The Best of Egypt | September 16th, 2024

Before departing for Egypt I knew I wanted the security of a group tour but wasn’t sure I’d like the structure. I needn’t have worried. The whole Trip Merchant tour was well planned, well managed, and the level of effort to ensure our enjoyment was amazing. My two favourite spots were the Temple of Karnak, which could take days to fully explore, and sitting on the balcony of my Nile cruise cabin watching the scenes of daily Egyptian life pass by. The accommodations, food, and guides surpassed my expectations. I am ready and waiting for my next Trip Merchant adventure.

– Kerry

Highlights? So hard to choose because this trip “ ticked all the boxes:” pyramids at Giza, camel rides, Nile cruise, Luxor, Karnak, Abu Simbel, Red Sea, Valley of Kings, Valley of Queens, visit to a bazaar, Bedouin visit in the desert.

Also enjoyed travelling with fellow Canadians.

Local guides were excellent: knowledgeable, keen, great Ambassadors of Egypt, obviously very experienced.

And, of course, the outstanding tour directors, Tom and Ryan, who created this tour and also accompanied us throughout the trip. Clearly, they both know what they are doing. We were the fortunate recipients of their travel knowledge and years of experience in the travel industry. When friends back in Canada asked us how things went, we were able to tell them, “No problems, absolutely no problems; everything went as promised.”

– Traveler

I heard about Trip Merchant through my retired teachers’ association in the Spring of 2019.  They were offering a group departure to Egypt in Feb 2020 that interested me.

From my first contact with Tom the experience has been First Class – from learning about the trip, including optional excursions and extensions to Abu Simbel and El Alamein, to booking my flights, to the Vamoos App they provided for us, to our actual trip.

As a solo traveler, I met and enjoyed the company of my 29 fellow travellers, learned so much about Ancient Egypt, experienced the culture of the regions we visited, had lots of fun and many laughs at the Galabeya party on our Nile River cruise and felt welcomed by all the people I encountered along the way in Egypt.  Tom and Ryan’s selection of beautiful hotel properties and local guides was exceptional!

With Tom’s knowledge of the industry and great advice, I was able to extend this two week trip and went on to Nepal and India for another two week adventure with Just You Tours.

The whole trip was very affordable and I received great value for my travel dollars.  I have already booked a river cruise in France, with extensions, through Trip Merchant.

I highly recommend this company which has so much expertise in the travel industry.

– Sally M.

Every one of our activities and destinations was a highlight for us! The Pyramids, the camel ride, the Sphinx and then eating lunch in a restaurant overlooking it all was amazing. There we were—touching one of the only Ancient Wonders that still remain!

The Egyptian Museum was also very interesting, however it’s too bad we didn’t get to visit the new-yet-to-be opened Museum.

The cruise along the River Nile was very interesting and relaxing. Our suite was spacious and the staff were especially attentive. The meals on board were delicious.

The hotel accommodations were wonderful as well, with excellent and gracious staff.

Each of the temples we visited were absolutely amazing! Standing in the midst of ancient statues, artwork and hieroglyphs was spellbinding. Our additional trip to Abu Simbel made us speechless!

Each of the modes of travel we took added to the richness of the trip—from the horse and buggy ride in Edfu, to the felucca boat on the Nile, and our ‘1st class train ride’ which we wouldn’t give up for a minute! We didn’t like waiting in airports, but understand that’s part of the process for flying. We will always remember the quote, “If you have time to spare, fly Egypt Air”. Our bus rides were comfortable and afforded us the opportunity to get to know our fellow travellers better as we saw the Egyptian landscape.

Our Egyptologist / Tour Guide, Yasser, was excellent. Yasser was a wealth of knowledge, a valuable advocate in language translation and in understanding local customs and expectations. Yasser, along with Tom and Ryan, were very personable and sincerely took an interest in the meeting the needs of each member of the group.

We were well taken care of from the minute we arrived in Cairo to the minute we left. The people who met us for the ground transfers were excellent! We don’t think we would have been able to do this on our own. Arriving at the airport at 3:30 am was especially challenging.

Thanks for an amazing trip Tom and Ryan!!

– Michelle & Ken K.

The entire trip was wonderful but cruising on the Nile was the highlight for me. Thanks so much for providing me with a trip of my lifetime!!!

– Bev L.