Israel, Jordan and Egypt 10 days

Customer Reviews

• 

  Neal

  · August 30th, 2023
  What a great trip every thing went brilliant, thank you
  
  Trip date: August 2023
• 

  Cindi

  · July 4th, 2023
  I was really disappointed with my third trip with TourRadar. They contracted out my trip to a company named Booking Tours which was terrible. They had no customer service skills, we were left stranded many times without communication in countries that could be unsafe, and they charged us for an upgrade that was mishandled. We had to pay for luggage on a domestic flight that was included as part of the trip. We didn’t get our itinerary until last minute and the information was extremely vague. I will not be using this company in future travels.
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  Trip date: June 2023
• GE

  Gloria

  · June 18th, 2023
  Tour was okay while we were in Israel. Accommodation in Israel was average. Best tour was Masada with Ithamar. The tour with Ithamar was the most engaging and educational. I also enjoyed our tour with Dima (ceaserea, acre, and Haifa), and Udi. Unfortunately, the tour began to become less than subpar as soon as we left Israel. We were packed like sardines in an uncomfortable bus in the Jordan part of our trip. Our tour guide was nowhere to be found in Petra. And even though we upgraded our rooms in wadi rum, the rooms were more like 2 star accommodations. When we got to Egypt, things got weird real fast. The border control told me the zoom on my camera was too big and they would be seizing it. The Egyptian tour guy Mohammed came to meet us with the border control and spoke a bunch of Arabic with them. He then told us we had to give them $400 to get my cameras back. I said I don’t have $400. If I did I would buy a new one. He then spoke a lot more Arabic with them and ended up telling me to give him $50 and he would get my camera back. He did get my camera back, so I told him I had no dollars but I would give him the $50 he asked for. He asked me to go withdraw 2000EGP from the ATM. The ATM was in front of the bank, so I asked the cashier what the exchange rate was. He said 30EGP per $1. I withdrew the 2000EGP but I attempted to give Mohammed 1500 since the exchange rate was 30EGP per dollar and we had an agreement for $50. He refused and threatened to return my camera to border control if I didn’t give him the 2000EGP. I gave him the money and hoped I never set my eyes on him again in this lifetime (or any other lifetime). Our tour to Sinai was also booked wrong. We were put on a night tour even though I told booking tours that I had kids with me and can’t do a night tour. We then paid our tour guide $160 to get us to a hotel in st Catherine’s because we were exhausted after walking all day in Petra. What we got was a dingy half star hotel with fleas and lots of mosquitoes. The rest of our Egypt tour was a boat of desert and disappointment. Everybody in Egypt wanted money. People would take tissue paper out of public toilets and demand money from you to go in. I doubt I’ll be visiting Egypt ever again
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  Booking Tours commented on this review

  Dear Customer, Thank you for your detailed review. We deeply regret to hear that your experience did not live up to your expectations, especially concerning the Jordan and Egypt parts of your trip. Your feedback is highly valuable to us as it helps us... Show more
  Trip date: May 2023
• CW

  CALVIN

  · June 12th, 2023
  My guide in Egypt Kimo Azuvietsh and driver Fayez were excellent. Their professionalism and regard for human decency, was beyond my expectation. My driver and Tour guide acted in just about every conceivable way to accommodate me during the tour. For example: when my hotel room water and Air Conditioner was not working. They reiterated to the hotel officials the importance, of getting these issues addressed in a timely manner or to moved Mr. Wess as previously requested to another room in their native language.
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  Trip date: June 2023
• JD

  jorge

  · May 30th, 2023
  I did the Israel/Jordan (Petra)/Egypt tour. Israel was amazing! Yousef,Lauren and Tomer were the best guides ever. Amazing guys with lots of knowledge and humor! The hotel in Tel Aviv could've been a lot better. Two people could not cross path because it was too narrow. Not to mention that a restaurant operates right outside your room, and the parties and music lasted until midnight. The room didn't get done at all twice, and had to complain. The shower door didn't completely shut,and the water leaked into the bathroom. What a nightmare of hotel. In Egypt my camera lens was confiscated. This is a third-world country that wants to cover the sun with one finger. They said that the lens had too much range, to which I replied that my cellphone camera had even larger range. Total silence. They wanted me to pay a fee of $300 for keeping the lens and claiming it on my way out, but everything just sounded weird and fishy. I ended up smashing the glass on the lens, and throwing it in the trash. I thought I'd get arrested for doing this,but I just walked out. The tour in Egypt was good, the guide (Ahmed) was very nice and friendly. The only downside is that it was just my wife and me, not in a larger group, so at the end of the tour we had to tip the guide and the driver. It came out to $500. Ouch! These guys expect a tip, not a tap on the shoulder. This includes the guides and drivers in every country you visit, so be prepared to bring extra money.
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  Trip date: May 2023
• RR

  Rochelle

  · April 10th, 2023
  Overall, it was an amazing trip for our group of 4 to see all the historical landmarks that we'd only read about in books or seen on TV. Once we arrived at our desintations, the tours were informative and well organized. However, the logistics when transferring across borders into another country to get to our next destination need to be greatly improved. We had problems during both of the border transfers. First, between Israel and Jordan, the Jordanian representative named Ramses was not there to meet us. He finally showed up about 30 minutes late. We prepaid Booking Tours for our Visas, so we would not have to worry about getting them ourselves; however, Ramses did not have any information about us and did not have any information about our Visas. This delayed us even longer, because he had to take time to straighten everything out with his company. When he finally got everything straightened out and we got to the tour bus, some of the other customers on the bus awaiting the tour were yelling at us because we were late and were holding up the tour. I spoke with another tour attendee on the bus and she said that they were told that our group was late, and that's why the tour was delayed. In other words, the company blamed us for being late, when we were actually right on time as scheduled. Someone from the tour company dropped the ball when processing our information for the Visas, which Ramses had to straighten out. That's why we were late. I thought it was very unprofessional for them to blame us for the delay when it was really the company's error. This was very stressful at the border crossing, and also while traveling on the bus with people that held hard feelings towards us for something that was not our fault. During the second border crossing between Israel and Egypt, again there was no representative to meet us in Egypt. We tried to explain to the officials there that we were waiting for our tour representative Stenoude who would have our Visas, but still they tried to get us to pay for the Visas AGAIN. When Stenoude finally showed up about 40 minutes late, he said that he was waiting for us outside and taking care of another tour group. It doesn't make sense that he was waiting outside for us, since we couldn't exit without our Visas! This was another very stressful incident. As I mentioned, once we arrived at our destinations, everything moved a lot more smoothly. Tours in Israel were wonderful. The schedules were very punctual and the tour guides were so kind, patient and knowledgeable. If you are lucky enough to get Aviva, Liat, or MIchael, you will not be disappointed! They were outstanding tour guides! In Egypt, our driver Abbas and our tour guide Nassir were the absolute BEST! The streets of Cairo are pure chaos, but Abbas got us everywhere we needed to go and picked us up right on time everytime! Nassir had so much knowledge to share! He was kind, funny, patient and shares so much information. He took pictures for us and even suggested fun shots! He taylored our schedules to spend time doing the things we wanted to do. I highly recommend him to anyone visiting Cairo! For anyone that may be thinking of taking this trip, be aware there may be some issues during the border crossings. It may be a little scary, and people will try to pressure you into giving them money, but be firm and let them know that you are waiting for a tour representative (try to have his name) and that he has your Visa. Once you get to your destinations, you will have an amazing time.
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  Trip date: March 2023
• HT

  Huong

  · January 26th, 2023
  Tour is very very good - Nice and knowledge of tour guides, good transportation all around. ONE thing we were NOT happy was NOBODY mentioned to us about ZOOM LENS camera that will not be allowed to bring into Egypt border on land from Israel to Egypt. It caused us big problem. They kept my ZOOM LENS at the custom office. Now I do not know how to get it back, and if possible, how much FEE should I pay? Please explain if you could. Thanks. Huong Tran
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  Trip date: January 2023
• DP

  David

  · January 5th, 2023
  Great trip! All the logistics were planned very well. Be aware that all the tours require a stop at a "preferred" gift shop and restaurant, but otherwise, it was a fantastic experience.
  Trip date: December 2022
• 

  Arnold

  · November 24th, 2022
  great tour guides, good support when schedules changed.
  Trip date: November 2022
• MC

  Marjorie

  · October 19th, 2022
  Communication was great in the beginning with prompt responses to questions through website account, however, during the tour itself, did not get any response to critical questions until too late. TourRadar itself was easy to reach but they are unable to contact their booking agent, Booking-Tours and unable to help. Day 1 of our Jordan tour, the bus was overbooked; we were placed in a van with no guide at all. During our very late lunch at 4pm, the guide from the bus told us we had 5 minutes to eat so after 5min we stopped eating even though we had just sat down to eat, only to find that the van for our pickup was not even available yet. Horrible! Per our Egypt itinerary, we would be booked at Cairo Pyramids Hotel (5-star) but instead we were booked at a very old, dirty and smelly Swiss Inn (3-star) in a questionable location and TourRadar was not able to fix this problem at all. Very disappointed! We did have an excellent tour guide in Egypt, Ahmed Refaat Fahmy and a super, outstanding private van driver Ahmed, as well as an excellent Day 2 tour guide in Jordan, Sulaiman Aljboor, and because of them, we had an enjoyable trip. In Egypt, there was also an agent who expedited the border crossing process for us, avoiding what could have been several hours of queing.
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  Booking Tours commented on this review

  Dear Marjorie, we checked all the questions that we received from you during the tour, sent to us via TourRadar, and we see that you received immediately respond to all of the questions, as well we sent a detailed itinerary, with contact numbers, that... Show more
  Trip date: October 2022