After careful planning and looking at Intrepid travel reviews, I booked the Essential Egypt Tour for my first tour with Intrepid Travel and my first time in Egypt (and Africa and the Middle East). If you follow me, you know I put too much thought into things, so I did a lot of research and comparison before making my booking. So for all of you who also put too much thought into things, I’m providing a more detailed Intrepid Travel review so you can know just what to expect.

If you want the short version, it’s yes, I would absolutely recommend this trip! If you want the long version, continue reading:

Why did I choose this group tour?

I normally travel solo and normally by myself, but when researching Egypt, I came across a strong pattern: those who visited without a group or guide had a terrible time, while those who visited with a group or guide had an excellent time. Since I’d never been to the Middle East before and people said it was very different, I felt it was best to go ahead and take a group tour. Needless to say, I’m now in the “those who visited with a group or guide had an excellent time” crowd.

I chose this specific tour for a few reasons:

1. Intrepid Travel doesn’t charge a single supplement, which can add a few hundred dollars onto a booking.
2. Even after the costs for optional activities, it seemed to have the best value for money.

I get so restless when I’m on trips and I like to see as much as possible, so getting as much sight-seeing into each day was important to me but, as always, I’m a budget traveller and can’t break the bank.

How much did my trip to Egypt cost?

This is the cost for my Intrepid travel tour; I stayed a few nights extra and did other tours, which are not included in this breakdown.

The base tour: $883.50
Airfare (direct): $655.51
Travel insurance: $125.00
Visa Fee *: $25
TOTAL: $1689.01

* I was intimated by needing a visa at first but you just give them $25 USD in cash and they give you the visa, no questions asked or paperwork needed.

Optional extras **: $281
Spending money **: $593.97
NEW TOTAL: $2563.98

** There might be some overlap here since spending money based on my withdrawal amounts, which may have been used for optional extras. My spending money includes some pricier souvenirs.

I think this was a great price for what I got.

Some notes on money in Egypt:

1. Baksheesh, or tipping, is expected in Egypt and as it’s an important supplement to many peoples’ income. This post on Egypt Adventures has an excellent overview on how much to tip. Our group opted to have a “tip kitty” which was $36 per person for the entire trip, and our guide tipped the people who helped us.
2. The exchange rate in the US for Egyptian Pounds is insane! I usually get cash beforehand and for $350 worth of EGP, my quote was $550 – so a whopping $200 down the tube! Wait until you get to Egypt and then withdrawal from an ATM so you don’t pay these insane rates.

How close was the itinerary to what’s advertised?

The itinerary for the trip and the one we went on were very similar. We of course saw the Great Pyramids of Giza, went kayaking on the Nile, spent a day and night on a felucca, and more!

My only critique about this tour was that there was optional stuff on the itinerary that didn’t even come up during the trip. I think this is due to feedback from previous travellers feeling “templed” out but as someone who likes to see a lot in a trip, I was honestly disappointed.

For example, day 6 says we had the option to go to Edfu Temple and Kom Ombo Temple but we did not go anywhere near Edfu or Kom Ombo. We drove directly from our boat in Aswan to Luxor and since we started at 7:00am, it made sense that they didn’t want to stop a bus full of tired 20-somethings at two temples. But it was something I was looking forward to and I was bummed I was so close and didn’t get to see them.

On day 7, the iconic Hatshepsut Temple was listed as an optional activity but again, we had a bus hired to take us to the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut Temple was never mentioned. Maybe I should’ve brought it up but I felt uncomfortable asking them to basically divert a bus full of people to a site because I wanted to see it. Hatshepsut Temple is one of the main stops in Egypt so I was shocked they skipped it.

Again, I don’t think these omissions were malicious, rather just changes based off people’s feedback that didn’t make it to the online itinerary. I was disappointed that we missed these three temples but I still got to see and experience a great amount during my time in Egypt. And these temples were labelled “optional” so it’s not like I had paid for it.

The Intrepid travel review they provide on the website doesn’t sugar-coat anything. The sleeper train isn’t the standards we’re generally accustomed to. The felucca is a wonderful experience but it is indeed sleeping on a big mattress in the outdoors with a bunch of other people. And based off of one person’s negative Intrepid travel review in which they got ill from the Nile, they changed their itinerary to reflect this experience – which I really appreciate.

Our group leader was fantastic. He really helped bridge the gap between us westerners and Egyptian culture, and he was super knowledgeable about the history, the restaurants, and even which markets to shop at and which to avoid.

Despite the small inconsistencies, I would 100% trust Intrepid travel with my next group trip. If you want to be sure you’ll get to see an optional place, you can email Intrepid ahead of time and they should be able to confirm, make arrangements or let you know if that particular place has been cut from the itinerary.

Was I ever alone during “free time”?

One thing I was worried about was being left alone to explore Cairo or another place by myself. I want to start off by saying the scams and catcalling were not nearly as bad as I envisioned (more on that below). By the end of the trip, I felt a lot more confident walking around by myself anyway.

But it’s a valid question. On the itinerary, there are lots of nights that don’t have dinner included or “spend the evening how you want” type situations. Our guide was pretty much almost always with us. On those evenings, he’d have a place for us to go to dinner or something for us to do as a group. It was not included in the trip and wasn’t mandatory, so you could go off and do your own thing if you wanted. But if you wanted to stay with the group and guide, you did have that option. I thought it was great to have that option.

What are some unique elements of this Intrepid Travel tour?

Something fun we did on this tour was kayak on the Nile. Note that there’s no launching dock so you’ll have to get into the Nile to get on your kayak. It was a nice hour or so of kayaking near Philae temple and most tours I’ve seen don’t offer this type of activity.

While not unique to this tour, one of the budget elements is that you get to spend the night on a sleeper train (twice). I’d been on a sleeper train in Thailand and it was actually quite nice so I didn’t think much of it, but the bar was a bit lower for the Egyptian sleeper train. The ride is very jolty and it constantly woke people up, including me. Losing sleep is the sacrifice to make for a budget.

Something more unique on the itinerary is a day and night on a felucca boat. These boats are used for fishing but can also be outfitted for cruising up the Nile. There are no walls and the interior is like a big mattress. I personally slept pretty well on the felucca, but sleep aside, it was a big highlight of the trip. A lot of people take Nile cruises but not as many have the more local experience of the felucca.

Like a majority of group tours, you do get the exceptional opportunity to go to stores to buy things (haha). But it helped being in a group of 16 people and being able to hide behind the others. But something more unique to this tour was a visit to Animal Care Egypt, or ACE, which provides veterinary and educational services in the Luxor area. There is a lot of animal abuse and neglect in Egypt so it was heartwarming to see that there is at least some effort put into making that change. Of course you’ll have the opportunity to make a donation, but that was something I was more than happy to do.

Did I like or dislike Egypt?

The sun really pulling through for this photo.

A lot of people opting for a group tour of Egypt is a bit of a hint that it’s different from here in the US – a unique place. So a lot of people were of course genuinely wondering if I liked Egypt.

The honest answer is yes. I wasn’t sure I would since I’m quite left-leaning and there are aspects of Egyptian culture that are not, and that does remain true. But when it was time to go home, I felt like I just wanted to stay and see even more of the country (there’s a lot to see and do in Egypt). As I write this, I’m actually planning a second trip to Egypt with my mom.

A lot of people made the impression that the country is full of catcallers and scammers but I experienced this only around tourist sites and bazaars – and I think prepping myself for it made it more tolerable. Honestly, I have experienced more harassment in France and people don’t think twice about going to France. The hardest part for me was the animal abuse that’s very blatantly out in the open, plus the poverty (but unfortunately we have that in the US, too).

There was actually no point during the trip that I felt unsafe and I didn’t get scammed once. (Again, I had stuff stolen from me in both France and Spain which is quite common there but nobody thinks twice about going.) As a visitor passing through, I felt most people I talked to were kind and didn’t particularly care that my lifestyle and origin was a lot different from theirs.

Reiterating what I started this post off with, maybe my experience was better because I was with a group and a local guide. I would honestly feel comfortable going back to Egypt on my own but whether or not it’s as enjoyable is to be determined.

What should I know before going to Egypt?

Money things, as I mentioned before:

• Baksheesh, or tipping, is expected in Egypt and as it’s an important supplement to many peoples’ income. This post on Egypt Adventures has an excellent overview on how much to tip. Our group opted to have a “tip kitty” which was $36 per person for the entire trip, and our guide tipped the people who helped us.
• The exchange rate in the US for Egyptian Pounds is insane! I usually get cash beforehand and for $350 worth of EGP, my quote was $550 – so a whopping $200 down the tube! Wait until you get to Egypt and then withdrawal from an ATM so you don’t pay these insane rates.

Money things not mentioned before:

• Things vary wildly in price. Eating out and buying snacks is very cheap and you can get a meal for under $4-6 in a lot of places. The souvenirs made in China that the bazaars sell are very cheap, but those in actual stores can be even pricier than you’d find here in the US.
• Learn to haggle! When someone at the bazaar says something is X amount, say that’s too much and you’ll pay only 1/4 of that price. Walk away and they’ll probably lower their price. For a lot of things, you’ll want to pay no more than 1/2 their original asking price.
  (I am bad at haggling and often just said “ok,” which was fine until I paid $32 for a T-shirt that I could’ve bought somewhere else for $8. I take solace in thinking the man I bought it from has less than I do…)

Other things:

• “Mummy tummy” is a thing and you’re urged to avoid drinking tap water since it has minerals us in the western world aren’t used to. I did not experience any mummy tummy or anything of the sort but I steered clear of tap water and vegetables/fruits that may have been washed with tap water. There are many places you can buy a large bottle of water for only 25 cents.
• Egypt is a strongly majority Muslim country but you can wear what you want. Lots of people wore cropped tank tops and shorts above the knee and were fine. I opted to dress more conservatively.
• You can get Schistosomiasis if you go on the Nile. Lots of people in my group did anyway, but you’ve been warned.
• If you go on this trip, you should pack a swimsuit. Not for the Nile but because there’s a pool at one of the hotels. If you wait to be in Egypt to buy a swimsuit, you will find the selection is… different from home. The aforementioned T-shirt I bought was actually so I had something to swim in.
• I was also there for Ramadan and it’s not as exciting as I thought it might be. A lot of places close for the first 10 days so it’s harder to find a place to eat (even after the sun sets), plus tourist places close a few hours early.
• I went in February and the weather was perfect. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.

This is not a history- or education-oriented tour. Our guide was an Egyptologist but because the tour is aimed at typical people (i.e. not historians), you get bite-sized snippets of history. (Of course he was able to answer all of our questions!) I didn’t know much about Egyptian history or art before heading to Egypt, but I read this book The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt and it was a HUGE help in understanding ancient Egyptian history and art and really gave me some foundation for my visit. Absolutely recommend.

Intrepid Travel Review: the Verdict

There were 16 people, including me, on this tour and I feel very confident saying that everyone loved the trip. And if anyone didn’t love or didn’t even like the trip, they did a very good job of hiding it.

Many people, like me, dream of going to Egypt their entire lives. Trusting Intrepid Travel with my time and my money was not insignificant. And I couldn’t have asked for a better tour, a better local guide, and couldn’t have had a better time.

Click here to go to the same Intrepid Travel tour I went on and make your booking! If you do go on this tour as well, I hope you have as great a time as I did.

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