Nile Jewel

When travel is safe to resume, we will be implementing a number of additional protocols to ensure our passengers/travellers are as safe and protected as possible while travelling with us.

In addition to our existing health and safety measures on our coaches and while conducting tours, passengers/travellers can expect:

• Elevated coach hygiene and safety procedures including increased daily cleaning measures, seat rotation being paused for the time being, compulsory face masks onboard, free seats and updated boarding procedures inline with social distancing measures.
• Additional, in-depth health and hygiene training for crew members.
• In addition to ensuring the comfort and quality of our accommodation and restaurants, these destinations will be vetted to ensure they meet increased hygiene standards.

For more information on our elevated health and safety protocols, please see our How to Travel Safe page.

Your tour leader and our local operator in Egypt will assist you with organising a COVID-19 test prior to your return flight home. This can either be taken in Hurghada, or in Cairo if you are extending your stay at the end of the tour. The price for the test ranges from US$50-100.

Our tours are not suitable for young children, so we set a minimum age limit of 10 years old. However, at the discretion of Expat Explore we may consider younger children on certain tours if they meet certain criteria and a request is received in writing via email for consideration. Expat Explore reserves the absolute right to accept or decline a booking at our discretion.

No, you will need to make your own arrangements to get to the meeting destination for the first day of your tour. Make sure you keep departure times and possible delays in mind when booking flights. Please click here to visit Skyscanner - a useful tool for comparing prices from the vast majority of airlines.

Your tour includes inbound and outbound airport transfers if your inbound flight arrives on the tour start date and your outbound flight departs on the tour finish date. Please email info@expatexplore.com confirming your booking reference and the following information:

• Your arrival date, time, airline, flight number and airport
• Your departure date, time, airline, flight number and airport.

Most hotels offer Wi-Fi, but there is usually a charge for access. Most cities and towns will have internet cafés where you can access the internet; opening hours will vary. Please speak to your tour leader and the reception staff at hotels for further information.

Before the tour starts, you will receive an email from us requesting your dietary requirements. There is always a vegetarian option, which is a meal without meat. We try as much as we can to offer you the traditional local cuisine.

We can generally provide a triple room on request; however it is not guaranteed to be available in every destination. Please contact our customer services team to request a triple room.

Please note that in some hotels, the triple room may consist of a double bed and a single bed, or a double bed and a pull-out or bunk-bed. Where we cannot provide a triple room the rooming will consist of one twin room and the third passenger sharing with another single traveller of the same gender.

The price shown on the website for your departure date on the day you book is the price you will pay. If you would like to make a group booking for 10 or more people please contact us.

Please check with your local embassy to confirm if you require a visa to enter Egypt. Most nationalities can get their visa on arrival, others will have to apply for a visa in advance. Expat Explore can provide visa support documents if requested.

Please make sure you bring with you for the start of the tour the local currency(ies) you will need for at least the first three days, as there may not be an opportunity to change currency at the very beginning of the tour. You should budget for any optional excursions you wish to do in this period (see 'Optional Excursions' tab above, these are paid in cash on tour unless stated otherwise) and non-included meals.

We don’t recommend carrying large amounts of cash with you on tour; you are better off withdrawing enough cash to last you for the next 5-7 days, rather than carrying enough cash to last you for the entirety of the tour. Please refer to your pre-departure information for more information on the currencies you will require for your particular itinerary.

When changing money please ensure that you are not given high denomination notes (for example €200 and €500 notes), as you will find most shops and restaurants will refuse to accept them, and your Expat Explore tour leader cannot accept them as payment for optional excursions.

No, we do not have these facilities. For security reasons, you will be required to keep your belongings with you at all times. Please bear this in mind when you are deciding what to bring.

Expat Explore can provide travellers requiring visas with visa support documents on a request basis. Please note that you are required to pay for your tour in full in order to receive the documents. This is an embassy/consulate requirement by law. Once you have received confirmation that your booking has been paid in full, you can request your visa support documents by emailing info@expatexplore.com - please allow up to 10 working days to receive these documents.

You can book online through our website or call our customer service team to make a booking over the phone. You must pay a deposit (the greater of 10% of the total tour cost or GBP 50 per person) via our online payment platform to secure your place. You can pay the remaining amount up to 45 days before departure, with a debit/credit card or with a bank transfer.

It depends on how many other people will book, but group sizes are generally between 15 and 25 people.

Due to weight and space limitations, you are allowed to bring one main piece of luggage weighing no more than 20kg, and one small soft bag for hand luggage. On all tours, you will have to carry your own luggage (e.g. into hotels and up to your room if hotels don’t have elevators). Please bear this in mind when you are deciding what to pack.

Click here to view a diagram showing luggage size restrictions.

This is up to you, of course, and will vary depending on how much wish to spend on snacks, drinks, souvenirs etc. Entrance fees to ancient sites, museums and other attractions are not included in the tour price, and are payable in the local currency (Egyptian Pounds) to your tour leader. To help you budget, these prices are listed under the Experience tab for each day on the tour page.

We believe the best way to get to the heart and soul of a city is on foot, surrounded by the people and the culture. For this reason, we do walking tours through most of the cities we visit. Many of the cities you visit are vast and old, often with steps and cobblestones. Our walking tours can last up to 3 hours with plenty of opportunities to take photographs and soak up the history of these fascinating places, but you do require a certain level of fitness to enjoy your tour to its fullest.

As a British travel company, we follow the advice of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). They currently advise that all the areas our tours go are currently safe to travel to. If this advice changes to the contrary, and we cannot adjust the itinerary to account, then we will cancel the tour and offer you a full refund. It is important you take out travel insurance as soon as you have booked your flights, and ensure that it covers you for the flights in the event of the tour being cancelled.

Your deposit payment secures your place(s) on the tour and the price you pay. Your deposit paid at the time of booking is non-refundable, unless you cancel within 30 days of making a booking. T&Cs apply - please refer to our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee page and Terms & Conditions page for more information.

Yes, and you are responsible for arranging your own insurance. Passengers and their personal property travel with Expat Explore solely at their own risk. A suitable insurance policy should provide adequate cover for medical expenses arising through illness or accident prior to or during the holiday, and loss of holiday monies through cancellation or curtailment of the holiday or other insurable reasons. Clients should ensure that there are no exclusion clauses limiting protection for the type of activities in their tour. When on tour, ensure you keep personal belongings on you at all times and that your suitcase/backpack has a lock on it, especially in tourist areas. It may be advisable to wear a money belt to store money, credit cards and passport.

For a relatively small price, travel insurance provides you with the peace of mind so that you can enjoy your tour without any worries. To receive a quote from one of our preferred travel insurance partners, please visit WorldNomads (for all nationalities) or Hollard (for South Africans).

Many workers in Egypt are very lowly paid and depend on tips for their main income. Whilst we fully understand that some nationalities are not accustomed to tipping, this is a normal part of culture in Egypt and requests for tips can be infuriatingly persistent. Everyone tips everyone, and Egyptians also tip each other. Your Expat Explore tour guide will collect a local payment of 550 EGP per person. This covers all tipping for services provided during the tour, for example drivers, waiters, bell men/porters, hotel staff and Nile cruise/Nile Felucca staff. In addition we recommend tipping your tour guide separately at the end of the tour; budget around £4/$5/100 EGP per person per day depending on your satisfaction and his/her general attitude during the period of the tour.

If a tour is displaying as fully booked, then unfortunately at this point in time we do not have any available seats. However, we can sometimes add extra places, and we do occasionally receive cancellations, so if you cannot find an alternative tour or departure date, please contact our customer service team.

If you are travelling alone there is no compulsory charge - you will share a twin room with another passenger of the same gender*.

There is an optional* single supplement/private room upgrade available for single travellers who wish to have a private room. This can be added at the time of booking or by contacting our customer services team. Please note that the room provided may be a single room with a single bed.

*Single traveller exceptions - the Tourist Police in Egypt require that all holders of an Arab passport travelling in Egypt as a single person stay in a single room. The single supplement is therefore compulsory for all Arab passport holders travelling as a solo traveller on an Expat Explore Egypt tour. Please contact us for more information.

Unfortunately, you will be unable to continue the tour and you should make contact with your closest embassy immediately to replace the passport. Your passport is an essential travel document, and should be kept safe at all times.

You will have to make your own way to the next destination at your own expense. Please ensure you are on time for all departures to avoid being left behind.

Please allow sufficient time to complete the visa process (at least 4 weeks). Should your visa application be unsuccessful, you will be able to change or cancel your tour, but standard terms and conditions (and therefore in some cases, fees) apply. Please refer to our Flexible Date Changes page and Terms & Conditions page for more information.

Please refer to the ‘What's Included’ section of the tour page, as the full list of inclusions will vary depending on which specific Egypt tour you have chosen. In general the tour price includes accommodation for the duration of the tour, transport by private minibus/coach, breakfasts, lunches and dinners as per your itinerary. On top of this, you will have an experienced Egyptologist tour guide to assist you along the way with great tips and handy advice!

We have a very wide range of ages on our tours, and do not restrict our passengers to certain age groups or limits. A positive attitude and an open mind are more important than a number!

We have worked with our partners in Egypt to secure excellent accommodation. On Egypt tours, we use mostly 4-star hotels. During this tour, you will stay in twin share rooms, and, if you are a single traveller, you will be roomed with a fellow traveller of the same gender, unless you pay the single supplement*.

*Single traveller exceptions - the Tourist Police in Egypt require that all holders of an Arab passport travelling in Egypt as a single person stay in a single room. The single supplement is therefore compulsory for all Arab passport holders travelling as a solo traveller on an Expat Explore Egypt tour. Please contact us for more information.

All of our Egypt tours feature a Nile Cruise - depending on the tour you pick, this will be on a traditional felucca boat, or a 5* cruise ship. More information can be found on the tour page.

All travellers are required to carry their own bags, get on and off the coach and use public transport. Our city walking tours can last up to 3 hours and certain places involve walking up and down lots of steps. We want you to enjoy your tour, so read through the itinerary thoroughly and make your own conclusions as to whether you feel that you are fit and healthy enough.

Generally, we like to make an early start, so that you can spend more time at each destination. On your free days, you can have a lie in if you wish!

Please see the 'Tour Start & End Points' tab at the beginning of the Help Section for more information on the start and end points, and meeting times.

Our tour leaders come from all walks of life, with different backgrounds and interests. They are all confident and well-travelled, with an in-depth knowledge of the destinations they are working in, and a passion for helping you make the most out of your Expat Explore tour.

As soon as your payment has been processed by our accounts team, we will send you a confirmation email. Please note this may take up to 5 working days, depending on your method of payment.