Hiring a Private Guide in Cairo

Hello, just wondering if anyone here who has not taken the cruise ship excursion has hired a private guide in Cairo to take you to the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum? If so, can you please provide a contact email?

Thanks!

Also, has anyone ever heard of Casual Cairo Tours?

Let me clarify.. i am not looking for someone to pick me up at the cruise ship and take me to Cairo for a tour. Just someone who will pick me up at my hotel in Cairo and take me around for a day.

Thanks!!

We used Memphistours.

Regards,

HeinBloed

Hello, just wondering if anyone here who has not taken the cruise ship excursion has hired a private guide in Cairo to take you to the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum? If so, can you please provide a contact email?

?

Thanks!

 

Also, has anyone ever heard of Casual Cairo Tours?

I've never heard of Casual Cairo Tours. Are they state registered?

I can highly recommend Nile Blue Tours. We have used them before and will be using them again next November. Very professional Egyptologists who offer a great service at a reasonable price. You can contact Hazem Abbas at manager@nilebluetours.com. Tell him that Vicki from Rome recommended him and I am sure he will take especially good care of you!

Charity,

[Also, has anyone ever heard of Casual Cairo Tours?]

We used Casual Cairo Tours and Debbie Senters in 2002 when we went to Egypt. She was our guide for 2 days and was excellent. She took us to places most tourists don't get to go unless they are with a private guide such as local street markets...produce, cotton goods with great appliqué work, etc...as well as some of the Cairo improvished areas. She also knows her way around Khan al Khalili where we bought lots of cartouches for family and friends... personalized in just a few hours. We went to the covered market, Bab Zuweila, and to a couple mosques. It was all very well done and she takes your wants and needs into account. She also arranged for us to transfer from the Hilton downtown to the Mena House, where we had reservations for both our pre & post tour & cruise stays. We were fortunate enough to go during a time when tourism was at a very low point so were upgraded to huge suites with 2 balconies overlooking the pyramids. She can also arrange to show you the pyramids.

Here is the web site and she is very responsive but sometimes is with clients so it may take a few days for a reply. She was on time, and I believe, is an expat...American so there is no language barrier. Her web site is: http://www.casualcairodetours.pyramids.net/

Hope this helps. You'll have a great time no matter who you go with. We never felt uncomfortable.

Thank you all for the recommendations ! I am still doing my research on this topic.

to LuvCruz2- contacted Debbie in Cairo as you suggested and we are discussing possoble tour for our NCL Jewel 2 day stop in June.

She asked who recommended you but I only had your LivCruzin2 nickname. She was interested if i could find out as she appreciated the recommendation.

jef

bensalem, pa

to LuvCruz2- contacted Debbie in Cairo as you suggested and we are discussing possoble tour for our NCL Jewel 2 day stop in June.

She asked who recommended you but I only had your LivCruzin2 nickname. She was interested if i could find out as she appreciated the recommendation.

 

jef

bensalem, pa

jef

Who did you end up using for your time in Cairo?

I would just offer a small piece of advice. No matter which tour company you use to hire a guide, insist that the guide be a government licensed guide certified for English. Anyone can say they are a guide (and many in Egypt do just that) but only the licensed guides can personally get into the various sites (they just show their ID) and they can be very helpful if you happen to run into a security check. The licensed guides are highly trained and know their stuff!

Hank

Hello

actually if you like to hire a tour Guide only then it is not big deal ,because you can hire a tour guide from inside the Egyptian Museum ,and a tour guide from inside the Pyramids site. both sites have licensed Tour Guides.

the Guide fees will be from 13$USD to 15$USD for three hours in each site

wish you the best

We are using Teymour from info@temotours.com very reasonably priced speaks good english without an accent licensed by egyptian government He is organising our visa stamps and generally has been a huge help He has an office in Cairo requires payment on the day no up front fees We are on a ships tour and staying overnight he has organised everything and submitted various itinerarys for us I cant speak to highly of all the help he has been so far and was considerably cheaper than Decastro and bluenile for the same itinerary hope this helps you joy sloane:)

it is now July 2008. who did you use for a guide and how did it work out? I am not going until May 2009 and I am looking for someone who is willing to do what I think is important to see in Egypt not just the sites.Getting into the heart of the city with the people ,tasting their food, seeing their shops, walking the streets buying their goods, not only seeing the sites which are a must,but the amount of time at the sites needs to be cut down, way way down for me to get in all I want to get in.Here lies the crux of the problem my cruise is going to Alexandria on a Friday 7:00am leaving 10:00pm next day arriving Port Said 9:00am Leaving 9:00pm from their it is on to 2 stops in Israel with traveling time from Alexandria to Cairo at about 2&1/2 hours each way and to get all the things I want to in I need a great guide, someone willing to step out of the box.I do not know if there is anyone out there to do this but if anyone used or knows of any service that would,let me know.All I find online set prices for going to the pyramids,museums,sphinx,etc. no guide is going to the cities.

it is now July 2008. who did you use for a guide and how did it work out? I am not going until May 2009 and I am looking for someone who is willing to do what I think is important to see in Egypt not just the sites.Getting into the heart of the city with the people ,tasting their food, seeing their shops, walking the streets buying their goods, not only seeing the sites which are a must,but the amount of time at the sites needs to be cut down, way way down for me to get in all I want to get in.Here lies the crux of the problem my cruise is going to Alexandria on a Friday 7:00am leaving 10:00pm next day arriving Port Said 9:00am Leaving 9:00pm from their it is on to 2 stops in Israel with traveling time from Alexandria to Cairo at about 2&1/2 hours each way and to get all the things I want to in I need a great guide, someone willing to step out of the box.I do not know if there is anyone out there to do this but if anyone used or knows of any service that would,let me know.All I find online set prices for going to the pyramids,museums,sphinx,etc. no guide is going to the cities.

For what you want to see, I will suggest Casual Cairo Detours. They are a small operation but very personalized and they specialize in doing things that are a little off the beaten track. One of the things I'd highly recommend is a drive thru the "City of the Dead" (the cemeteries where the poor live) if you want to see the real Cairo. I also recommend seeing at least one mosque -- my favorite was Ibn Tulun.....very peaceful and beautiful place.

You do need to be realistic though, as the biggest limiting factor (other than time) is traffic. You have no idea how bad it can be and how long it can take to get from place to place in the city. When you find a guide, trust them and don't try to cram too much into one day or you will just end up frustrated and probably spending more time in traffic than in seeing the sights.

If you want to book Debbie Senters, I recommend you contact her as far in advance as possible as she books up very early.

I too have used Debbie of Casual Cairo tours and her wonderful driver Tariq and recommend them highly. They do very out of the ordinary things(Breakfast at the Pyramids is one)....they are worth the price. You can see pictures of some of things we did with her at http://www.youtube.com/smeyer418 boy this is an old post she now charges in Euro's.

We used Best Way Travel - Hebeb was our guide. She is getting her masters degree in Egyptian hieroglyphs and is very knowledgeable about Egypt's history. I recommended her to a friend who was staying at Cairo and she also LOVED the tour - pyramids, musuem, lunch, etc. VERY REASONSABLE! Have fun!:D

I would also recommend Debbie and her great driver, Tariq.

My DH and I used her services in Cairo for two days, and later in Alexandria last fall. We did all the pyramids ( Red, Bent,

Step, & Giza), the City of the Dead, the Khan El Kahil, a beautiful private sunset felluca cruise on the Nile. She can arrange an Egyptologist if you would like. It was great to get an insider's views on Egypt's people and culture, and yes she is an American ex-pat.

I can recommend two excellent guides in Egypt:

Ahmed Abdel Fattah Ramadan: tallyho2007@yahoo.com

Nabil Naguib: pipo_leo@hotmail.com

Both are excellent, licensed guides with perfect English. I've used Ahmed a couple of times, and Nabil once. I was very pleased with both. You can see my journal of my most recent Egypt visit at

http://www.planetsukey.com/PlanetSukey/Safaga_%26_Luxor,_Egypt_-_May_6_%26_7,_2008.html

http://www.planetsukey.com/PlanetSukey/The_Suez_Canal,_Port_Said_%26_Cairo_-_May_9-11,_2008.html

-Sukey-

Maybe I missed it, but is there a contact link or email for Debbie and Tariq at Casual Cairo Detours?

I found her on a Q&A website, but there's no link. We are arriving in Cairo on April 19th. We're in Cairo 5 days before flying to Aswan. I have no excursions planned other that Abu Simbel.

I'd really like to see Cairo in depth. GCT is only taking us to the Museum, which also holds much interest for me!

SMEYER: thanks for the video links!

Never mind! I found Debbie's email address at AOL and I fired off an e-mail!

Is there a website for them with planned itineraries and prices that we can look at?

I found a guide names Emad Abuhadeda on Trip Advisor and have bookeds with him. I never even though to ask if he was licensed? I just assumed since he was so recommended on TA, he was okay? is there a way to find out without asking him at this point?

I found a guide names Emad Abuhadeda on Trip Advisor and have bookeds with him. I never even though to ask if he was licensed? I just assumed since he was so recommended on TA, he was okay? is there a way to find out without asking him at this point?

Find out if he's licensed. At least it will ease your mind if he is!

Find out if he's licensed. At least it will ease your mind if he is!

did you ever find out if he was licensed?? we just booked with him for 2 days in Cairo ... and I didn't even know to ask if he was licensed.

his rave reviews from TripAdvisor didn't say anything....

I didn't look him up. I am probably going to book my guide through a co-worker. My co-worker has a cousin who is a tour guide in Egypt (Cairo).