Egypt Tour for solo female

Friendly Planet has a couple of Egypt tours that look good. I went on one of there tours several years ago and I enjoyed it.

Single female traveler here.
I'm planning on this Egypt tour in early 2024:
https://odysseys-unlimited.com/tours/africa-the-middle-east/egypt-eternal-nile

I've taken 2 trips with them in th US and been pretty happy with them. I like them better than the 3 RoadScholar trips I have taken. Still prefer Rick Steves, but there are other places I want to see.

Sarah Murdoch - Adventures with Sarah - has an Egypt tour. She used to guide for RS before branching out on her own. It looks like she has some videos up on YouTube with her local Egyptian guide, Hoda. This is the tour I plan to take to Egypt. I will be a solo female and most likely will go when I turn 70, next year. Sarah is experienced and supports women-led travel. Her groups are small.

I second LizinPa’s recommendation of Odysseys Unlimited. They are a wonderful company. You might also check out Scenic USA which is an Australian company with offices here in the US. We went to Egypt and Jordan with them and had a wonderful time. We stayed in high end hotels (Ritz Carlton in Cairo, the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, the Mena House Hotel near the pyramids and the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor) and had our own private ship for the Nile cruise. Everything on the trip was excellent. Edited to add that the Scenic group tour in Egypt is limited to about 25 people.

Liz, I was actually looking at that Odyssey Egypt tour about a week ago, and thinking very seriously about it. I have a trip planned for this year and one tentative one for next, but maybe 2025... I've always wanted to go to Egypt and although I've traveled solo and independently for many years, that would be one place where it would be nice to have some guidance and have it all planned out.

I will look into these suggestions - thank you!

I am 70, and looking seriously at Odyssey Adventures February 2024.

We used Overseas Adventure Travels this past spring for a safari in southern Africa. They do Egypt tours, too. While they technically charge a single supplement if you request your own accommodations, you can “request” a roommate, and they’ll give you the rate as if you are sharing a room/barge cabin/tent. Then, if they don’t sell out the trip, you might still have a shared rate, but your own room. Trip was well organized, and they offer optional, pre-trip and/or post-trip add-on excursions.

We took the Odyssey's Unlimited tour with an extension to Jordan. It was incredible. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Like us, many of the group are usually independent travelers and we all agreed that we were lucky to have chosen this tour. Tours with Americans( and also those from two other countries) are given an Egyptian security guard by the Egyptian government. He blended in with us and was helpful to have around in so many ways. He kept the touts selling souvenirs away as a start and always was present. Once we went on the two boats , we had other security guards with us. Our excellent guide was an archeologist who formerly was at the Egyptian Museum. We stayed in
beautiful hotels throughout the trip. This tour includes Lake Nasser which most tours do not. That was my favorite part, looking at Abu Simbel from a distance as we sailed toward it and then docking right next to it. Awesome experience.
There were several single women in our group and everyone got along very well.

Egypt, including a Nile Cruise was the last trip I did before the pandemic. I loved it. I am a solo traveller too and it was important to me to go with a group. There were 52 of us in total, each in our own cabin on the ship. To cater for the group they had 2 tour managers and 2 local guides and we were split into two groups for the buses etc. So I guess 26 per group. It was with one of the UK solo traveller tour groups, so mostly Brits, though I think we did have a couple of Canadians and an Australian.

You don't mention a cruise, I'm not sure how a trip would work out without one. We also had a few days in Cairo, where we stayed in a Hyatt.

We just returned from a 14 day Gate 1 Tour of Egypt that included 2 cruises (one on lake Nasser and one on the Nile), plus included Abu Simbel; all the sites between Aswan and Luxor: two nights in Aswan; four nights in Cairo in five star hotels with visits to the Pyramids including Step Pyramid; the Egyptian Museum, etc.

We did four tombs in the Valley of the Kings, it was great. Our guide was one of the best we have ever had on a guided tour.

First of all, safety in important and I would not recommend going with a private guide, by yourself. Do it with a group. Our group had 30 and that is a good number. Gate 1 has similar tours (a bit more expensive) for small groups.

BY the way, the cost in total of our tour including meals (only two on our own), airfare from JFK to Cairo, lodging, transportation, admissions, was a total of about $3500 per person for a two week tour.

Another thumbs up for Odysseys Unlimited (Smithsonian). Although I haven't taken their Egypt tour, I have taken their Southern Italy and Turkey tours. Both tours were first rate, and I would travel with them again without hesitation.

I would hesitate to do a solo private tour, not because of safety but because of the isolation and lack of social interaction. It's more enjoyable to have a travel buddy (or 20) in Egypt. If you can talk a friend into going with you, I would recommend a private tour hands down. We had a great experience (twice) with Djed Egypt.

Odyssey is excellent, but what is their cost? Our Gate 1 tour was 14 days and included two river cruises, Abu Simbel and five star hotels for about $3500 pp.

I can highly recommend Gate 1 Travel for Egypt.
I did an 11 days tour with them in 2019 and it was the absolute best (I had been to Egypt before, part independent and part booked with Memphis Tours), and much preferred the experience with Gate 1.

They cover the highlights and then some, the hotels are well located and of a high standard and the guides are excellent.
The price is quite reasonable as well.

Odyssey is excellent, but what is their cost? Our Gate 1 tour was 14 days and included two river cruises, Abu Simbel and five star hotels for about $3500 pp.

geovagriffith, I'm looking at the 2023 brochure right now for Odyssey and the Egypt & the Eternal Nile tour starts at around $4,700 for 15 days. It includes airfare from the US (from most major airports), and all land tours and cruises, five star hotels, gratuities, transportation, and entrance fees. The tour is limited to 12-24 people). Also Abu Simbel (although I don't know what that is). :)

@geovagriffith I looked at the Gate 1 Egypt and it looks like they charge you extra for a lot of the excursions.

@gtglim I would suggest that you compare and contrast what you get from the different companies in terms of included excursions, meals, quality of hotels, group size, etc. We had issues with OAT after the pandemic put the kibosh to our travel plans and so did others on this forum. It took us months to get our money back.

I agree with Mary: "I would suggest that you compare and contrast what you get from the different companies in terms of included excursions, meals, quality of hotels, group size, etc. "

Also, pay attention to the cost of a single supplement, which varies greatly depending on the tour company.

Thank you so much, everyone! I listened and after looking through tours from your suggestions, I think I've decided on Odysseys-Unlimited. Their tour hits everywhere I want to visit and also has an optional extension to Jordan, which I am seriously considering. Their single supplement is quite high - $1295 - but for now, that's where I'm leaning. I'm hopeful I can find a travel partner and switch to the double. Someone commented earlier they were thinking of this trip in February 2024, and that's when I want to go - so don't be surprised if I PM you!

Any other input is always welcome. I so appreciate you taking time to share and it really did help. Gabrielle :)

Gigi, I know you’ll be happy with Odysseys. We’ve done 6 trips with them. They are a really good company. Their Jordan extension looks good as well. I tend to book with higher end companies when I travel someplace other than Europe.

Mary,
Yes, Gate 1 sometimes charges for optional tours. However, for our Egypt tour, I booked all of them and that was included in the $3500 pp price that I gave earlier.

Post above reported to Webmaster.

Do you think the Grand Egyptian Museum will ever open? I would really like to see it.

I'm certainly hoping the museum will finally be open by 2024.

Do you think the Grand Egyptian Museum will ever open? I would really
like to see it.

@marsh: I sure hope so. One day.

Regarding the new museum and when it opens, the common phrase "en shalla" applies.

Geovagriffith - You have convinced me to take a more serious look at Gate 1 tours. I have always assumed that with those prices, they were too good to be true. I'm guessing I'm not the only who has made that assumption. Lots of guessing and assuming!

Their single supplement is quite high - $1295 - but for now, that's where I'm leaning.

Gigi, you think that's high; I just received a stack of brochures from Tauck (for some reason, I'm on mailing lists for all the tours out there). Anyway, I was looking at the Portrait of Arabia tour, and the single supplement on that tour ranges from $5000 to $8000. Ye gods! Just the supplement!

I traveled with Gate One to southern India and it was excellent! However, it was one of their “Discovery” tours which is limited to no more than 22 people and is a more inclusive tour. Their other tours (with names like “Classic,” “Essential,” “Value,” etc., etc.) can have as many as 40 people in the group (too many for me!) and often charge for a lot of “optional” excursions. I would definitely travel with Gate One again, but only on their Discovery tours.