June 2021

Haytham is the CEO of Nubia Tours, a premier family-owned specialty tour operator for Egypt based in Cairo, providing sophisticated travelers with the highest quality experiences, led by the best guides. Nubia's services also extend to Morocco, Jordan, and areas north of Sudan.
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Q. What should American travelers know about going to Egypt?
A. Egypt is the home of the ancient Pharaohs, a dazzling destination of temples and tombs that wow all who visit. It's not all historic treasures, though. With vast tracts of desert, superb scuba diving, and the famed Nile River, there's something for everyone here. Beach lovers head to the Sinai to soak up the sun, while archaeology fans will have a field day in Luxor. Cairo is the megalopolis that can't be beaten for city slickers, while Siwa oasis and the southern town of Aswan offer a slice of the slow pace of the countryside.

October - April is the best time to travel to Egypt since temperatures are cooler, but still pleasantly warm across the country. However, May and September are also good months as the weather is not unbearably hot and hotel prices are lower since it’s the shoulder season. 

Egypt has so much for travelers to see and do, it's the perfect country for a mix of activities combining culture, adventure, and relaxation. Egypt is on the bucket list of most Americans and a cultural trip of a minimum of 8 nights/9 days including Cairo, Luxor & Aswan in a luxury Nile cruise or cozy Dahabyyia boat would be an ideal trip for the first time visit for Americans.

Q. What makes Egypt better than before?
A.  Egypt is a very old country but we are still a developing country. Since 2014, Egypt has been seeing a great development all over the country starting from mega projects like the extension of the Suez Canal, the new administrative capital, and new road construction adding almost 4,000 km linking most of the country, including the new museums, airports, hotels, Nile cruises, etc. And there is our new Grand Egyptian Museum which has received so much press and is supposed to open in October this year. We are proud to arrange for private access visits to the GEM until its official opening. This extremely limited privilege is granted to very few agents in Egypt who contributed the most to the project through arranging private access visits to the site in the past years and we are proud to be on top of this list and the first company to arrange for this private access visit in Egypt.

Q. What’s your favorite part about Egypt? Give us an over-the-top or entirely original experience that Nubia Tours can arrange.
A. Egypt is my home. The country has everything as a destination and it’s been my passion since my childhood to show Egypt to the world.  One of my favorite places is Abu Simbel, the highlight of all highlights, with two palaces built by Ramesses II, one for himself and the other for his beautiful queen, Nefertari. And, of course, the Pyramids of Giza, is another favorite. It' the only one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World still standing. 

My team and I can arrange these incredible insider experiences for you. Lots of beautiful and amazing places. Leave everything to me and my team, I put myself in your shoes and take care of everything, so all that’s left is for you to enjoy everything, hassle-free. We handpick our entire team of Egyptologist guides and assign them so they’re a perfect fit for the travellers. A tour guide can make or break a trip. They need to entertain clients, tell stories, and take care of everything while our travelers are on the ground with them. 

Nubia Tours has been in business for 28 years; we have friends in the Ministry and they keep up updated on what’s new and what’s in development. This gives us insider access to monuments, museums, and other spaces and experiences. Some of the "wow" experiences that we have been developing exclusively for our guests who are looking for specially designed tours are to arrange a meeting with Dr. Zahy Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities, exclusively under the paws of the Sphinx for about an hour where he shares some of his experiences in the discoveries/restorations world to the clients. We also offer helicopter tours over Cairo which has been strictly forbidden by the authorities previously and now it's finally possible to arrange through the Egyptian Armed Forces. This has been long-awaited and we are very excited to start offering this special feature to travellers. The tour takes around 1 hour and goes over the city of including the Pyramids of Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Citadel, the Nile, etc. We can also arrange an exclusive private sunrise visit at the Pyramids of Giza. 

We can easily privatize any site anywhere in Egypt or arrange for a visit outside of the hours when there are no crowds of tourists. Even so, simple is best and sometimes a local experience with an Egyptian family can take a journey to the next level. 

Q.  Are all tourist services/facilities/attractions open? What’s it like to dine out, go shopping, and sightseeing around the country?
A. The country is open and all tourist sites, airports, accommodations, and restaurants are operating and following the required safety protocols in light of COVID-19. 

My team and I are excited to plan unforgettable Egypt journeys for travellers from the States, making sure to cover all of their bucket list wishes and pair them with the best and most passionate expert guides. Our ground team has developed their own safety operational plan under the name King Tut Cares which you can see here. All of our guides are equipped with the necessary emergency medical contacts for on-call doctors and a list of nearby hospitals and labs. They also have on hand the official COVID-19 app launched by the Egyptian Ministry of Health & Population for the latest reports, instructions, and updates on medical services and locations. We also include a precautionary and contingency plan in all of our Egypt proposals.
 
We have no travel restrictions on any travellers arriving to Egypt, all that's required is that international travellers arriving in Egypt must have a negative PCR test result dated 72 hours maximum prior to their arrival date. It's always best to review with your booked airlines on exact rules which may change closer to your arrival date.

Q, What are the entry requirements for Egypt?
A.  At present, travellers to Egypt must have a negative PCR test to enter the country, taken within 72-96 hours from the arrival date. Entry visa to Egypt is available for American citizens online prior to arrive, or our team can help in obtaining them on the spot upon arrival without any required photos/papers. Passports must be valid for at least 6 months from the arrival to the country 

Q. Anything else you'd like to add?
A.  We have been receiving travellers from different parts of the world including Americans, Latin Americans, and Europeans since last year and throughout this year. All the trips that we have operated since September have gone extremely well. Our travelers had a great time in different parts of the country and they never missed anything or were affected in any way by the COVID-19 situation. 

With travel slowly picking up, we are revisiting some of the best images from years past.  Please #planethoppers your Instagram photos so we may follow your journeys when we are all traveling again!