I've got a tour booked to Egypt in November, visiting the usual tourist spots - Luxor, Abu Simbel etc - for a week. I'm becoming increasingly nervous about the security situation there as I regularly see items on the news about explosions and attacks. At the moment my tour company deems it safe so the tours are still running. Has anyone been recently and did it feel safe? It would be interesting to hear people's views about safety in Egypt at the moment.
It's too soon to tell, so I would wait until closer to the time of travel. Weigh the evidence at that time.
There was an uprising and "coup" of sorts in Burkina Faso last October; and I was going to be there in December. I was concerned; and someone from the UK bailed out of the trip. But a couple from Canada and a woman from the U.S. decided to go, and we had a great time.
I was in Nairobi in October 2013, shortly after the Westgate mall massacre in September. There was increased security everywhere; but it was fine. I checked in advance of traveling there; and did the same for Mombasa, where there was rioting before I arrived.
I was in Timor-Leste in May. The U.S. Embassy in Dili earlier had issued an advisory cautioning against travel to Baucau, where violence had erupted. But once there, locals said it was OK to travel to Baucau, so I did.
Talk to your tour provider. They are likely to have representatives on the ground in Egypt to assess the situation. Security is likely to be tight at all the major tourist sites.
Keep informed. Just wait to see what happens between now and then. Hope this helps.
P.S. Travel to Abu Simbel from Aswan is by convoy.
Thank you, that's a really interesting and helpful post. I spoke to my tour operator today and they said they have lots of ground staff in Egypt who, as you say, can assess the situation.
One more thing. You're likely to have family and friends urging you not to go. Such was the case with me last year, when I was told not to travel to West Africa because of Ebola and the uprising in Burkina Faso. So I sent a message to family and friends, with two sentences in boldface:
Please be assured that I will be on top of the situation. There is no need for concern.
I laid out the steps that I was taking to get a handle on the situation in Burkina Faso. I explained that I was not going to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the Ebola outbreak occurred. And I stressed that I do not take undue risks.
Keep talking to your tour operator; keep abreast of what's happening in Egypt; and keep family and friends informed to help allay their concerns.
Thanks, useful tips! My family are worried, but I pointed out that the UK is on a terror alert level of 'severe' so the risk at the moment is probably not all that much higher in Egypt than here.
I will keep an eye on things.
[ 19-Jul-2015, at 09:19 by bex76 ]
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