Egypt and the Nile

In short, this trip was absolutely incredible. Our guide was phenomenal; warm, informative, professional, and with an infectious enthusiasm. Our group was huge, but everyone was great and we all had an amazing time together! Was this tour fast paced? Oh yeah. Totally jam packed. Was it worth it? Completely. And I can't emphasise that enough. There were a lot of early mornings and long days and while it might have been nice to have a little more time (thinking an extra night in Hurghada or Luxor) every single one was completely worth it. The Nile Cruise was total luxury, the overnight train was an experience but nowhere near as bad as what I'd feared, and all of the sights were completely unmissable. Would I cut anything out for a less hectic schedule? Absolutely not. As someone who had been dreaming of Egypt for years, my expectations were sky high, and this trip exceeded them in every way. This was my first Contiki and I have to say it has set the bar exceptionally high for any future trips!

This trip was amazing. Our tour guide Sherif was so knowledgeable and friendly, he made the trip amazing! So many good things to say about this trip, including all the friends we made and the varied age ranges from 19-35 which was nice! The Nile cruise boat was such a luxurious experience. It was really eye opening going to the villages! The sights were incredible, just breathtaking honestly. Can't rate this trip enough! It truly is once in a life time experience!!

It was amazing. Despite the horrible overnight train ride, and (pretty sure) everyone getting food poisoning on the cruise, it was a very fun and insightful trip. Would recommend with warning about the dodgy train and possible food poisoning.

The trip of a lifetime! Met all of my expectations. The Nile cruise and Abu Simbel were my favorite parts. is the best!

This was one of the most incredible trips I've ever been on. *personal info removed by Feefo* was a fabulous tour manager and made the trip so entertaining and informative. It was very fast paced and I had not much sleep but it was worth it for all of the wonderful sites we saw and experiences we had. The luxury cruise boat was a highlight with all of its amenities, as were all of the temples we visited. Included meals were fine but we bought snacks to make up for any food we didn't like. Our group was a large one but pretty much everyone got on well together and had a blast. I would have loved an extra day in Hurghada to explore the town as we arrived at night and left at 7.30am so didn't get time to explore. Perhaps if the first day didn't start at 7pm (as Day 1 doesn't really count as a day since it's just a registration meeting) and was an afternoon of exploring Cairo that might have made room for more time somewhere else at the other end. Definitely take imodium tablets with you as over half of the group got sick throughout the week. Overall the whole week was amazing. I've made some friends for life and was so sad to leave at the end.

Our tour guide Sheriff was amazing, went above and beyond for a massive group. The cruise was 5 stars but suggest BYOB from Duty Free in the airport as alcohol is highly taxed, unregulated and the local spirits are dangerous and unappealing. The overnight train was not ideal, being very old and congested with cigarette smoke and bed bugs. But one sacrificial night to pay for what was coming up wasn’t ENTIRELY unreasonable. Try to bring a good book or some games to pass the time as a distraction, however others seemed to have less kind words to say about the train that I cannot argue with. Contiki should add free time in Luxor for the Mummification Museum, a day in Horgada or an option to Scuba Dive and the Museum of Civilization in Cairo as a pre or post trip suggestion for day 6 which consists of only breakfast. Lastly, A trip of 35 people in the Middle East was unreasonably time consuming logistically for our guide and allowed no free time for shopping or anything that deviated from the plan. Having less people could have allowed for some wiggle room in the schedule.