Sun Pyramids Tours

This was our first time booking through Kimkim so we didn’t know what to expect. The trip was complicated because it included three countries each with different local specialists: Egypt, UAE, Jordan. Mohamed did an amazing job working with me to get us the tour we wanted. For example, we added the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza and the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi.

Our Cairo tour was excellent. Our tour guide Dalia was both knowledgeable and compassionate. She took time to take pictures of us as we visited the different sites. She even captured the pyramids from the Citadel. Dalia also organized the visit so we avoided most of the crowds and traffic. The driver was highly skilled and helpful.

The sunset on the rooftop restaurant before the sound and light show at the pyramids was magical. The felucca boat trip on the Nile was unforgettable. The Grand Egyptian Museum was well worth adding to our tour. Finally, I appreciated the SIM card which made communication seamless.

Another Mohamed did an excellent job guiding us around the sites in Luxor. We were able to see the important sites in a packed 24 hours.

In UAE, our tour of Dubai was very comprehensive. The driver had a comfortable van and was very punctual. He kindly provided water and even gave us 10 AED so we could take the boat to the Old Souq at our first stop since we hadn’t converted any money yet. The best part was that Navas worked with us to customize our tour so that we didn’t have to spend more time than we wanted at any one site.

We visited in high season so there was plenty of traffic and a long line at the Burj Khalifa. Unfortunately, we were also booked for a visit at 10 PM which made for a long day. The Palm monorail tickets were not included so be prepared for 30 AED round trip if you want to go to Atlantis.

We also did a day tour of Abu Dhabi. The highlight for us was the Louvre Museum and the Qasar al Watan palace. It was great that we could customize our visit so we didn’t spend time in places we didn’t want to visit.
In Jordan, we were only able to visit Petra. Both Oqba who drove us to Petra and Ali who guided us around were highly knowledgeable. We learned more about the history of Jordan than any other country we visited. The natural beauty of Petra was amazing. Ali took us off the normal tourist path to show us the colorful rock formations. He is also an expert photographer and took outstanding pictures.

In conclusion we would definitely use Kimkim again for another trip.

We had such an amazing time in Egypt. Egypt has so much history and the people were great.
We were so lucky to have our own private driver - Ahmed - you were amazing!
And all of our guides were extremely friendly and helpful. Mohad, Sayad, Ezzart and Mohamed. They made the culture come alive and made us feel like family. Thank you for a wonderful anniversary trip!

To sum it up, the itinerary was planned and executed as per our requirements. However, we would have appreciated it if the driver's name and contact details were shared in advance ie a day before travel as it did cause us last-minute panic situations twice. Also, the lunch buffet given to us at Cairo on 24th Dec 2023 was not good. My 11-year-old daughter got Egyptian diarrhea from that food and she suffered for 2 days after that. Please make sure to get off that restaurant from the list of Sun Pyramids Tours and Kim Kim.

Furthermore, on our second last day in Cairo, the guide given to us by Sun Pyramids Tours via Kim Kim named Mohamed who picked us up from Cairo Airport on 31st Dec 2023 and took us to the market on 31st Dec 2023 urged us to do an Islamic architecture tour next day ie on 1st Jan 2024. He committed to us that he will come next day. But he didn't turn up next day as he claimed he was very good in it. We paid an additional 70 USD upfront to Sun Pyramids Tours and they had said that everything is included. However, this Mohamed switched his phone off next day and didnt even have the courtesy to tell us that he isn't coming. And everything went haywire the next day. First of all, the alternative guide sent by Sun Pymrids Tours was hopeless and useless in all aspects. I forgot his name unfortunately. He arranged a car in which neither of our luggage would fit. Sun Pyramids Tours very well knew its our check out so we would be having bags as we were going to check out and do sightseeing and head off to Cairo airport directly. This was already mentioned. The new guide was useless in all aspects. He did not know the places of interest we visited that day. He was not giving any information. He was not at all interactive. Really a hopeless guide ive ever come acrosd in my life. Also, we were not told that we would have to buy the tickets separately and the add-on price we paid did not include that. This all left a very bad taste regarding the people of Egypt, the country of Egypt, Sun Pyramids Tours, and also Kim Kim as we felt we were cheated. This is not Kim Kim's fault as we did the last day sightseeing directly from Sun Pyramids Tours. The guides and drivers kept on asking for tips. It was very irritating. I would however request Kim Kim to kindly review Sun Pyramids Tours properly before giving them any more work from hereon.

Activity Review

Pyramids and Cairo Sightseeing

Cairo

Our guide Saeed was excellent.

Quality of Experience

Food

My daughter got diarrhea due to the lunch buffet organised by Sun Pyramids tours on 24th Dec 2024

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a very well planned trip with Kimkim and specially our local trip specialist, Mohamed. He patiently worked with us to customize the trip according to our needs and was available on call or message whenever we needed. He put together a great itinerary that included Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel and Sharm el Sheikh. The guides he arranged for us in all of these places were also very good and knowledgeable, which made the experience richer. We had a minor issue with flights which also was sorted out eventually. Definitely a trip that will stay as a cherished memory, Egypt is a wonderland. Thanks to Mohamed, Sun Pyramids team and Kimkim for making it a great experience!

Activity Reviews

Tour to Egyptian Museum, Citadel, and Coptic Cairo

Cairo

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour to High Dam, Philae Temple, and Obelisk

Aswan

Aswan Dam was interesting, and Philae temple was outstanding and so worth it! Unfinished Obelisk was okay

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Abu Simbel Temple

Aswan

An outstanding experience and so worth the 3 hour drive from Aswan. Our guide in Abu Simbel was extremely knowledgeable and patiently explained the history and significance of the temple along with the key things to look for, since guides are not allowed inside. He was amazing!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour to The East & West Bank of the Nile

Luxor

The best day of the entire trip for us. Luxor is breathtaking, and the only thing that was a negative was that we just had one day to spend here. Our guide Ahmed Ameen, was the best guide of the entire trip. He made the day what it was with his knowledge, patience and wit. Starting with Valley of Kings and Hatshepsut temple to the beautiful Karnak and Luxor temples, this was easily the busiest and the best day of our trip.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Edfu, and Kom Ombo Temples

Aswan

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip to Pyramids, Memphis, and Sakkara with riding a camel

Egypt

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip Hot Air Balloon Ride in Luxor, Egypt

Luxor

An early morning balloon ride that lasts for about 45min - 1 hour. It was amazing to watch the Valley of Kings and the temple from above. Totally recommend!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mount Sinai & St. Catherine Monastery

Sharm el-Sheikh

A difficult trek, but well worth it. The sunrise views from the top of the hill are stunning, and make the hike up worthwhile.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was a very great experience for us, when we visited Egypt for the first time in December 2023.

Potentially more on the higher price side, but we had a very smooth trip.

The quality of the tour guides varied, as some were a bit too pushy to bring us to tourists shops, which we indicated not to be in favor.

The best and most outstanding experience we had was with Abdul Hamid Ahmad.

Also Sameh (and the driver Romi) was very knowledgeable for our Cairo Trip.

Habiba made the whole planning and booking process extremely easy. She gave us a lot of great options and suggestions and took into consideration the things we did and did not want to do while in Egypt. Overall, the whole planning and booking experience was great. While we did still greatly enjoy the trip and our visit to Egypt, there were a few things that we weren't so happy with.

Our trip began in Cairo. After we landed at the airport, we were able to find our guide easily and he and our driver took us to our hotel. The guide (sorry I can't remember his name!) was very friendly and knowledgeable and told us a lot about Egypt and its history during the one-hour drive to the hotel. We were very impressed with our driver, as well. Cairo traffic is no joke, but he navigated it like a pro.

Our hotel was NOT what we were expecting, though. Great service, but the place simply was not done. Our itinerary said we were staying at the Great Pyramids Inn in Giza which, if you look it up on Tripadvisor, is a beautiful (completely built) hotel with a restaurant/bar on site. The hotel photos that were provided in our itinerary were extremely misleading. A completely different hotel. We were brought to the Royal Great Pyramids Inn (or something like that, Royal Pyramids Inn, I can't remember), which is still under construction. The first 4 floors are still being built and there was construction going on the whole time and there was a lot of dirt and dust from the construction. It looked nothing like the photos. Our room was very pretty and well decorated with a great view of the pyramids, but again, it wasn't finished. There were no towel racks or bars or hooks, nowhere to hang anything. Lots of hangers but no place to hang. We had to set our towels on a small table to dry them. 10 bottles each of shampoo and body wash, but no other toiletries (conditioner, lotion, etc.). The power went out for a little over an hour on our second day. That happens; not a big deal. It made us very hesitant to take the elevator in the building, but the staff insisted that we take the elevator anyway (I think because of all the construction mess on the stairs). The staff was incredibly kind and friendly, so that made it not quite as big of a deal that the hotel was totally different from what we were expecting. We were under the impression that there was a bar and restaurant on site. They did feed us the first night and breakfast was provided, but I would hardly call it a bar/restaurant. They were also surprised to hear that I am a vegetarian, even though I made that clear in our questionnaire before we started planning the trip.

A different guide took us to Cairo Tower the second night for dinner. We were expecting a nice romantic dinner, just the two of us, but our guide actually sat with us the whole time at dinner, and didn't eat anything. He was perfectly nice and pleasant, but it was a bit awkward. It also seemed like there were lots of issues with us getting into the tower and getting dinner because the guide kept having to get up to talk with the restaurant staff, and it took about 20 minutes for him to get our tickets into the tower. We weren't given a menu and were told that our options were chicken or beef. We were told that there were no vegetarian options, even though we noticed on our way out that the menu had plenty of vegetarian options. This was frustrating since I had included the fact that I'm a vegetarian in our questionnaire before we started planning the trip, so I would have hoped that some arrangements would have been made in advance. We also weren't offered any drinks or anything and had to ask for water after we'd been sitting there for a while. We saw after the fact that there were lots of drinks/wine/cocktails, etc. on the menu.

There were a few instances where our guides took us to places that weren't on our itinerary and which we would have expressly declined if we'd known in advance. Eg., we went to a papyrus store to "learn how papyrus is made" but it was really just a high-pressure sales pitch to get us to buy something. We were also taken to a jewelry store and a perfume store. Towards the end of the trip one of the guides pulled up to the front of an alabaster store. We said "we're good here, we don't need to go in" knowing that we'd just be pressured to buy something. I have no problems with these businesses or their sales tactics and I understand they're all just trying to make a living, but I would have appreciated a heads-up that we would be visiting these places. Because we would have said "no thank you." Our trip was jam-packed with sightseeing and we had very little downtime to begin with, so we would have preferred to skip those extra little outings that we didn't ask for.

It also seemed there wasn't clear communication with the timing of our itinerary at times. For example, we took a 3-night Nile Cruise and our itinerary said we would have lunch onboard on the last day before we departed on a 4-hour drive to the next destination. But we actually had to check out of the cruise at 8am that morning so we had to ask our guide to take us somewhere so we could buy lunch before we left.

None of that ruined the trip by any means. We still had a great time and got to see and do all the things we wanted to see and do. All of our guides and drivers were friendly and kind and helpful and, with the exception of the Cairo hotel, our accommodations exceeded our expectations.