November is getting ever closer and things affecting tours to Egypt don’t seem to be resolving themselves as fast as we would like.

Let’s have a look at the two main concerns.

Israel/Palestine

The first is the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. At the time of writing a ceasefire seems closer than it has been for the last 10 months, and we can only hope that the talks produce a lasting solution. However, let’s not forget that the conflict is in another country and not in Egypt. The area around the Rafah gate and that part of north-eastern Sinai has been on the UK and US travel advice for many years. It has always been advised against travelling to that part of the Sinai Peninsula; the current conflict has not changed that.

This excerpt from the online version of news outlet Egypt Today shows the number of people who visited Egypt in the first half of 2024. Over 7 million people. And an increase on the previous year.

“Egypt welcomed 7.069 million tourists between January and June 2024, surpassing the previous high of7.062 million recorded during the same period in 2023. This represents a 0.1 percent increase compared to2023 and a 2.4 percent increase from 2010.“

Egypt Today: Tues 02 July 2024

The point is, the situation in Gaza has not affected people visiting Egypt. There is nothing to worry about. Tourism is a major part of the Egyptian GDP, and the government will not let anything affect that. In case you weren’t aware, there is an entire section of the police dedicated to looking after tourists and these are very present on the streets. We were in Egypt last October and everyone felt completely safe. We are also constantly in touch with people in Egypt, and if it looks like things are becoming problematic, we will not go.

The Grand Egyptian Museum

The long awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) hopefully will be open by the time November gets here. The Egyptian government wants the opening to be a big global event with heads of state from all over the world. The current situation regarding the earlier concern might be stopping that happening. There are other reasons as well. The infrastructure around the GEM is not ready; the gardens are not completed, while work is still going on constructing the new Metro line. Additional hotels are still being planned, so, although the museum itself might be ready, it is now a lot of the peripheral stuff that is still being finished.

However, it is worth considering what would you really miss if the museum stays restricted to the entrance and the Grand Staircase.

Most of the Tutankhamun jewellery, including the famous golden funerary mask, is still at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, along with many other artefacts from the King’s tomb.

The Canopic shrine and chest, the Anubis statue, and the golden throne are all still in the Egyptian Museum.

The shrines from the burial chamber have been moved.

The enigmatic rishi coffin from KV55 is still at the Egyptian Museum.

The Akhenaten/Amarna room and its contents are still at the Egyptian Museum.

The mummy of Tutankhamun remains in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

The Royal Mummies are at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and not the GEM.

Egypt is not the Grand Egyptian Museum

The Giza Plateau and the Pyramids are not in the GEM

The Great Sphinx is not in the GEM

The Step Pyramid at Saqqara is not in the GEM

The Bent Pyramid at Dashur is not in the GEM

The Egyptian Museum is not in the GEM

The Luxor Museum is not in the GEM

The Mummification Museum is not in the GEM

Luxor Temple is not in the GEM

The Valley of the Queens is not in the GEM

Deir el-Medina is not in the GEM

Medinet Habu is not in the GEM

The Tombs of the Nobles are not in the GEM

The Ramesseum is not in the GEM

The Valley of the Kings is not in the GEM

Hatshepsut’s Temple is not in the GEM

Karnak Temple is not in the GEM

But, all these places and more are included in our tour.

To learn more about the tour visit the About page.