Egypt

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Egypt

Cairo

Author: Meera
Date Visited: Nov 04

General: The pyramids which are amazing but totally ruined by the amount of pestering and beggars ...you will get so many tour and ticket touts it can become really annoying,
Cairo is a wonderful city, but you can easily get hassled. If you find these people annoying, The best reply is 'La Shukran', usually works?

But when you get through all of that and just gaze at the fantastic ruins.. its magical!

Hotels: We stopped at the Semiramis Intercontinental on the banks of the River Nile and we couldn't fault it. which we booked directly with the hotel This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . There was a nice pool, a couple of great restaurants and the service was excellent. Request a Nile facing room as high up as possible and enjoy sunsets from your balcony each evening (we got the 27th Floor and the view was stunning).

Entertainment: Nubian Village in Le Meridien served very good Egyptian food. Moghul Room at Mena House Oberoi is an excellent Indian. Felfela serves very cheap (and good) Egyptian food - it is a chain.

Also Grand Hyatt Hotel a couple of blocks down from the Intercontinental has a restaurant and a bar on the top floor (about 40 floors up) with 360 degree views over Cairo it's amazing and not to be missed.

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Author: Jas
Date Visited: Oct 04

Hotels: Went with my kids and stayed at the Mena House Oberoi. Paid $150.00 per night inc personal transfers to and from airport and free tour of pyramids. Hotel has loads of atmosphere, built at the turn of the century and a favourite with the rich and famous in the 1920,s. it is the only hotel right underneath the pyramids, where else could you swim across a pool gazing at one of the 7 wonders of the world! basic rooms but great atmosphere.

Entertainment: if you fancy a cruise down the nile at half the price, get your hotel receptionist to phone the marriott and book you in on there boat. approx £10 a head for a three course meal with entertainment. Compared with tour companies charge about £30- £40

Shopping: must go to the weekend market, the place is so alive and full of colour and the kids loved it, plus didn't cost me to much..

Alexandria

General: Fantastic city, beautiful ruins and really friendly people..Well worth the trip!
We paid the equivalent of £3.50 to travel in First class from Cairo to Alexandria on the train, which took about two and a half hours. Wouldn't have called it first class..?Recommend you take your own water for the trip.. as it gets hot!

Hotels: We stayed at the Hotel Celil (run by the Sofitel group) for $150USD per room per night, B&B, booked directly with the hotel (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). The hotel was wonderfully colonial (Winston Churchill and Noel Cowell are listed as being previous guests) and is dead central with great views of the Eastern harbour.

Entertainment: Windsor Palace Hotel, overlooking the harbour, was a nice place for a drink in the evening in rich colonial surroundings. At the other end of the spectrum was the Spitfire Bar, which is one of the most interesting places I've ever drank - it was like being stuck in a time warp with it's old war memrobilia and oil company stickers plastered on the walls and 1950/60s music on the stereo. It is definitely worth hunting down.

Shopping: The old market was great for buying those gifts and nick nacks.. There is a lot of gold shops and they has some gorgeous designs.. don't forget to bargain.. they always drop the price!