Don't know the hotel but I've flown with Nouvelair several times from Stansted. They sometime sub-contract to other airlines and I've actually flown on Astraeas and Alita Airlines (not to be confused with Alitalia). They don't have the best reputation for delays and we had a 2 hour delay coming back from Monastir earlier this month, due they said to waiting for the food to be loaded! but this was the first time it had happened to me. Apart from that they are fine. There is no entertainment and sometimes no duty-free but the cabin staff are pleasant and the meal is provided free, with tea and coffee refills if you want them - sometimes the meal is actually quite pleasant and certainly no worse than I've had on other flights - you can see the menu for your flight on their website a few weeks before.

You can do a 2-day Sahara trip which will take in Matmata though it will involve early starts and long periods on the coach. You can either book through your holiday rep or direct with a local company. I used Saphir Voyages which I booked on the phone when I was in Sousse last year (00 216 72 240168). If you do that make sure you ask for an English speaking tour. It cost about £60, including an overnight stay and meals. You pay a bit extra for the camel ride and 4-wheel drive into the desert but it is still quite cheap and very interesting.

Hi there,

Thank you for your quick response.

In fact i was debating about the free meals on board as Bookable Holidays had said we had to pay for them if we wanted them and i confirmed this by calling Thomas Cook airlines who said they had bought the seats from Nouvelair with meals added so i had to pay for meals!

I really do resent that as a lot of the companies try to charge. Nouvelair is used by Airtours, My Travel and lots of other companies as they are the only company which fly from Stansted and they always try to charge for meals. I stopped paying for them a long time ago as the flight is under 3 hours and I prefer to eat at the airport before I go, but have always been given a meal. I usually book independently and was looking at Airflights site yesterday - they were charging £17.50 for meals if you wanted them. I sent them an e-mail saying it was a disgrace but strangely enough haven't had a reply!!

I would have thought that at only 5 years old, the 2-day Sahara trip is too much for your boy. It does involve a lot of time on the coach and in July it will be very hot.

Dorra

Would def agree with Dorra. The Sahara trip is 2 very long days the second one they will be up in the dark to watch the sun rise, its a very early start and I wouldn't recommend it for a child it involves an awful lot of bus travel.

Patka

Hi thanks once again for all your replies.

The trip does sound interesting and probably what our little boy wants to do.

We took our son to Cyprus one year when he was 2 years old and we did the mini cruise to Egypt which was a long coach journey and he did it quite well but will speak to my husband and let him know it can be quite long.

I booked it with Saphir Voyages independently and to be honest we didn't have particularly early starts, never leaving before about 7.30 a.m., and still managed to see the sunrise, though this was in October and obviously it depends what time the sun rises. If your lad is keen I think he should be OK, especially if he has some books, crayons, etc. for the boring bits of the journey.