Getting from Venice to Cairo as an additional land tour?

[mikeerdas]

This Spring, I'm interested in visiting the pyramids. I see lots of interesting cruises out of Venice that hit Egypt, but not a lot the other typical Venice-based cruise ports: a combination of Santorini, Mykonos, and one or two Croatian ports. Looks like I can't have it all on one cruise, so I thought I might book a Venice cruise hitting the ports I mentioned and doing Egypt as a separate, short trip.

 

Can I get a short package tour to Cairo / Giza out of Venice? Or would I need to book air, hotel, and other transport independently

[euro cruiser]

I think you're going to need to do this on your own, as Egypt is quite a distance from Venice and not a typical "add-on".

 

Having been there, I would advice that you work with a hotel or travel agent in Cairo to set up a guided tour to Giza. When I was there several years ago access to the great pyramid was strictly limited and we were lucky to get in.

[mikeerdas]

I think you're going to need to do this on your own, as Egypt is quite a distance from Venice and not a typical "add-on".

 

Having been there, I would advice that you work with a hotel or travel agent in Cairo to set up a guided tour to Giza. When I was there several years ago access to the great pyramid was strictly limited and we were lucky to get in.

 

Thanks Euro Cruiser.

[carlmm]

Can I get a short package tour to Cairo / Giza out of Venice? Or would I need to book air, hotel, and other transport independently

 

I am sure you can but ...

You can get package tours to Cairo from probably every Western European airport as Egypt in all variations is something that is offered in the standard programmes of European travel companies. Yet of course this offers are designed for the respective local markets, i.e. you will certainly get Italian tours from Venice but probably not an English tour.

Nevertheless it might be worthwhile to check with an Italian travel agency.

 

An other option would be to work with an travel agent in your area who can you sell you a package starting at the airport in Cairo offered by a company in your country and just separate flights.

[letsgo39]

Check Princess Cruises. They have several cruises that visit Greece and Egypt which include 2 days in the same port to see the Pyramids. I have also noticed on the roll calls on these cruises that people make arrangements to do a overnight hotel stay in order to eliminate the long drive and see more. I noticed this because we are looking for the same thing.

[jocap]

Perhaps you could look at cruises on the Red Sea, which cover Cairo and Luxor, and probably Petra in Jordan? There's an older vessel, with Thomson, which does this every week over winter. Costa and MSC do cruises round the same area, but not as frequently. Once you're into late spring, it's getting too hot for these places.

We've done the Thomson cruise, and you have a choice of a full day in Cairo, or a half day for the pyramid light show. 2 days later it's either an overnight to Luxor, or a long day trip. There's an overnight in Jordan, for the Petra visit.

We've also visited Egypt in winter from Barcelona.... one RCI and one NCL stay in the med through winter, and do the journey south to Alex.

 

MSC and Costa will be doing cruises round this area too.

Jo.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks everyone. Would rather book online with a reputable tour operator or other online sales channel. I haven't used a travel agent in more than a decade. Booking online allows me to conduct my own research versus trusting a travel agent I don't know.

[carlmm]

... online sales channel...

 

In this case you might like to check offers like

http://www.min-travel.com/cairo_city_tours/cairo_special.asp

This is not a recommendation but just the result of a quick random search. There are a number of operators who offer short packages. You could book a flight from Venice via any one flight booking site you prefer.

 

I point this out as you initially asked

 

Or would I need to book air, hotel, and other transport independently

 

In the above case you just need two online bookings if you like. Yet of course you can also book all steps separately resp. not prebook them at all and try to arrange ones you are there.

[UKBayern]

On the CC boards, you can find a lot of tips for reputable Egyptian tour companies. We did a tour with Ramsestours.com. I am sure they also pick you up from the airport. Other option: people on our ship went independently, booked a hotel in Cairo and had the hotel arrange a reliable driver.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks everyone.