Egypt Pre-Tour information and first days
Mon 07 April 2025
Grace was going to retire the end of March and we plan this trip to Egypt with G-Adventures. Wonders of Egypt and the Nile, a 12 day tour. In the end, Grace changed her retirement plans to a switch to part-time (60%) schedule, but we're still going on the trip. The trip is April 5th to the 22nd; counting the travel days. We planned a few recovery times. The flight will be a bit chaotic (3 segments), so we'll rest the day before the tour. We'll also set aside a recovery day post tour to relax (and maybe shop).
April 5th
I splurged on the trip and used my United Miles to book us a Business class upgrade. We are going to use the Landline bus to get from Loveland Airport to DIA. FNL allows us to park there for free for the 3 weeks. Our flight (Confirm #NL8D3S) is tonight to Frankfurt. Flight LH447 is an overnight flight, leaving Denver at 5:40pm and arriving Sunday morning at 11:30am.
Enjoyed the United Lounge at DIA.
April 6th
We arrive in Frankfurt and connect with flight LH1282 to Athens at 1350. We should arrive in Athens by 5:40pm. We have a long layover in Athens and hopefully we use the Business lounge in Athens to good effect. Our Cairo flight is early Monday morning at 12:55am. The flight is A3930 by Aegean Airlines.
7 hours layover is too much. The Business Lounge made it somewhat better, but unable to really rest/sleep. Good Greek good buffet. In the future, I think we'll break up these Africa/Asia long trips with a layover city and hotel.
April 7th
Arrival is 2:10am in Cairo. The 'visa on arrival' worked very well, just walked up to a counter and paid our $25/each and got a sticker to put in the passport.
We decided that it would be best to grab the hotel at the Airpot; Le Meridien. We walked from Arrivals terminal across the sky bridge to the hotel. Arranged a 'late checkout' of 2pm (as it was already 3am when we checked it). Hotel is very nice and quiet. We mostly slept and checked out. Picked up our G-Adventure transport at the hotel to take us to our new hotel.
We are going to do a city tour with G on the Joining day. Since G normally has an arrive anytime on the joining day, we had to book a day early with their city tour scheduled on the first day.
Arrivial Hotel Flamenco Hotel Cairo. Booked via G for 4/7 and 4/8
Zamalek, Cairo
Egypt
April 8th Hotel: Flamenco Hotel
City tour with a local guide. Cave Church and Civilization Museum. Grace arranged a private tour for us to see some of the other sites of Cairo. We are going to see the new Civiliation museum, where they transported 22 Pharohs from the old Cairo Museum. Video from 2020 if you haven't see it: Royal Mummies
We finished with a nice lunch with an overlook of the Old Citadel (which is on tomorrow's planned city tour)
April 9th (Day 1)
G-Adventure Tour: Wonders of Egypt and the Nile.
Islamic/Copic Cairo City Tour - this is Day 1 on G's Itinerary. City tour starts at 10am and group dinner is tonight to meet everyone (those who aren't on the city tour).
Activity Details: See the city's architectural, cultural, and historical contrasts in the best way with the combined tour of Coptic and Islamic Cairo. This tour includes the visit of the Citadel, Mohamend Ali Mosque, the Hanging and St Serguis churches and Ben Ezra Synagogue. Approximate 4 hours
Dinner to meet with the group. We got the Mixed Grill which was a trough of meat!!
April 10th
Early morning (3am) flight to Aswan. Hotel is Basma.
Visited Philae Temple This is one of the rescued temples from the flooding from the High Aswan dam. The Philae temple complex was built in reign of Ptolemy II around 690BC. Known as the 'Pearl of Egypt', this mystical temple is dedicated to the goddess Isis.
Local Living Moment is Boat ride to Nubian Village with traditional dinner. We board a boat for views of the Aga Khan Mausoleum and Kitchener Island. We stop at a village and learn about local life and a traditional dinner at a local home. Very good Eggplant dish, Okra stew and fresh Pita bread.
Mount Princeton Hot Springs
