Nile cruises

boogieman

As in big boats going up the river in Egypt, not the guitarist from Chic looking to score. 

Looking to do this next year, anyone else done it? Any advice or tips?

Interested in the ancient sites mainly, are there any must-sees, apart from the obvious things in Cairo? Also looking for recommendations for good cruise companies. 

Thank you muchly. 

Roland

Definitely worth doing. We did it 17 years ago. We used Kuoni because they appeared to have the better boats and the better landing places. This was certainly borne out when we saw the other boats on the river. IIRC we did Luxor to Aswan, and then flew to Cairo to see the pyramids and Cairo museum. 

Unlike Greek and Roman civilisations the Egyptians didn’t get ported into western civilisation, so a lot of it is novel. There are cultural differences which you have to adjust to. Most days you get a trip in the morning, before it gets too hot. Then the boats sails through the afternoon, so there’s a cooling breeze across the deck. This also gives you time to digest what you’ve seen in the morning.

stickyfiddle

Yes. I'd highly recommend Real Egypt tours. A fairly small operation but great guys, with really knowledgable & friendly guides. It's a great time to go as everything is much quieter than it was pre-revolution and everyone is very welcoming. 

Take a dahabiya, not a big cruiser, if you can afford it. We had an entire boat just to ourselves and it was spectacular. They're not as modern, and they don't run the generator all day for A/C and electricity, but it's an awesome experience. Obviously that means it would be very hot in summer, but go in Spring or Autumn and it's beautiful.

Itinerary-wise, we did Cairo for a day of pyramids, then flew to Luxor, stayed there 3 nights, then sailed to Aswan, down to Abu Simbal and then back up to Cairo for 1 night and the museum. 

Honestly, I found Cairo less interesting than a lot of the rest. Obviously going in a pyramid is great and the museum is interesting, but I'm not super-bothered about returning. But I'd do the Luxor to Aswan stretch again very happily.

Edfu was probably my favourite single temple, but the big tours won't stop there, so worth googling the site down the Nile in case there's anything specific you want to make sure you see. In Luxor, we didn't stay in Luxor proper, but at Marsam Hotel, which is where a lot of the old archaeologists stayed (and still do). About 10 minutes' drive from the Valley of the Kings and 2 mins from the Colossi of Memnon. The rooms are *not* like a five star hotel, but perfectly serviceable, and they have a beautiful courtyard where you can get lunch & wine and generally just have the perfect do-nothing afternoon after a balloon at sunrise and tour of the monuments in the morning.

fandango

boogieman said:

As in big boats going up the river in Egypt, not the guitarist from Chic looking to score. 

Looking to do this next year, anyone else done it? Any advice or tips?

Interested in the ancient sites mainly, are there any must-sees, apart from the obvious things in Cairo? Also looking for recommendations for good cruise companies. 

Thank you muchly. 

Do you mean the Night Boat to Cairo? 

Chalky

I did it over 30 years ago and it was fantastic. No aircon on the boats back then but that was part of the experience! Thoroughly worth it.

Mind you, the Colossi of Memnon in those days were just on the side of the road with nothing around them so we only stopped for 10 mins on the coach.  Pictures now show them surrounded!

thumpingrug

Most of the Nile cruise boats take about 200 passengers.  10 years ago we went with Thomas Cook on a luxury package and our boat had a max of 50 passengers.  However we went in January (temperatures were still in the 30's) and we sailed with just 12 guests.   We had a tour guide who was brilliant and organised everything and stopped at a couple of out of extra places.  Edfu and the Temple of Horus was worth the visit as was a small temple at Esna, which apparently doesn't get many visitors.    All visits were very early in teh morning, 8.00am usually before it got busy and too hot.    kom Ombo is a big tourist draw but well worth the visit as is Abu Simble simple for the grandeur of the buildings.  Abu Simble generally involves an additional flight from Aswan.     

Pretty much all the temples are worth visiting.  We found it quite breathtaking.

Oh and the food was exceptional - possible because the chefs were catering for such a small group - but we all ate very well and no-one had any sickness issues.

boogieman

Cheers for all the info so far chaps. 

stickyfiddle

I’d actually forgotten Esna! That was good too. Very quiet, which is always good, but not as good as Edfu for me.

It probably helped that on our Edna day I could barely walk having spent all of the previous couple of days clambering in and out of pyramids and tombs, so my legs were buggered! (The pyramids were *not* built for slightly unfit 6” blokes to go inside!)

Just remembered  also the VoK had a couple of the very rare tombs open when we were there. It was an extra 50 quid or so each, but usually more like 1k a ticket, and only opened a handful of times per year. Absolutely spellbinding to be down there on your own in tombs that only been visited by a tiny number of people in thousands of years.

OP- very happy to talk more specifics here or PM if helpful! And can share photos, but won’t clog up the thread if not needed! :

boogieman

stickyfiddle said:

I’d actually forgotten Esna! That was good too. Very quiet, which is always good, but not as good as Edfu for me.

It probably helped that on our Edna day I could barely walk having spent all of the previous couple of days clambering in and out of pyramids and tombs, so my legs were buggered! (The pyramids were *not* built for slightly unfit 6” blokes to go inside!)

Just remembered  also the VoK had a couple of the very rare tombs open when we were there. It was an extra 50 quid or so each, but usually more like 1k a ticket, and only opened a handful of times per year. Absolutely spellbinding to be down there on your own in tombs that only been visited by a tiny number of people in thousands of years.

OP- very happy to talk more specifics here or PM if helpful! And can share photos, but won’t clog up the thread if not needed! :

Cheers Sticky. I’ll pm you tomorrow if that’s ok? 

stickyfiddle

of course!

Neil

I've always fancied a Nile cruise but was put off when I raised the subject on my watch forum.

Tales of constant pestering by locals, begging etc etc sounded very tiresome, also of course the security aspect nowadays has to be considered.

When my son went a few years ago he told me similar about the locals and being physically dragged into shops!

I'd like to see the sights but wouldn't want the trip spoiled.

Funny to have seen to lots of polar opposite views on two different forums.

ICBM

Roland said:

Definitely worth doing. We did it 17 years ago. We used Kuoni because they appeared to have the better boats and the better landing places. This was certainly borne out when we saw the other boats on the river. IIRC we did Luxor to Aswan, and then flew to Cairo to see the pyramids and Cairo museum.

We did exactly this the opposite way round 20 years ago, also with Kuoni.

2 days in Cairo, flew to Abu Simbel, bus to Aswan, then the boat to Luxor - about five day on the boat I think - and stayed for nearly a week there.

I'm not sure how much will have changed in 20 years, but if not then my main pieces of advice would be to take plenty of small denomination cash - the culture of 'baksheesh' is completely normal and will make it far easier to get on with the locals when you treat it as natural and the way business is done with anybody, no matter how small the service - and to take the right clothes, which includes a hat as well as long sleeved shirts and trousers, for both men and women - both for avoiding sunburn and not causing offence... it's a fairly tolerant country, but short-sleeved tops and shorts are not really appreciated. I took my Indiana Jones hat and it not only helped avoid sunburn, it saved me from a few nasty head bumps in low tomb passages.

And if you want to go to the Great Pyramid, go at the exact time you're advised not to - 1pm, when it's hottest. We did so by accident when the previous tour was fully booked and that's all they could offer us, and actually found it wasn't that unbearable, but it had the advantage of keeping almost all of the other tourists and the touts away.

stickyfiddle

Neil said:

I've always fancied a Nile cruise but was put off when I raised the subject on my watch forum.

Tales of constant pestering by locals, begging etc etc sounded very tiresome, also of course the security aspect nowadays has to be considered.

When my son went a few years ago he told me similar about the locals and being physically dragged into shops!

I'd like to see the sights but wouldn't want the trip spoiled.

Funny to have seen to lots of polar opposite views on two different forums.

We didn't have any of that last year, tbh. 

It probably helped that we had a local guide, who could tell the shopkeepers to bugger off in arabic. And it probably helps that we've lived in the middle east for long enough that we're quite good at ignoring that stuff when in markets, but overall we had no issues. 

You just have to be firm and keep walking  

@ICBM - did you go in the Red Pyramid? We skipped the great pyramid because it was v busy, but the red one was great. Although the 4'6" ceiling in the main tunnel did cause a couple of legs severe leg-ache! 

And +1 on the hat thing. I took a panama. Absolutely the perfect thing for sailing down the Nile.

boogieman

Neil said:

I've always fancied a Nile cruise but was put off when I raised the subject on my watch forum.

Tales of constant pestering by locals, begging etc etc sounded very tiresome, also of course the security aspect nowadays has to be considered.

When my son went a few years ago he told me similar about the locals and being physically dragged into shops!

I'd like to see the sights but wouldn't want the trip spoiled.

Funny to have seen to lots of polar opposite views on two different forums.

We’ve been to India already.  Got kind of immune to beggars and touts after that. And as Sticky says, we’d have a local guide most of the time to fend off the worst of things. The possible stomach issues worry me more than anything else, but most of the reviews of the cruises and hotels I’ve read have said it’s not a problem, as long as you’re sensible. 

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

Neil said:

I've always fancied a Nile cruise but was put off when I raised the subject on my watch forum.

Tales of constant pestering by locals, begging etc etc sounded very tiresome, also of course the security aspect nowadays has to be considered.

When my son went a few years ago he told me similar about the locals and being physically dragged into shops!

I'd like to see the sights but wouldn't want the trip spoiled.

Funny to have seen to lots of polar opposite views on two different forums.

We didn't have any of that last year, tbh. 

It probably helped that we had a local guide, who could tell the shopkeepers to bugger off in arabic. And it probably helps that we've lived in the middle east for long enough that we're quite good at ignoring that stuff when in markets, but overall we had no issues. 

You just have to be firm and keep walking

Yes, that is a bit of a hazard, but if you're firm about not wanting to - or if you do want something, haggle and low-ball them even more brazenly than they expect you to and stick to your guns as far as you can - it's quite fun.

We didn't see many actual beggars, but you do need to get used to offering a small amount of money for any service - even if in our Western terms it was not asked for or you wouldn't even consider it one. Remember that all of us are fabulously wealthy by their standards.

stickyfiddle said:

@ICBM - did you go in the Red Pyramid? We skipped the great pyramid because it was v busy, but the red one was great. Although the 4'6" ceiling in the main tunnel did cause a couple of legs severe leg-ache! 

No - we went to the Great because at 1pm, there was literally one other tourist on our minibus, perhaps another twenty there in total, and only one half-hearted tat seller outside who gave up immediately when we said no thanks because it was clearly too much effort. (Although he did ask if I wanted to swap MrsICBM for a camel .) So if you can stand the heat - and it was like being in an inside-out oven outdoors - that really is the time to go.

boogieman said:

We’ve been to India already.  Got kind of immune to beggars and touts after that. And as Sticky says, we’d have a local guide most of the time to fend off the worst of things. The possible stomach issues worry me more than anything else, but most of the reviews of the cruises and hotels I’ve read have said it’s not a problem, as long as you’re sensible. 

We didn't have any stomach issues, but we were caught out by getting colds on the boat, from the air-conditioning. And of course that was about the only type of medicine we hadn't taken...

Nitefly

I was in Tunisia a few years ago, where I imagine the culture is very similar.  The baksheesh thing was endemic - it cost me 3 tips before we'd got to our hotel room off the bus!  One chap took our cases from the bus to the reception desk - hand out.  Another took them from the reception desk to the lift - hand out.  A third took them into the lift and along to the room - hand out!

The usual amount was 1 dinar, which was about 45p at the time.

However we discovered that part of the reason for this is that they don't actually get wages for working in hotels - all they get is the uniform, so they are dependent on the tips for a living.  There was a chap who was renting out mattresses for the sunbeds at 2 dinars a go - again that was his wage.

Chalky

30 years ago we'd get off the boat and be waist-deep in little kids demanding money!  Very hard to resist at first. No beggars and only the very occasional tout back then. Things have clearly changed...

ICBM

Nitefly said:

I was in Tunisia a few years ago, where I imagine the culture is very similar.  The baksheesh thing was endemic - it cost me 3 tips before we'd got to our hotel room off the bus!  One chap took our cases from the bus to the reception desk - hand out.  Another took them from the reception desk to the lift - hand out.  A third took them into the lift and along to the room - hand out!

The usual amount was 1 dinar, which was about 45p at the time.

However we discovered that part of the reason for this is that they don't actually get wages for working in hotels - all they get is the uniform, so they are dependent on the tips for a living.  There was a chap who was renting out mattresses for the sunbeds at 2 dinars a go - again that was his wage.

Exactly - we were told that in Egypt, even the employees who do have a salary are on such a pitiful wage that the tips are by far the bulk of their income. I suspect a lot of tourists aren't told that in advance - we weren't, until our tour guide explained the situation, and we then simply budgeted for that sort of tip (it was about 10p in our terms back then) for almost anyone we came into contact with. It didn't make the holiday significantly more expensive, but it did mean that we had to draw more cash out than we'd originally expected.

The only time we had a problem was when a donkey-cart driver in Edfu (I think) took it upon himself to go through a shitty part of town in order to stop and buy us "beer" from a (presumably his family's or friend's) nasty-looking shop, when we had pointedly told him we didn't want any. We paid him the fare and flatly refused to give him any baksheesh, and there was then a heated argument between our tour guide and the driver, which ended with the other drivers shouting at our one, so clearly he had overstepped the mark.

Phil_aka_Pip

When I read the thread title I though "Oh, does he?"

EricTheWeary

Phil_aka_Pip said:

When I read the thread title I though "Oh, does he?"

He always maintained he was just giving someone a lift. 

Neil

boogieman said:g

Neil said:

I've always fancied a Nile cruise but was put off when I raised the subject on my watch forum.

Tales of constant pestering by locals, begging etc etc sounded very tiresome, also of course the security aspect nowadays has to be considered.

When my son went a few years ago he told me similar about the locals and being physically dragged into shops!

I'd like to see the sights but wouldn't want the trip spoiled.

Funny to have seen to lots of polar opposite views on two different forums.

We’ve been to India already.  Got kind of immune to beggars and touts after that. And as Sticky says, we’d have a local guide most of the time to fend off the worst of things. The possible stomach issues worry me more than anything else, but most of the reviews of the cruises and hotels I’ve read have said it’s not a problem, as long as you’re sensible. 

I've been to Morocco and Tunisia in the past and found the baksheesh stuff very wearing to be honest, kids coming up to you rubbing their bellies and people trying to rip you off all the time.

I would like to see the sights of Egypt but I dont think I ever will now.