I am a single woman (senior citizen) interested in taking a tour of Egypt. Could you please suggest a tour provider suitable for someone my age. Also are there any tours for singles? Have there been any security issues recently regarding safety for tourists? What time of year do you suggest?
I listen to your Sunday Show and I thank you for any help you can provide.
Thank you.
Leona
Dear Leona,
You have a number of options; which you take will depend on whether you see yourself as a senior first, or a solo female travel foremost. Let me explain. There are a number of companies out there that cater to women travelers; and just as many specifically for senior citizens. Recently on the Travel Show, we featured an interview with April Merenda, President of Gutsy Women Travels (www.gutsywomentravels.com). Her company offers a very luxurious, slow-paced tour of Egypt called "Queen of the Nile" that I think you'd find quite doable. Along with the sites of Cairo, it places guests on a Nile cruise down to Aswan and Luxor. That would be one of many women-only options, tours that are always very single friendly.
If you decide to go the senior route, Grand Circle Travel (www.grandcircletravel.com) and Elderhostel (www.elderhostel.com) both have tours that are limited to folks over the age of 60 and because of that, get many solo travelers (as many women over 60 are widowed). You'll probably be traveling in a larger group than you would with Gutsy Women, but consequently your price will be lower. Grand Circle, for example, has a trip that again employs a Nile Ruise to get to Aswan and Luxor (as well as Cairo) and offers possible extensions to Petra in Jordan.
As for safety: there have been ugly incidents in Egypt in the past ten years, targeting places tourists go. But the same could be said of Bali, London and Madrid. The Egyptian government responded swiftly by increasing police presence in those areas. European tourists are still visiting Egypt in the numbers that they did before these attacks, but the number of American travelers has dropped. I, personally, would have no hesitation about visiting Egype at this time, but that's a matter you'll have to decide for yourself. There are no guarantees of safety there, or anywhere else in the world. For more information, I'd suggest you look at the website of the US State Department.
As for time of year: it gets brutally hot in June, July and August, so avoid those months.
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