A cruise on the Nile seems appropriate. There are lots of reviews on the subject.

what a lovely thing to do!! Bless you...!
There is heaps of info on the site but if your mum loves the historical bits then a nile cruise or a stay in Cairo would seem perfect. There are a load of Cairo hotels reviwed and I am sure lots of people will offer advice.

The other option if they like beach as well is to have a holday on th e coast and build in a trip to cairo...they might enjoy snorkelling or diving as well!!

If I can help please ask

Thanks for the replies
Sheba, I'm not actually sure what would be best! You'll have to excuse my ignorance, as I know next to nothing about the geography of Egypt.

I was thinking something relaxing for the first day or two, and then onto all this historical stuff. When I think of relaxing, I think of the coast and the sea - but the way you were talking, I can't really have a little bit of the coast and a lot of the historical parts, i'd have to have a lot of the coast and a little bit of the historical parts (day trips, etc)?

This might turn out to be best, i'm not sure! I just want it to a nice holiday for them, and I know they don't particularly like lying about the pool or beach all day everyday, but some days they like to just relax.

If that doesn't make any sense, I apologise!

Dan

Hi Dan,

Let me explain a couple of things about Egypt which may help in your planning.

Firstly, most of the major cultural and archaeological attractions in Egypt are situated in Cairo or along the banks of the River Nile. The major beach areas in the country are around the shores of the Red Sea , which, to put it simply, is in a different part of the country. Have a look at a map and you will begin to understand.

There are hotels of all degrees of comfort in Cairo and in the Nile cities like Aswan and Luxor. The Red Sea resorts also have a vast range of hotels, most of which have access to a fabulous beach.

In my opinion, and I stress it is just my opinion, the best way for your parents to go would be a week cruising on The Nile where they will be thoroughly introduced to the wonderful history of Egypt, followed by a week at a Red Sea resort with maybe an optional excursion to Cairo for The Pyramids and Cairo Museum. There are quite a few companies offering this sort of itinerary and any good travel agent will take the time to go over all the options with you. It depends of course, like anything else, how much you wish to spend, but Egypt is the most wonderful country with the most wonderful people and certainly worth one if not several visits.

I hope this explains things a little more for you.

Regards,

Roger.

Roger,

Thank you very, very much. That has helped a great deal. I'm going to look into Nile Cruises, as well as looking into staying in Cairo itself further.

Again, excuse my ignorance here, but would there be enough to do in Cairo, for 10 days? That's probably a really stupid question, but I don't want to look into booking a hotel for 10 - 14 days in Cairo, if there's only 5 days worth of sight seeing.

Dan

Hi Dan,

For a lot of people, Cairo is just stuffed full of wonderful things to see. I would suggest though, that people visiting Egypt for the first time would be most interested in seeing The Pyramids, The Sphinx and Cairo Museum which includes the fabulous treasures of King Tut. One or two days would suffice for this purpose.

I'm sure that I have seen holidays offered where you fly to Cairo, spend 1/2 days there, then onto your Nile Cruise Ship for 7 days before moving up to one of the Red Sea resorts for several days relaxation. Ask your travel agent, but use a good one.

From your posts to date I am not sure if you realise that some of the Nile Cruise Ships are very luxurious and a lot offer an itinerary within the price which includes most of the wonderful sights between Aswan and Luxor, which is the route that they operate on.

Hope this helps,

Regards,
Roger.