It's time to book 2009 travel. Egypt or Turkey? The time of year may be the deciding factor for us, since we're doing a September 2008 trip and don't want to travel again right away.
For those of you who have been to Egypt, what month did you go and how was the weather? My only visit there was in December/January and even then it was hot for me.
For those of you who have done the Land tour of Turkey, same question.
For those who have done both Egypt and Turkey, which did you prefer?

If you found Egypt hot in December/January - then most other months would be hotter as this time is when it is cooler here in the middle east. Maybe November might be good time for Egypt.

We did Turkey in October last year and whilst it was warm, it was not hot - and a good time to travel to Turkey.

Cattie...

We prefer Egypt over Turkey, but Turkey is better than Franze or Frans or frence. My French is lousy.

You only choice is Turkey! Try February or March. They have snow in Turkey!

Thanks, SiD. That's what I was afraid of...
Cat's: I'm not looking for snow, just temperatures no higher than about 75 degrees and preferably a little lower. Putting the temps aside for a moment, which place did you prefer, Egypt or Turkey? What were the highlights, for you, in both places?
My husband has never been to Egypt. I have, but I haven't seen Luxor and would like to. We have seen the coast of Turkey - only Istanbul and Kusadasi area. We would both like to see Troy, and the cave dwellings and the whirling dervishes. Between these two places, which is better? (I know - what a question!)
We were considering Scandinavia (AGAIN!) but there aren't a lot of itineraries to choose from and in this economic climate, I worry that these expensive tours may be the ones that won't be running. However, Scandinavia is one that we could do in Ma or June. If we do Egypt, we may have to go too close to our French tour in September, or else wait a long time in between trips.

Cat's: Why? Do you speak Egyptian? What Egypt tour did you do?

Caitie...

We prefer Egypt over anything! Nothing compares to Egypt. We have been there two times. Egypt is my top choice to visit and we will visit Egypt again. Some day I will meet Dr. Zahi Hawass at the Egyptian Museum.

You have seen part of Luxor, the missing Egyptian obelisk is in Place De La Concord (sp?)in Paris France.

Turkey is great and the people are really friendly. We have been there two times. When a local store owner in Antalya (a great place), Turkey sees you and then walks out with his son and asks you to listen to his son speak English, it is nice! His son spoke fairly good English! Turkey is our number two county to visit. The Turks are friendly people.

Cat's

Caitie...

We have been on TT's "Best of Egypt" tour twice. It is a good one.

I do not speak Egyptian.

Cat's: Can you tell me what, in particular, you like about Egypt that is better than what you like about Turkey? Is it the people? The history? The scenery? The food? The hotels? The sense of being in an exotic place? The sense of tyranscending history?
I've seen the obelisk in Paris numerous times, but I hadn't realized it was "missing" from Luxor!

I’m going to come down and say that of the two I prefer Turkey. Madam agrees with me, so that makes a majority!

We toured Turkey in 2003 and Egypt in 2006 and we enjoyed both tremendously.

We were in Turkey in April and found it quite cold, we were told that it was unseasonably so; in one spot we were above the snow line.

Our Egyptian tour (paired with Jordan) was also in April and we found the temperatures very pleasant; certainly swimming weather. As most of the outings are arranged for the early morning or late afternoon you tend to avoid being out at the hottest time of the day. The exception to that is the option to Abu Simbel, which we found very hot. Our flight crew told us that it had reached 55° a few days earlier! Although we are used to high temperatures that is far too hot!

Although Turkey has a lot of historic interest, our Guide claimed that there were more Greek and Roman ruins than in Greece or Italy respectively, it is also a developing country and so we would expect it to be at least subtly different if we were to go back. The people were very welcoming and seemed pleased that we were visiting their country.

However, we found Troy to be a total anti climax. In my diary I noted “Pergamon would have been a fitting end to our Greek/Roman visits but we were off to Troy. Therefore, instead of ending on a high note our Greek/Roman visits ended on a whimper, because there is really nothing to see at Troy except for a lot of old excavations and a very tawdry wooden horse. We probably set a record for the shortest time taken to visit Troy.”

Whilst Egypt has some stunning sites there was little about modern Egypt that attracted us.

So, unlike Cat’s, if we could return to only one of them it would definitely be to Turkey.

This year, however, we will be spending 15 days in France. Like Cat’s, it is not my favourite country, but we are giving it another chance! Again, like Cat’s, my French is lousy!

Caitie, I really liked Turkey and would like to go back one day, with some members of my family.
I went on the trip 3 or 4 days after SunnyinDubai, in early October. The temps were very comfortable, slightly hot and I hate heat, in Perge and Aphrodisias, about 25C and sunny. Part of the time, particularly in Cappadocia I wore a rainjacket, more for warmth than rain and a silk/cashmere sweater. The rest of the time long sleeved cotton blouses and often an unlined jacket.

I was also disappointed in Troy, mostly a jumble of rocks, hard to understand and visualise the different layers, representing different eras. We did not spend much time there. Pergamon is very impressive, as is of course Ephesus. Aphrodisias, Hierapolis and Perge are also very interesting as is the the theatre at Aspendos. I have never been to Greece.
Cappadocia is also fascinating in a totally different way.
I also found the people friendly.

quote:

Originally posted by Caitie:
Cat's: Why? Do you speak Egyptian? What Egypt tour did you do?

They speak Arabic in Egypt. The Egyptian language died out millennia ago, with the exception of a related language called Coptic which is used almost exclusively for religious purposes among Egypt's Coptic Christian minority.

I forget that living in the Middle East for 3 years means that not too hot for us is not the same for those not living here (we have 40 degree or more summer months here). However, I think that Oct is not too hot - though I guess a bit later would be cooler.

I agree that Troy was a bit of a let down - loved Capadoccia though and Permakule (sp?) - although seeing the whitish areas and standing on them are vastly different experiences.

quote:

Originally posted by Caitie:
It's time to book 2009 travel. Egypt or Turkey? The time of year may be the deciding factor for us, since we're doing a September 2008 trip and don't want to travel again right away.
For those of you who have been to Egypt, what month did you go and how was the weather? My only visit there was in December/January and even then it was hot for me.
For those of you who have done the Land tour of Turkey, same question.
For those who have done both Egypt and Turkey, which did you prefer?

Why have both? You can have a Egypt tour in early 2009 and Turkey tour in mid 2009.

I went Egypt in March before the sand storm and went to Turkey in June/July. I thought heat/weather was acceptable. I prefer Egypt to Turkey; however, the beauty of Cappadocia you can only find it in Turkey.

We have done both Egypt and Turkey. I loved them both. They were two of my favorites.

We did Real Egypt in November. I found it warm, especially in the south. I found the Real Egypt tour too short. Next time I will choose a longer tour. The other problem with our Egypt tour was that it was at the same time as Ramadan. This caused a number of scheduling problems.

We did the best the Best of Turkey in May. I found the weather very good. I really enjoyed this tour. There was so much to see and a lot of variety.

P.S. Troy was a disappointment but Cappadocia is incredible.

Ahhh, thanks, all. I'm picking up here that I need to watch the timing for sandstorms and Ramadan as well.