Please ensure that you’re aware of the suitable dress code when out of resort, plus comfortable footwear for places like Cairo & Luxor (dusty, uneven ground) or on trips where you may be doing quite a lot of walking:

* Some people choose to book thru their tour operator, at the Welcome meeting, for peace of mind, should anything go wrong (especially on the trips out of Egypt to Israel or Jordan) others book thru the hotel, on arrival, or there are plenty of tour operators in Sharm. The latter 2 alternatives are cheaper, but it's entirely up to you. You can also book thru any tour op, even if you haven’t travelled with them....ie, if you’re there with Thomas Cook, you can book trips with Thomson or Longwood, for eg.

* Some people book the Cairo & Luxor trips before travelling to Sharm by using the Egyptair website. One should click on the Egyptian flag, thereby showing Egypt as your home country, as it will secure the best deal. Then you must arrange a guide. A recommended list (by TA posters) can be found in the Cairo & Luxor forums.

Use the search engine to research the names further to see who was happy & who wasn’t.

* Keep an eye on this for updates: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g...

* Some people book online using one of the local tour ops who happen to have a website. Some of the prices quoted on the forum (from the websites) are not that much cheaper than the tour reps such as Thomson, Thomas Cook  etc. If you wait until in resort you can shop around & haggle for the best deal. You can also see the people face to face & trust your intuition as to whom to book with. There are countless local vendors, all competing for custom, all selling the same trips, so they will try & accommodate the customers as best they can. Please bear in mind that cheapest isn’t always best though! Useful link below:

 TRIPS:

*CAIRO ~ Cairo is about an hour from Sharm by plane or 6-7 hrs by coach each way. This starts at about midnight, travel all thru the night, see Cairo & travel back till about midnight. You can take the hotel pillow & sleep on the coach.

The Giza Plateau opens at 0800 and closes at 1700. Itinerary usually includes Giza Plateau, museum, mosque(s), Khan El Khalili Bazaar (bargain hard here!), papyrus & perfume factories (the guide will take commission on any sales so they’re not the cheapest places), maybe a felucca (boat) ride on the Nile.

The price to see the solar boat, on the Giza Plateau is about 50LE.

 http://www.touregyptphotos.com/showph... – pic of someone inside the 2nd pyramid. There is often a constant stream of people going in & out along that same route.

Please be aware that it can be very stuffy inside the pyramids; if you are claustrophobic or have trouble bending to walk about 70 paces, then stand upright for a short way, then bend & walk for about another 70 paces, entering a pyramid may not be for you. Cameras must be left outside with the guards.

Pics of Giza Plateau & inside the Great Pyramid (pics are not usually allowed in any of the 3 unless you pay for private time, which is expensive.)

Approx prices: - Giza Plateau 60le, Enter Great Pyramid 100le, Enter Second Pyramid 30le, Enter Third Pyramid 25le, Museum 60le, Mummy Rooms 100le.

Only a certain number of visitors are allowed in the Great Pyramid per morning & afternoon.

Don’t give anyone your camera to take a photo of you as they will want a tip to give it back; this includes the tourist police who will ask for a tip just for you to take pics of them!

Vendors & small Bedouin children will try & sell you their wares; it can be a little tedious! Don’t accept anything for free as they will return later & ask for money.

If you want a ride on a camel or horse by the pyramids, ensure that your guide negotiates a good rate for you & check the going rate on the Cairo forum before you go so that you know if the guide is being fair with you.

Cairo / Giza are very different from Sharm & some people are shocked by the poverty in the suburbs, the pollution in Cairo & rubbish around. You may see animals transported & treated in a way which is not what you would wish to witness.

SOME TOUR OPERATORS WILL OFFER 2 DAYS IN CAIRO

*LUXOR– about 50 mins by plane (not available by road). Usual itinerary is Collosi of Memnon, Hatchepsut’s Temple in the Valley of the Queens, nobles’ tombs, Valleys of Kings, Luxor & Karnak Temples, alabaster factory (won’t be the cheapest place as the guide will take commissions on sales here).

The tombs & temples here are slightly more recent than the pyramid age.

 Karnak Temple near Luxor

Luxor Temple http://s481.photobucket.com/albums/rr...

* PETRA (in Jordan; obtain visa for Jordan when you land at their airport; it’s around £15) About an hour by plane.

Please remember that Jordan is a Muslim country & suitable clothing should be worn. Petra is a long, tiring day, but awesome. Went once in March (nice & warm) & once in Dec; rather cold & many people bought extra layers at the 1st comfort stop!

You need a visa on arrival in Jordan; the Jordanian guide will sort that. They’re about £15 or so.

You will be collected early for a 6pm flight, then it's about 2.5 hr by coach to Petra, incl. a comfort stop or 2. There are a few shops which you get to see on the way out of Petra but there is probably time to grab a drink.

The walk into the heart of Petra is quite long...at least an hour or so; wear comfortable shoes. There are kaleshes (horse & carriage) & horses, but it's all a bit mad & rickety! In any case, you want to hear what the guide is saying on the way in & to look around / up.

The rocks get pinker as you get more towards the centre, where the Treasury is. It's absolutely amazing, as are the other ruined buildings in the vicinity, round to the right, which aren't ever mentioned, really.

You can't go far into the Treasury....it's not like in the Indiana Jones's film! (“The Last Crusade”)

There are camels to sit on, if you want, just to have a photo taken.

You walk round to the right, to see the other parts, incl ancient theatre ruins & then have some Bedouin tea. Bedouin kids try to sell you stones / rocks. The guides will ask you to ignore them as they don't want the Bedouins, or anyone, continuously chipping away at the place.

You could get a horse or carriage back if you wanted as you retrace your steps to exit the place.

After a look around the shops, you go for lunch (nice hotel, armed guards outside, but it's only for your own safety)

Quick drive round Aqaba, then flight home.

*JERUSALEM & THE DEAD SEA. (No visa req’d but border fees payable)

These day trips are all long but brilliant.

Start at about 1a.m., go thru all the day ahead & return at anything from 11pm that night to 1a.m the following day.

Please ensure that you have knees, shoulders & chest covered (males & females) for Holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem etc. Comfortable footwear is a good idea.

LADIES: - When leaving the Ladies' Western Wall, please be aware that it's respectful not to turn your back on the wall till you're a certain distance away. Take your cue from other ladies around you & back-track as far as possible.

* DEAD SEA:- (Sometimes combined with the Jerusalem trip, sometimes sold as a separate trip. These are details as tho it’s a separate trip)

Drive through the Arava valley and Negev Desert to Masada, a mountain-top fortress in the midst of the desert overlooking the Dead Sea; famous as the last stronghold of the rebels against the Romans.
Ascend by cable car to visit the ruins, including King Herod’s winter palace, the synagogue, living quarters, bakery & hot baths with spectacular mosaics, whilst re-living the tragic story, with explanations from your guide.
Continue along the shores of the Dead Sea to Kibbutz Ein Gedi for a buffet lunch, then on to the Ein Gedi Spa to relax in the sulphur pools at the lowest point on earth.
Cover yourself with the famous therapeutic black mud of the Dead Sea, & spend the afternoon experiencing the unique floating sensation unique to the Dead Sea.

* QUAD BIKES: i.e. quad biking at sunset, in the desert, or quad biking by day, incl. BBQ (buy a Bedouin scarf at the local supermarket to wrap round your mouth - very very dusty!) Wear older clothes for these trips & wrap up for the sunset trip in cooler months. They’ll usually sell you goggles at the venue. They’ll do a DVD of the trip, which you can buy after. Both are great trips. Thomson & other reps have an age limit of 16 but local vendors / hotels will allow younger children on board, alone or behind a parent. If the trip goes thru part of Ras Mohammed National Park , strictly speaking, you need a visa although they don’t always ask to see it.

Local vendors charge about £15 & may ask that you sign a disclaimer re: insurance or they may say that you’re covered.....this is not usually the case!

Don’t book with any firm that doesn’t provide hard helmets.

* N.B. Make sure you have adequate insurance cover for “risky” sports on the 250cc quads. Problems with quad accidents & lack of insurance by local vendors has been highlighted on TV & not just for Egypt;

Check out any of these:

insuremore.co.uk

www.travelinsuranceweb.com

 Endsleigh ins.

www.moneysupermarket.com/insurance ,

http://www.sportplan.net/userapp/page... ,

http://www.jsinsurance.co.uk/travel_i... ,

http://www.rush2go.co.uk/insurance/tr...

http://www.the-insurance-surgery.co.u...

www.ecclesiastical.com

Columbus

*STARGAZING in the desert - looking at stars thru proper equipment, have a BBQ meal & listen to the local guide explain about the constellations. If you’re going in slightly cooler months, wrap up for that trip, or sunset quad trip, as the desert gets very cool!!!

* SEASCOPE - half day trip in a boat which has a lower deck under water, & the walls are all see-thru', so you can see everything, close at hand. Ideal for children or those who don’t dive / snorkel.

*JEEP SAFARI– not done it, so can’t comment on it, except that, as with quads, ladies are advised to wear a sports bra! Here’s a link to an old post about it tho: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopi...   Off road through the mountains, in valleys & along the coast. Lunch & soft drinks are usually provided & conclude with shopping in Dahab.

* There's a long but good day trip to MOUNT SINAI & ST. CATHERINE’S MONASTERY - (see the burning bush & cow carved in the rock, dating back to Moses's time) You’ll visit Dahab on the way back. This is also a diving resort & not as commercialized or large as Na’ama Bay. Be prepared to witness the poverty of the Bedouins. Children will beg for chocolate, pens, chewing gum & sweets in general.

Bedouins will try & sell geodes / crystals cut out of the Sinai mountains & the Bedouin scarves as well as little bracelets & trinkets.

http://s481.photobucket.com/albums/rr...

* CLIMB MOUNT SINAI at night, so you can see the sunrise. Can be a bit cool, even in summer months & it’s a l..o..n..g hike (about 3.5 hrs); camels are available.

Slideshow by poster ScottieDog73

* There are BOAT TRIPS to RAS MOHAMMED NATIONAL PARK (visa req'd....even though they don’t always ask to see it. Some posters have had theirs checked) & you can either soak up the sun or snorkel at the 3 stops. There’s another to TIRAN ISLAND; no visa required.

* COLOURED CANYON is interesting, & like a mini-Petra, but not offered by the companies like Thomson as the ground is so uneven. Here is a link about it:

& pics:

*EVENING BOAT TRIPS around the bay with a meal on board.

* SAND BUGGIES~ They go at around same speed as quads. You have a full harness to strap you in. Longwoods have something called “off road buggies” (as well as quads) so maybe they're similar. Longwood Office is in shopping mall 8 (upstairs) in Na'ama Bay, next to Jolie Ville Resort & Casino, on the main rd thru Na'ama. Check your insurance as with quads!

* Dolphins ~ Dolphinella in Sharm is not popular on the forum; this link will explain why:

* Dolphin trip to Eilat, Israel - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-...    & http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-...

People have been fortunate enough to see dolphins when out on boat trips; it’s not guaranteed though.

* BEDOUIN DINNER – Bedouin style dinner is served in a candle-lit tent with an Oriental show as entertainment.

* SUNSET CAMEL TRIP – Ride camels in the desert, watch the beautiful sunset & sample mint tea in the Bedouin tents. (Please note that some animals may not be in the condition in which you wish to see them). If planning on riding one on the Giza Plateau, check on the Cairo forum for the going rate so you don’t pay over the odds; same with horse rides at the pyramids.

*HORSE RIDING – Horse riding in the desert on Arabian horses; sample mint tea in the Bedouin tents. (Please note that some animals may not be in the condition in which you wish to see them) The hard hats (if offered!) may not be up to the standard of the ones in the UK. If planning on riding one on the Giza Plateau, check on the Cairo forum for the going rate so you don’t pay over the odds; same with camel rides at the pyramids.

* ABU GALUM & THE BLUE HOLE – Early morning trip to Dahab; the Bedouin town, less commercialised than Sharm, for snorkelling at the Blue Hole. You can ride a camel to Abu Galum where you can swim & have lunch. Shopping in Dahab then follows.

*TABA, PHARAONE ISLAND & DAHAB – Early drive to Taba, transfer to the Pharaonic Island, visit the fortress of Salah-el-Deen. Lunch at Nuweiba & then onto Dahab for shopping.