Travel in the New Egypt.

Following the political unrest in Egypt earlier in 2011 we are regularly being asked ‘Is now a good time to visit Egypt?’, ‘Will I be safe?’, ‘Will all the tourist sites be open?’.
We wanted to answer these questions and provide you with some feedback from clients who’ve travelled with us over the past few weeks to hopefully ease any concerns which you may have when considering a trip to Egypt.

Is now a good time to visit Egypt?
In a word…Yes! Tourist numbers in Egypt are currently much lower than those seen in previous years and many airlines have been offering special deals. Due to the low tourist numbers you may find yourself one of only a few people at a particular temple, when in the normal peak seasons, many of Egypt’s ancient sites are often teeming with hundreds if not thousands of tourists. The quieter times now provide a much more relaxing experience and can make for some fantastic photos!!

Don’t just take our word for it, here’s some recent feedback we’ve received…

• Maitland Family, April 2011
  We had a wonderful time - it was full on but fun and very interesting. Our guides were great and our driver though the desert was fabulous. We did benefit from very few other tourists though as I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much if it had been busy. Egypt is a wonderful country and I hope it settles down politically very soon

• Miss HosseinBor, April 2011
  I had an amazingly magical journey. The service was excellent throughout. My guide Mahmoud was highly knowledgeable and very helpful at all times. It was a trip of a lifetime and I was most pleasantly surprised. I felt incredibly well looked after and have already thought about travelling again later this year and using Egypt Uncovered.

• Fuzzard Family, April 2011
  We had an amazing holiday and have already recommended you to friends to do exactly the same family adventure as us!  Mohammad, our guide was superb!  We did and saw so much, the weather was perfect and the hotels by far exceeded our expectations.  Egypt will definitely be somewhere we will visit again as there is so much more to see and do.  We have some wonderful photos and very special memories and both my husband and I want to learn more now about its history, gods and pharaohs!

• Bowskill Family, April 2011
  It has been a fantastic trip and we have had a wonderful time - so many great memories for all our family. The boys made friends instantly and so did we. Group C were all so lovely and our guide Sam was so good. I have completed a feedback form and was happy to do so, but just in case it gets lost in the mail I wanted to let you know that it was Sam who made our holiday so special. Nothing was too much trouble and he arranged lots of little extra things for us without a qualm. His knowledge and passion for Egypt was outstanding. We were all very sad to say good bye to him. We have visited Egypt at a very exciting time, and will definitely return to see more! Everyone at Egypt Uncovered have been spot on. Thank you for organising such a brilliant tour for us.

• Lowe Family, March 2011
  This is our third time in the country. But we are happy to have had Egypt Uncovered services and happy to recommend the company. Thank you, personally, for your seemingly individual attention to us (one of your major competitors seemed not want to talk on the phone and pressurised us to “just look at the web-site”). We are especially pleased that our understanding of Egyptian history, politics, economics, social affairs and similar has improved so much.

• Miss Lindsay, April 2011
  We had a wonderful holiday in a very quiet Egypt. We felt very spoiled being in a group of two and all the arrangements went very smoothly.
  All the guides and reps were first class and we were delighted with the service your organisation provided and would not hesitate in recommending Egypt Uncovered to friends and family.

Will I be safe?
We run all of our tours in accordance with the UK Foreign Office advice and our own thoughts and reports about the situation on the ground. While there are some risks in travelling anywhere in the world these days, we are very careful not to take our clients to any place where their safety may be in jeopardy and to react promptly and responsibly if events do change rapidly. This may occasionally entail some minor itinerary amendments, but only in exceptional circumstances (such as February in Egypt this year) will it mean we need to cancel your tour altogether.
The Egyptian authorities have increased security precautions in the country and on rare occasions you may be escorted by a member of the Egyptian Tourist Police. However please bear that these escorts are there for your benefit and not necessarily because we or they feel an area you are visiting is unsafe.

Will all of the tourist sites be open?
After the main protests ended in late February all of the main tourist sites were reopened quickly, even those located close to the centre of the demonstrations such as the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids. None have been closed since. Our tours resumed at the start of March and have visited all the sites featured in our itineraries as planned, apart from a couple of minor amendments for further protests in Tahrir Square. On these occasions, wherever possible we have re-arranged visits to the Egyptian Museum for another day.

We hope that the above information is helpful and that you will consider joining us in Egypt soon. Please contact one of our Egypt Specialists if you have any more specific questions or if you would like some help in planning your visit to the land of Pharaohs.