Suggestion for Pre- or Post extra night
Planning on traveling in December 2025. Should we pick a Pre- or Post- extra night (Tauck "gift of time"). Is there anything to do in Amman that's not covered by Tauck or is it better to stay extra day in Cairo? Thank you.
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Look in the archives (right side of page) for a trip report by mil. She did some touring in Amman pre-tour. Or look for post stay activities in Cairo, check out my post and photos which are spread over 5 pages in the thread at this link: https://forums.tauck.com/discussion/15494/on-the-road-again/p1 - after touring the Coptic and Muslim area with Tauck and before the farewell dinner, we went with a private guide to the pyramid in Meidom (70 mi south). The next day we saw and entered the bent pyramid and others in Dahshur which is just about 2 mi. south of Saqqara (you see it off in the distance with Tauck but they don't take you there). We returned to Saqqara for a more in-depth visit - we entered and saw a few more mastabas, the Serrapeum, etc. but we ran out of time before I had a chance to enter the Step Pyramid of Djoser.
I had a private guide for this day and a half of private touring.
Alan, do people change for dinner while on the boat or usually wear what they’ve toured in that day? I know there’s one dressy dinner in the Cataract hotel. My wife is trying to minimize her packing list.
Our decision on when to take the GOT, is based on a couple of factors. If the flights to get to the destination are more complex, we will take the GOT at the beginning in order to have a cushion in case of flight delays. If the departure city is interesting, we may just add an extra day at the end.
If the flight to the destination is fairly simple, we schedule the GOT at the end. On too many tours, we have left the Farewell dinner because we had to leave for the airport at 3:00 in the morning. That tends to make us cranky. By taking the GOT at the end, we are able to schedule a more reasonable return flight.
The weather was very very hot on this trip, so most people did change clothes for dinner. I'm part of "dress for dinner team". My dinner clothes all fit in one packing cube because they are all silky fabrics that take up little room and are virtually wrinkle free. They are color-coordinated so they mix and match and are worn multiple times. I pack one pair of dress flats.
My husband does take a blazer which he wears on the plane. He packs two pairs of khakis and a couple of BB dress shirts for dinner.
Daytime wear is casual - shorts and polos.
This has been our standard packing for almost all of our tours.
In most part, dinners were casual, except for the dinner in Aswan. Whether I changed depended on what I had been wearing when touring and whether it was soiled.
We are the carry-on-only type and usually black pants and nicer top will cover it all. No one notices who dresses and who doesn't. A sport coat can be borrowed from the Cataract if you decide to go in, which we did not.
In my experience most people don't notice what anyone else has been wearing unless its at one end of the spectrum or another. Either VERY dressy or VERY casual. And I certainly don't remember how often someone has worn the same thing.
Do a Pre in Amman, Yes! there are several worth seeing, The Royal automobile Museum, Amman Roman theatre, Citadel and temple of Hercules, King Hussein Mosque, Rainbow St. Amman for example.
Get a local guide.
Did anyone do any of the Dead Sea spas? Float in the Dead Sea or go to the Dead Sea Museum? Mil-did you arrange your driver for Amman through the Kempinski?
We did the spa at the Kempinski after doing the Dead Sea float and mud. The spa treatment was the best I have ever experienced. It was unbelievable! The Dead Sea was totally cool. It’s one of those once in a lifetime experiences, don’t pass it up!
When Debi Horan told us that they only do carry-on on all their trips I was fascinated. I watched her every day to see what she was wearing and she looked absolutely fabulous. We are on the same trip.