Best Of

My wife and I just returned from our first Tauck trip on the Nile River and are very pleased with Tauck's accomodations, tour guides, and tour selections. Our group was smaller than anticipated primarily due to current events in the Middle East we were told. Our group had no security issues or problems of that nature on the entire trip. Two of Egypt's primary sources of revenue comes from the Suez Canal and tourism. Currently, Suez Canal traffic has been reduced (again Middle East issues) so that source is much lower than normal. That means tourism is extremely important to Egypt's economy now and they are very aware of how important tourists are and we were well taken care of. The last thing they need is an incident that would negatively affect tourism.
Here's a brief summary of our trip:
-We flew from Houston to Doha, Qatar (with a connection to Cairo) and were amazed at the airport. It's like a high end shopping mall with multiple lounges to wait in if needed. Very impressive. From Doha, we flew to Cairo and were met with a Tauck rep who took care of helping with luggage and getting us to the Tauck transport to our Hotel.
-We arrived a day early at the historic Marriot Mena House that is in the shadows of the Pyramids of Giza. Beautiful grounds and excellent restaurants, swimming pool and spa so we had no reason to leave and enjoyed the hotel amenities. The hotel is about 1-1/2 hour drive from the airport.
-We quickly saw that driving in Cairo would be a non-starter for us. It's hard to explain and something you just have to see to believe.
-Our first outing was to the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, Sakkara Pyramids and to the GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum). The GEM is not fully open yet but what they have open is impressive. On all tours we had an Egyptologist with us which made each stop more meaningful. Egyptian history is amazing.
-Next day we fly to Luxor and boarded the Nile River Cruiser Oberol Ms Zahra. The river boat is first class and meals are excellent. Luxor has the Valley of the Kings with tombs of Pharaohs going back over 4,000 years ago. Some of the painted imagery inside the tombs is surprisingly still very colorful.
-The next 4 nights we are on the river stopping at various temples, tombs, monasterys and ruins along the way. All historical and interesting in their own way.
-Next we fly to Abu Simbel and tour the temples, which are spectacular, and fly back to Aswan to stay at the famous Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Hotel. The hotel and rooms are spectacular! They have several restaurants and we chose the 1902 French Restaurant. The dress code at this one is formal so they require men to wear a jacket. I lugged my coat on this entire trip to wear at this restaurant and found it entirely unnecessary as the restaurant has a wide selection of jackets they will lend you for the short time in the restaurant.
-Next we fly back to Cairo. Only one day at the Cataract Hotel is not enough so if we had a complaint, it would be to have two nights stay there. By this time in the tour, everyone could use a restful day and the Cataract would be a great place to relax for an extra day. Once in Cairo we toured the old Museum in Cairo (Egyptian National Museum) which houses King Tut's gold mask and caskets. Our hotel this night is the St Regis Cairo, another beautiful 5 star hotel.
-The last day of the tour is a guided tour of old Cairo and the Khan El Khalili Bazaar. The guided tour consisted of several mosques, a synagogue and two churches. The first church was The Cavern Church of St Sergius and Bacchus which is where the holy family with baby Jesus stopped while traveling to Egypt. There is a map showing the journey from Jerusalem to various stops in Egypt over a 3 year period. The second church was the St Mary Church (aka the Hanging Church) which was built over two towers from the Babylon Fortress.
-After lunch we walk through the Bazaar. I have no idea how big it is, but it seems to go on forever and is one of those things that you have to see to believe. If you like to bargain for the lowest price, this would be your dream place.
-Next is the trip to the airport and on the way home, and again, Tauck had a rep at the airport to help with luggage and check in.
-Our tour was in late August, and was the beginning of the high season. Temperatures are very hot at that time of year (a high of 112f in Aswan) so fans are a must. We're from central Texas so the temps did not bother us too much but when inside a temple or tomb, there is little flow of air, so a fan makes a huge difference. Tauck is excellent about making bottled water available and scheduling tours around the crowds when possible.

This was our first Tauck tour, but not our last. Hope this helps.