Egyptraveluxe Tours - www.egyptraveluxe.com

I decided - on a whim - to visit Egypt by myself over the Easter period for two weeks. I only had a few days to sort out the trip before I left home. egyptraveluxe was the first to reply to me, the co-owner tailored an itinerary that addressed my requests (even mid-trip) whereas other tour operators just gave me their stock-standard itineraries, one of their specialties seemed to be organising trips for female travellers like myself, and they didn't mind the short notice.

I was very happy with their personalised service (I deliberately didn't choose one of the bigger travel agencies for this very reason). I never felt like just another tourist for them. She called me every day (via the mobile phones of my guides) to make sure everything was OK. She even called me after midnight once when I had a 3am flight to ensure the driver had picked me up from my hotel on time. I felt very comfortable raising problems with her such as the country’s tipping system. One tip - do your research about “baksheesh” on the internet and don't hesitate to ask her about the ins and outs of it. If you’re traveling by yourself people will take advantage of you which can be frustrating.

egyptraveluxe booked different private guides for me depending on where I was in the country. I think I preferred this to having one guide the entire time. Each guide has their own style and personality, and tells you different things. Islaam who was with me from Aswan to Kolombo was enthusiastic and intelligent, Ahmed who was with me on the Nile cruise and in Luxor was laid back and very helpful, Nahla (her twin sister) who was also with me in Luxor was sweet and knowledgeable. I was particularly happy with my driver in Cairo and Alexandria, Fadi, a gentle soul who drove very carefully at all times - it's important to have a driver you can trust. All the day trips and accommodation (hotels and cruise) organized by egyptraveluxe met my expectations.

I think now is actually a good time to visit Egypt. There are fewer tourists – at times it's as if you have entire historical sites and museums to yourself (no queues, no crowds). It’s relatively safe: protests are advertised on social media sites (which shewill keep an eye on in case she has to rearrange things) before they take place. Even if something spontaneous happens, it'll usually be far from the tourist spots and you'll only hear about them when you watch the news in your hotel at night. Having a guide with me most of the time also seemed to reduce the hassle/harassment from locals. It's interesting times now in Egypt with much change and you'll learn just as much about the politics, religion and society as you'll do about ancient Egypt, and that's probably why I enjoyed my trip so much. Sure, there are places you can't visit such as the Suez Canal and Sinai because of the security situation but that just means you'll have to return to Egypt some time in the future (which I plan to do)!