Egypt

Kyle, I did a 2 week Egypt tour in October 2005 (during Ramadan). Due to travel restrictions for foreigners (not just Americans), a tour is the best way to go. I used Adventures Abroad based out of Vancouver area and was very pleased. I too was a little nervous about safety, but found the Egyptian people to be very friendly and felt quite safe. Egypt is 30% Coptic Christian and 70% Muslim, and the 2 religions get along well. Crime rate is very low. Some will say the vendors are dishonest, but don't confuse our lousy bargaining skills with dishonesty. If one is willing to overpay by not bargaining well, who are they to discourage you. The sights in and around Cairo, Luxor and Aswan (side trip to Abu Simbal) are the best. Didn't get to Alexandria, but have heard it's good too. Send me a private message if you have any questions.

I am not American, but I travelled to Egypt independently 3 years ago, I felt safe. I went to Cairo and stayed at the Windsor Hotel, following in the footsteps of Rick Steves and Michael Palin and the British officers of WWII. From the hotel, a driver took me to Giza and Saqqara. I made my own way to the museum. I took the night train to Aswan and stayed in the New Cataract Hotel. From Aswan I took a cruise to Luxor. In Luxor, I visited all the temples on my own. The cruise tour took me to the Valley of the Kings and everything else on the west side of the Nile. I got around by taxi and caleche.

Safe? Sure, but be careful like you would anywhere else.

Thank you for the info. It helps out a lot.

Also Kyle you can check the forums at Lonely Planet, they have one dedicated to Egypt. Anything in the middle east I check there and tripadvisor.

As noted, ,check out some other websites, I like the tripadvisor forums,, they are just busier and more international. .

Thanks again everyone. I just posted here first since I use Rick's books when I travle to Europe. I will check out some other sites.

We were in Egypt last October and had no problems ...would return in a heartbeat.Travelled with Gap Adventures as they included far more than we would have been able to see alone in the time frame.Check out their website at Gapadventures.com and see the various options.