How to see Egypt from Sharm El Sheikh?

Brow

Hopefully gonna be going to Egypt in June and staying Sharm El Sheikh. Its vital that I do some sight seeing over there but as I can see im quite far from the pyramids,sphinx etc.

Has anyone stayed in Sharm El Sheikh and seen any of the sights i mentioned? I know its possible to do but im unsure whether to try book in advance with a tour company or wait til I get over there. Or better yet if anyone has any recommended tour operators etc

I tried emailing potential hotels to see if theyd any advice but I dont think they got what I was asking so im still unclear how to go about this.

Any help is appreciated.

goonersnroses

www.sharmexcursions.com

Serena08

Hi Brow sharem el Sheik is beautiful I have been there twice and loved it. I had children with me so did very little of the bigger trips however members of my group did and found it easy enough to book through the holiday reps provided by the tour operator . We travelled with 1st choice now I have to say it is quite expensive so allow for this I can't recall the exact amounts but for example the pyramids cost around €250 -€270 pp that was an over night trip including flights this was also availale via a coach trip very long hard journey 8-9 hours drive for €140 pp as I knew friends that did both journeys I would reccomend paying the extra and flying. We stayed at Coral Sea Resort and got to know the pool boys that introduced us to a local tour group that offered great savings but not everybody would be comfortable using an unknown company but if you are interested I am still intouch with someone over there and could pass on details just pm me . I hope this has helped you a little enjoy your trip

bleary

That seems an incredible mark up on those trips. The bus fare is about 10 quid each way I think from hurghada to cairo its not that much farther from sharm. depends where you are staying if it is a non package accommodation you could ask there. I know I was getting a high speed ferry and a bus for about 60 euro a few years ago from luxor to sharm , Think the flights were about 80-90. thought flights up to cairo were similar

derrybawn

We did this last year. Book local flights online before you go. If I remember correctly we flew with egypt air. One way flights cost us around 30 each for each leg. (Cairo Luxor then Luxor - Sharm & Sharm - Cairo). We booked online and selected Egypt as the country. There was some talk online that the fares booked this way were for Egyptians only, but no-one challenged us about this.

Flights for next week from Sharm to Cairo are 50 Euro one way.

There are lots of hotel options in both Cairo & Luxor.

Be prepared to be screwed by taxi drivers at Sharm airport though. They appear to have a cartel thing going.

Pythia

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055266104 This thread might help.

So we went to Egypt in spring of 08. We visited Cairo, Luxor and Petra with Longwoods. I would advise Petra in particular, you are probably familiar with it from the Indiana Jones films. Cairo is a filthy, horrible place which happens to have the iconic pyramids. I wouldn't go back. Luxor is also amazing, so much more to it than Cairo.

orchidsrpretty

derrybawn wrote: »

We did this last year. Book local flights online before you go. If I remember correctly we flew with egypt air. One way flights cost us around 30 each for each leg. (Cairo Luxor then Luxor - Sharm & Sharm - Cairo). We booked online and selected Egypt as the country. There was some talk online that the fares booked this way were for Egyptians only, but no-one challenged us about this.

Flights for next week from Sharm to Cairo are 50 Euro one way.

There are lots of hotel options in both Cairo & Luxor.

Be prepared to be screwed by taxi drivers at Sharm airport though. They appear to have a cartel thing going.

I did this trip too. When you go onto the Eyyptair Web page, select Egypt as your country of residence and the flights are so cheap. I think I booked my accomadation in both places through Hotels.com. All in the round trip Sharm-Cario-Luxor-Sharm cost about 200Eur for 8 days. It is very easy to get around yourself and see all the sights without tourguides, Although as Cario is such a large place, we hired a guide through our hotel for a day which cost about 30E pp and he brought us everywhere we wanted to go.

bleary

Cairo is a filthy, horrible place which happens to have the iconic pyramids. I wouldn't go back



It was my favourite part of egypt -depends on who you meet and what you are interested in I guess

derrybawn

Horses for courses all right. Never write off a place based on what others say. See the pyramids, nothing can prepare you for them! Its worth taking a trip out to Sakkara as well.

And the people? I remember getting involved in a game of footie with a gang of Egyptian girls the Christmas after the Twin Towers attack. Felt a bit odd & I was certainly looking over my shoulder, but was glad I did not brush them off.

In Cairo you will get all sorts of shady guys approaching you wanting you to visit their shop/gallery etc. Ignore them & keep moving on! Dirty? Well look around the streets of some of our own towns.

Don't forget to spend a day in the Egyptian Museum. Even if you are not the museum type this place is worth it.

Hotels? If you have buckets of money, you will have lots to choose from, if not then even the cheap hotels know how to look after you. If you want to pm me, I can point you to a cheap one in Cairo & Luxor that we found good.

Brow

Cheers for the help people.

Im not too sure if im gonna overnight it in Cairo so much as just do a day in Cairo. The Sharm tours site above is kinda what I was looking for but if alternatively the same can be done on my own without a tour group for cheaper then all the better.

Supposing I took a flight to Cairo from Sharm in the wee hours of the morning what would you recommend then? Like a taxi to the location? Organise throught a tour group for someone to pick me up?

Bear in mind I potentially want to fly back to Sharm that night! So I dont think a hotel will be necessary.

derrybawn

You'll be knackered. Allow 45 minutes to get to the airport, up to 2 hours before departure & an hour to get into Cairo! Thats a big chunk of the day gone already. It takes around an hour to get from Cairo city center to Giza (pyramids)

Double that time for the return leg & you don't have much of the day left.

Its really worth seeing the Egyptian museum in Cairo city center as well.

Brow

I see your point...might look into over nighting so.

Pythia

derrybawn wrote: »

You'll be knackered. Allow 45 minutes to get to the airport, up to 2 hours before departure & an hour to get into Cairo! Thats a big chunk of the day gone already. It takes around an hour to get from Cairo city center to Giza (pyramids)

Double that time for the return leg & you don't have much of the day left.

Its really worth seeing the Egyptian museum in Cairo city center as well.

Depends on where you stay in Sharm. Our hotel was 10 mins from the airport. You don't need 2 hours before the flight either since it's internal. We got the 6.30am ish flight and were at the Egyptian museum before 9. A few hours there, a few hours at the Pyramids and we could have gone and been back for a late dinner. However, we did stay in a hotel and see the Sound and Lights show later that evening. Got up and did the same again the next day in Luxor and got back to the hotel for dinner that night. You definitely don't need a hotel for the night unless you want to go to two places.

derrybawn

If you are looking for a really cheap but clean place, try the Lotus hotel (http://www.lotushotel.com/). Its in the center of town 10 minutes walk from the Egyptian museum. They will also arrange a taxi driver to bring you to the pyramids. You could possibly do both in a day, but a better option might be to arrive in Cairo early, do the museum, do the pyramids the next morning & fly out that evening.

Its no 5 star, but you'll only be there 1 night.