Port Said, Egypt, DIY?

We will be stopping at Port Said in September. I know most people use this stop to visit Cairo, but we have been to Egypt before on a land tour and done many of the main sights. We do not want to go into Cairo again. We would like to just walk around Port Said itself by ourselves. It appears there might be a few interesting buildings. Is this feasible and safe?

Any thoughts/experiences? Thanks in advance.

If you do land in Port Said, would recommend you only use a ship's tour as this city is still not safe enough (IMO) for walking around by yourselves. Took a ship's tour of the city which was nice but there were more military around than tourists; it was creepy especially the mounted machine guns in trucks. The police were actually discouraging people from walking out of the port. This was a few years ago, but it has not overly improved quite yet according to my friend at the embassy.

Port Said is a bit of a dump. And I doubt its any more safe than it used to be - talking here about petty crime rather than terrorism.

Definitely fix up a tour - either ship's tour or well-recommended local operator.

Ships tours to Cairo used to be in convoys & probably still are, with escorts. Not sure that's necessarily safer, but does speed you through the traffic & you're certain not to miss your sailing.

We rarely take ships' tours. This is one of the exceptions.

In Cairo, don't be fooled by the imposing name of the Papyrus Institute. It's a souvenir shop, & more expensive than the alternatives. You will be taken there, ships' tours finish there so that they can congregate for the drive back to Port Said. And there's clean restrooms there.

JB :)

Thanks take us away and John Bull, for responding.

It is the safety issue I was concerned about. We do prefer to wander on our own two feet where possible and do heaps of walking when on holiday, as well as at home. But sometimes it is just not a good idea!

As I said before, we are not interested in returning to Cairo. Have spent several days there on a couple of occasions and done as much as we want to do in the city. Yes, including the Papyrus Institute!

Most of the ship's tours focus on Cairo. The one which stays in Port Said does not look very interesting to us (concentrates on a military museum, which is not our thing). If all else fails we may yet end up with a quiet day on the ship.

Agree that Port Said is a bit of a dump with not much of anything to see. Have done a city tour and the highlights were the military museum and the military cemetery. Not my idea of a good time but at least saw some of the city.

If you cannot find a private tour, staying on the ship is always nice and there are vendors right at the pier that had a wide variety of things to sell if you like touristy stuff. It was fun to leisurely walk thru the vendors after the tours left.

How long will you be in Port Said? Ours was just a technical

stop so we weren't allowed off.

A full day for those wanting to go into Cairo. 7am to 10pm.