2 day (overnight) vs. 2 1-day tours from Alexandria

[Cruiser523]

My family (wife, myself and 23 & 19 year old boys) will be on RCI arriving in Alexandria in early January 2011. We're trying to decide whether to take a 2-day tour that stays overnight in Cairo, or to take 2 1-day tours, probably visiting Alexandria one day and the pyramids on the other. The advantage of the two separate tours would be that we'd get to see Alexandria, but the 2-day overnight would give us a Nile cruise for lunch, sound and light shows, and it seems more time at the pyramids, sphinx, etc. (Of course the cost is downside as well, but I don't want to let that be the only factor.)

 

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to which might be a better route.

 

Incidentally, what's the deal with the "Papyrus Institute" that seems to show up on every tour? Is it interesting or just one of those "every tour stops there because it does" things? (We've been primarily looking at the tours from the ship, at least for now.)

 

Thanks!

[BigGuy25]

 

Incidentally, what's the deal with the "Papyrus Institute" that seems to show up on every tour? Is it interesting or just one of those "every tour stops there because it does" things? (We've been primarily looking at the tours from the ship, at least for now.)

 

Thanks!

 

I can't help with the two tours question because we had one day in Ashdod and one day in Haifa and took a one-day tour each day (had the option to go "overnight")

 

The papyrus stores are interesting and, yes, somewhat touristy. Some are much classier than others. We were on a private tour and purposely went to the "Papyrus Institute" to purchase a small piece of art painted on this ancient (and original) form of paper. By the way, don't be fooled by the street vendors trying to sell you art on papyrus on the street corners ... these are actually banana leaves!!

[paul929207]

One day is not enough time to see Cairo. I would stay overnight. Alexandria is nice, but does not have the spectacular sites that Cairo has. If would be different if the original library was still there or the lighthouse, but these are long gone.

 

As to the papyrus factory, it is a "shopping opportunity". They give a demo of how papyrus was made. Then give you 30 to 60 minutes to shop. There are other things I would much rather see.

[cruisemom42]

One day is not enough time to see Cairo. I would stay overnight. Alexandria is nice, but does not have the spectacular sites that Cairo has. If would be different if the original library was still there or the lighthouse, but these are long gone.

 

As to the papyrus factory, it is a "shopping opportunity". They give a demo of how papyrus was made. Then give you 30 to 60 minutes to shop. There are other things I would much rather see.

 

I completely agree. Cairo is what you want to see on a first (or only) visit to Egypt. I'm going for the third time next month and only now am I getting around to doing Alexandria!

 

Also agree that the Papyrus Institute is a thinly veiled shopping stop. Best thing about private tours is that you can give these a miss if you want. They do eat up precious time when there are so many spectacular sights to see....

[Keith1010]

If you have a choice of an overnight in Cairo I would take that. It is really a lot better to have the overnight rather than doing it all in one day. Add to that you will be so tired from doing it in one day that it will make you quite tired to tour Alexandria.

 

Keith

[smeyer418]

FYI- the Papyrus institute as well as other shopping stops are how your guide is paid. In fact most guides are paid nothing by the tour company. They rely exclusively on tips and kickbacks from the stores(normally about 40% of what you pay at the store). I don't particularly like this system but it is the way it is in Egypt. So if you ask for no shopping and the guide does what you want please tip appropriately.

 

Its a 3-4 hour ride each way from Alex to Cairo. We spent 7 days in Cairo and didn't have enough time for everything we wanted to do. Sure if you want to do a check list and "see" everything as you run through you can say you have been to the Pyramids etc but to do at least more than a run through spend the overnight.

[Kerry's Girls]

I second the poster who said that with a private tour you get to skip any shopping stops you don't want. It's a shame to waste precious time in Cairo at extended shopping stops that don't interest you. With a private tour, we were able to tell them that the only shopping we wanted to do was at the bazaar - which is a sight to see anyway. Then, when we were done, we were able to leave rather than wait for stragglers as a ship's tour does - and the funny thing was that a tour for just my little party was less than the slow moving ship tours.

 

And I agree that an overnight is the way to go. We did all of the city of Cairo the first day, then stayed near the pyramids, which allowed us to visit the pyramids first thing in the morning with much fewer crowds, and we still had time in Alexandria after the long drive back.

 

Best,

Mia

[MercedMike]

There is soooooo much to see in Cairo. Even with two days there you can only begin to scratch the surface. While Alexandria is an ancient site with its own attractions, IMAO it does not compare to Cairo. I strongly recommend the overnight in Cairo.

 

If you arrange with a private guide, you can choose your shopping experiences for yourself. Frankly we really enjoyed the Papyrus "Institute" and having a chance to see how this ancient paper is actually made, from the reeds plucked from the Nile to the final product. There are many wonderful papyrus paintings available, from small pictures of Bast the cat goddess to medium sized quotations from the Koran in Arabic calligraphy to large representations of the Court of the Dead. (Well, yes, I purchased one of each ... ;))

 

We did a personally designed tour with Egyptian Express and enjoyed it very much.

 

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/holyland2.html#egypt

 

Have a GREAT cruise!