What excursions in Safaga and Sharm El Sheikh??

[davwen81]

Would love ideas from fellow cruisers in this region, what you did, was it worth it, was it a private or ship excursion?
Any thoughts much appreciated,
Cheers
Wendy and David

[cruisemom42]

If you are into ancient Egypt, then I think the tours to Luxor from Safaga would be a must. Some combination of the Temple of Karnak and the Valley of the Kings (to see the tombs) is what I would recommend.

From Sharm el-Sheikh, I loved doing the tour to St. Catherine's Monastery, across the Sinai. However, there've been some recent disturbances in that area (Western tourists kidnapped from buses, etc.) that may cause the cruise line to reconsider offering this. A lot of people go to Sharm for the beautiful waters, particularly nice for snorklers.

Both the drive to Luxor and the drive to St. Catherine's are pretty long. Luxor maybe as much as 3 hours, St. Catherine's maybe a bit less.

[John Bull]

Safaga.
Even if you're not an ancient-history nut like Cruisemom, Luxor is a must.
In fact, if you are an ancient-history nut, you should be visiting the area for a week on a Nile cruise rather than just a day-trip from Safaga.
But for those with just a passing interest in ancient history, that day-trip is ideal - see just the important dusty bits. Cos a week would do my head in (sorry, Cruisemom )

It's a pretty long day, with a four-hour drive at the front & a 3.5 hour drive back. But very worthwhile.
A standard tour offered by most cruise lines takes you first to the Valley of the Kings for a look into some of the pharoahs' burial chambers, accessed by hieroglyphic-lined tunnels. Each contains just the huge stone sarcophagus, no treasures - what wasn't looted over the centuries is in the museum in Cairo. Then to the nearby Temple of Hatshepsut, then a couple of other places I've forgotten (sorry again, Cruisemom ), what little is left of the Temple of Luxor, and the very impressive Temple of Karnak - as seen in James Bond, "The Spy Who Loved Me".
Be warned - if you don't take the Luxor trip, there's nothing else to see & precious little to do.
Safaga is a bit of a dump, esp around the port.
The purpose-built but pretty tacky & grubby resort of Hurghada is a 20-min drive away, IMHO not worth the effort.
There's a semi-submersible "submarine" trip, or quad-biking (ATVs) across the desert.

Sharm.
Is a purpose-built resort in the middle of nowhere, but rather better than Hurghada. Nothing "Egyptian" in the area, treat it as a day off from sight-seeing.
The snorkelling is excellent, one of the best places on the planet for colourful sea-life, certainly for those of us who don't have a great barrier reef on our doorstep. Perfectly OK for first-timers of all ages. If you're not going to snorkel, don't go along for the boat ride, you'll see little & be thoroughly bored - you'll do better in a semi-submersible.
Super desert quad-biking, way better than at Hurghada & cheaper too.
Snorkelling or submersible & quad-bikes will probably be offered by the ship as half-day excursions, you can probably do both. They're group activities, because you'll presumably be in port only for the day you really need to book these through the ship.

Two very different days

JB

[cruisemom42]

Originally Posted by John Bull

Safaga.
Even if you're not an ancient-history nut like Cruisemom, Luxor is a must.
In fact, if you are an ancient-history nut, you should be visiting the area for a week on a Nile cruise rather than just a day-trip from Safaga.
But for those with just a passing interest in ancient history, that day-trip is ideal - see just the important dusty bits. Cos a week would do my head in (sorry, Cruisemom )

I've done it both ways. The cruise was definitely good for me.

In more stable days for Egypt, I was thinking of going on the Nile in one of the traditional cruisers, a dahabiyyah (sp?) on my next visit.

[davwen81]

Thank you both for your great ideas, LUXOR is a definite. Been to Cairo and seem the Pyramids et al but Luxor is definitely on the to do list!
I'm a snorkeller, David not so a day when we can do that and quad biking would be a good mix for us, too.
Many many thanks
Wendy