The questions guests actually ask us, answered as we would answer them on the telephone. Where a number can go out of date, we have written down when we last checked it.
Before you book
Who am I actually booking with?
Orientoura, a small owner-run tour operator registered in Bonn, Germany. Not an agency reselling somebody else’s tour. Dr. Sherif Azab-Els owns the company, is an Egyptologist, and leads the journeys himself.
That matters for one practical reason: your contract is under German law, with the traveller protections that come with it.
Is my money protected?
Yes, and this is not optional for us. Multi-day journeys are package holidays under German law, so they carry statutory insolvency protection. You receive a certificate (a Sicherungsschein) with your booking confirmation, and we are not allowed to take any payment before you have it. If you are ever asked to pay a German operator before you hold that certificate, something is wrong.
How do I pay, and when?
Twenty per cent on booking, the balance thirty days before you travel. Book inside thirty days and the full amount is due at once. Day trips are usually settled on the day.
How far ahead should I book?
For the Nile between October and March, two to four months. Dahabeyas have six or eight cabins, not three hundred, so they fill early and there is no second sailing to move you onto. Day trips often work at a few days’ notice, sometimes the day before.
Can you change an itinerary?
Yes. Most of what we sell is private, and roughly half of our bookings end up differing from the published route. Add Abu Simbel, drop a temple, start at six instead of eight, build in a rest day. Tell us how you like to travel and we will rebuild the day around it.
Getting into Egypt
Do I need a visa for Egypt?
Most nationalities do. There are two normal routes: apply online for an e-visa before you travel, or buy a visa on arrival at the airport. As of August 2026 the visa on arrival costs 30 US dollars, in cash, and is valid for thirty days. Cairo airport has also started issuing a digital visa on arrival at 36 dollars, which accepts cards.
You do not need an agent, and you should not pay one a premium for this. The British Foreign Office says so explicitly.
One exception worth knowing: if you fly into Sharm El-Sheikh and stay under fifteen days inside Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba, you need no visa at all. That does not cover a trip to Luxor.
What do I need my passport to look like?
Valid for at least six months after the day you arrive, with at least one blank page. Airlines check this at the gate and they do turn people away.
Which nationality rules apply to me?
We tell every guest what applies to European Union and British citizens, and roughly how long it takes. If you hold a different passport, say so when you book. We will help, but the authority on your nationality is your own consulate, not us.
When to come
When is the best time to visit Egypt?
October to April, without much argument. Daytime temperatures in Luxor and Aswan sit in a range you can walk around in, and mornings at the temples are genuinely pleasant. December and January are the busiest and the most expensive.
May to September is hot in Upper Egypt in a way that changes how a day works. Sites are visited at dawn, the middle of the day is spent indoors or on the water, and some things simply are not run. Our West Bank cycling day, for example, does not operate in June, July or August, because it would not be safe.
If you can only travel in summer, the Red Sea and a Nile boat are far more comfortable than a city-and-temple itinerary.
What about Ramadan?
Sites and museums stay open, but hours shift and the pace of the country changes. Restaurants in smaller towns may not serve during daylight, and the roads around sunset are best avoided. It is a good time to visit if you are interested in the country as it actually is, and a poor one if you want everything running to a timetable. We will tell you where the dates fall for your trip.
Safety
Is Egypt safe to travel in right now?
For the places we go: yes, in the sense that matters here. The British Foreign Office advises against travel to North Sinai, the Libyan border strip and parts of the Western Desert. Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, the Valley of the Kings, Cairo, Alexandria, Hurghada and the oasis towns including Siwa and Bahariya are all outside those areas (checked 18 August 2026).
That is worth checking yourself before you book rather than taking our word for it, because advice changes and because your travel insurance is usually tied to it. The current text is at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt.
The honest everyday answer is different from the geopolitical one. The real risks on an Egyptian holiday are traffic, heat and an upset stomach, in that order.
Will I be hassled?
At the big sites, yes, some. Sellers at Giza and Karnak are persistent and a few will start a conversation that ends in a request for money. It is wearing rather than dangerous.
Travelling privately removes most of it, because you are walking with someone Egyptian who handles it before it reaches you. That is not the main reason to book a private guide, but it is a real one.
Do I need permits for the desert?
For the White Desert, Black Desert and the oases at Bahariya and Farafra, yes: permits in advance and an official guide are required. Where a journey of ours goes there, the permits and the local guide are in the price and we arrange them. You do not need to do anything.
Money
What money should I bring?
The Egyptian pound. In August 2026 a US dollar buys roughly 52 pounds and a euro roughly 60, though the rate has moved about ten per cent in a year, so treat that as an indication and not a promise.
Cards work at four and five star hotels, on the Nile boats, in better restaurants and in supermarkets. Cash is what you need for taxis, small restaurants, markets, tips and the odd site fee. Bring some dollars or euros in clean notes and change them there rather than at home.
How much should I tip?
Tipping is not a bonus in Egypt. It is how a lot of people in tourism earn most of their income, and it is expected in a way that takes some getting used to.
As a working guide: a private Egyptologist 300 to 500 Egyptian pounds per day for the group, hotel housekeeping 30 to 50 pounds a night, a Nile cruise crew pooled at eight to twelve dollars per person per day, and taxi fares rounded up.
We would rather give you these numbers plainly than let you spend the trip guessing. Nothing in our prices depends on you tipping, and nobody will be short-changed if you do not.
On the ground
What should I wear?
Light, loose, covering. Shoulders and knees covered is the sensible default for both men and women away from the beach resorts, and it is also simply cooler than shorts and a vest in that heat. A scarf is useful for dust, sun and mosques. Closed shoes for the tombs, which are dusty and uneven.
Nobody expects a visitor to dress like a local, and nobody will be rude to you if you get it wrong. You will just be more comfortable and slightly less conspicuous.
Can I drink the water?
Drink bottled. It is cheap and everywhere, and we carry it for you anyway. Use bottled water for brushing your teeth for the first few days if your stomach is sensitive. Ice in good hotels and on the boats is made with filtered water and is fine.
Will I get ill?
Some people do get a day of stomach trouble, usually early on. Eat what is hot and freshly cooked, be careful with salads and peeled fruit outside good kitchens, and bring rehydration sachets. If it happens on one of our trips, tell your guide. A pharmacy visit is quick and cheap, and doctors will come to a hotel.
Is it suitable for children?
Some of it, very much so. Our Private Family Nile Journey exists because the standard itinerary does not work with children: shorter temple visits, swimming off sandbanks, a guide who talks to them rather than over them.
The sixteen-hour day trip from Hurghada to Cairo, on the other hand, is a hard day for an adult and we would talk you out of it with a young child.
I am a woman travelling alone. What should I expect?
Attention, mostly verbal, mostly at busy sites and in Cairo. It is common enough that it is worth saying plainly rather than pretending otherwise, and it is not the same thing as danger.
Practically: covering shoulders and knees reduces it, sunglasses help, and a firm and disinterested response works better than politeness. On our trips you are with the same guide and driver all day, which removes nearly all of it. We are happy to arrange a female guide where you would prefer one.
How accessible are the sites?
Honestly, not very. Tombs in the Valley of the Kings have steep ramps and steps. Temples have uneven, broken ground. Traditional dahabeyas have narrow stairs and were not designed with wheelchairs in mind.
Some of it can be worked around with the right vehicle, the right sites and a slower plan, and some of it cannot. Tell us what you need before you book and we will tell you which parts are realistic. We would rather lose the booking than have you arrive and find out.
Can I take photographs?
At most open-air sites, yes. In the Valley of the Kings, photography with a mobile phone is now free; a proper camera still needs a ticket bought at the gate. A few tombs and museum rooms ban cameras outright, and the rules do change. Your guide will know on the day.
Photographing people needs asking first, as anywhere. Military sites, bridges and airports: do not.
Our journeys
What is a dahabeya, and is it better than a Nile cruise ship?
A dahabeya is a small wooden sailing boat, typically six to ten cabins, that moves with the wind and current and moors at sandbanks and villages the big ships cannot reach. A standard Nile cruiser carries a few hundred passengers, runs on engines and stops where the other cruisers stop.
Better depends on what you want. The dahabeya is quieter, slower and more personal, and it costs more per night. The five-star cruiser has a pool, a bigger cabin, a lift and a nightly programme, and it is the better choice for guests who want comfort and company over silence. We sell both, and we will say which we think fits you if you describe your trip.
Are your trips private or in a group?
Most are private: your party, your guide, your vehicle. Where we run a group departure it is capped at twelve people. There are no coach convoys and no departures with forty strangers.
Do you sell flights?
International flights, no. Domestic flights inside Egypt are included where an itinerary needs them, and are listed in the inclusions for that journey.
What is not included in your prices?
It is written out on each journey page, and we try to be exact rather than vague. As a rule: international flights, the entry visa, travel insurance, tips, drinks outside meals, and the optional extras such as the balloon at Luxor or entry inside the Great Pyramid. Where a tomb needs a separate ticket at the gate, we say so.
Do I need travel insurance?
We do not sell it and we do not include it, and you should not travel without it. Make sure it covers medical treatment abroad and repatriation, and check that it is valid for the areas you are visiting. If you want to know what a policy ought to cover for a particular journey, ask us.
Something we have not answered
Write to us at info@orientoura.de or through the contact page. Dr. Azab-Els answers personally, usually within a day, and a question is not a commitment to book anything.
Visa fees, exchange rates and travel advice were checked on 18 August 2026. The official sources are the Egyptian authorities and your own foreign ministry, and both outrank this page.