people recommended this tour
  • Timeframe – 12 days over a holiday meant only 6 days PTO
  • We also looked at AMA Waterways, but they were sold out for our time frame.
• This was the perfect choice for us and we wouldn’t change anything.

The Itinerary!

• Flight from US/JFK to Cairo (about 10.5 hours)
• 4 days touring Cairo with our Gate 1 Tour Manager (one hotel)
• Flight from Cairo to Luxor
• Board River Cruise Hansa Spirit
• Cruise the Nile to Aswan – 6 days with multiple stops
• Flight from Aswan to Cairo1 Night in Cairo
• Flight home to US/JFK

Some other thoughts…..

• Some more expensive guided tours will take you via boat through Lake Nasser directly towards Abu Simbal (we had to take a 3.5 hour bus each way from Aswan, but still worth the trip). Either way let’s goooooooooo…….
• For the bougey, upgrade to AMA or Viking cruises – I looked at the ships and they are beautiful! I did not notice a difference in guides or service. Note that the ships are always the same size due to river constraints. The main difference is room size, balconies, food, etc.

Up next, packing allll the right things (that we didn’t know about), and what’s up with Egyptian money?