Apr 7, 2024
Very worthwhile trip - Good road from Alexandria to El Alamein, meant the journey each way took 1.5hrs. Extraordinary to see all the development along the route. The cemeteries were very quiet, the museum really interesting, well laid out and the staff member very keen to show us round and explain the exhibits in good English.
Our guide for the day was Nessrin, and she together with her driver made it a very worthwhile trip.
I knew very little about WW11 in North Africa and would thoroughly recommend for anyone with an interest in history.
Review provided by Viator
Dec 27, 2023
Amazing tour to ElAlameine - Amazing day everything I wanted it to be. Guide and driver were perfect and great company…you gotta do this
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 18, 2023
Fascinating tour - Mohamed and our driver were so kind and helpful and made sure we saw everything we could. Mohamed explained lots of interesting things about the battle of El Alamein and the cemeteries.
Review provided by Viator
May 13, 2023
Stand at the site of the Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria - Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable, it was wonderful to stand at the site of the Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 25, 2021
Amazing Tour Alexandria, Egypt - Highly recommend!!!! Highly recommend!!!Ramasside Tours!!!!
We came from the USA and our guide Karim Serry and our Driver Farouk went above and beyond...
Karim Serry helped get our PCR test to exit Egypt, he was extremely knowledgeable of the sites. We had an amazing and delicious lunch at the Fish Market and enjoyed the view of the Mediterranean Sea 🌊
We were extremely happy!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 23, 2019
Best tour ever!!! Karim is amazing!!! - A truly magical day! Karim is one of the best tour guides I have ever had. (I hated my Cairo tour guide, so this is saying a lot).
A clean cut nicely dressed man approached me at the buffet breakfast at my hotel and said, "Enjoy your breakfast. I will be waiting for you in the lobby." How polite! Of course I was not going to keep him waiting.
It turns out that I am the only person who signed up for the tour that day. We walked outside and met our driver, a jolly man who is a former chef on a Mediterranean cruise ship and speaks fluent Arabic & Greek, and knows enough English to laugh at jokes. We were off on our adventure!
First we went to Montazah Palace, the beautiful summer palace of King Farouk the last king of Egypt. It was stunning! You are not allowed to go inside. Karim lectured while I took pictures.
The palace grounds are spacious. Karim and I got out and walked around. There were magnificent fig trees everywhere. Karim explained that palm trees are not native to Egypt; they are imported for looks only. Before we left, Karim made sure that there was nothing else I wanted to stop and photograph.
Then we drove across the Stanley Bridge to Pompay’s Pillar. As a Greek-American, I was excitedto see the remains of this former Greek temple. A photo stop from the outside is included in the tour.
Karim explained to me that I have the option to purchase a ticket to go inside. I was thrilled and took amazing pictures and selfies. Karim took some great pictures of me from the bottom of the hill and walked up to the top of the hill to take more pictures of me.
Next we went to the Catacombs of Kom El Shokafa, which is a large Roman Cemetery. Christians hid in the catacombs during the first century when they were being persecuted by the Romans.
The walk down to the catacombs is straight down a steep winding staircase. Karim went down with me, pointing things out along the way. When we got to the bottom we saw the empty tombs. My legs hurt but the payoff was worth it.
It was around this time that I began to observe that Karim knows every tour guide, security guard, etc in Alexandria and is very well liked by all of them.
Next we went to the remains of a Roman amphitheater. Karim explained to me that the opera now performs at the theatre.
I do animal rescue and bring cat/dog food everywhere I go. We put some cat food down at the theater and watched a beautiful extended family of healthy cats and kittens eat. (It doesn't get better than that!)
At one point when we were driving Karim told me that we were driving through what is considered the poor section of Alexandria.
There is no official animal control in Egypt. There are a few underfunded overstretched volunteer organizations.
When I was in Cairo I went to the garbage dump every day to feed the cats and dogs who were eating garbage. I am happy to report that in Alexandria (which is surrounded by water) fish is so cheap the cats and dogs are well fed even in the poor neighborhoods. Karim stopped the car when I saw a large group of cats, but they were so used to being fed fresh fish only one or two were mildly interested in my dry cat food.
Then we went to St Marks Church. When I signed up for the tour I did not realize that this church was BUILT ON TOP OF THE GRAVE SITE OF JESUS' DISCIPLE MARK, who established the first church in Alexandria after Jesus' death. Like most of the disciples, Mark suffered a horrible death at the hands of the Romans.
In 2017 there was a car bomb exploded outside the church, killing 17 people. Coincidentally, Karim was inside the church at the time giving a tour. He heard the explosion but did not feel the building shake. He said the securit guard who was killed is a nice man.
As a result, the entire street is blocked off and there are armed soldiers out front. Karim said tourists are sometimes asked to show their passports, but I was not asked.
There is a Christian Coptic bookstore next to the church. I bought some amazing booklets on Mark that cost less than $1 each. I bought one for everyone I know.
Then we went to the world famous Library of Alexandria. Karim graduated from the university across the street and worked at the library for 2 years. He literally knows everyone who works there.
Karim explained to me that the architect created the building to look like a sun dial coming out of the sea. We walked through several exhibits; some that were on the official itinerary and some that were not. By that time I was 10 days into my trip and my legs were killing me. Karim gave me a verbal overview of the other exhibits in case I wanted to go back later.
I had mentioned to Karim that I am a Greek-American and that I had been having trouble with the food in Egypt. (No disrespect). The next stop on the tour was a photo stop at the Citadel, which was built on top of the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which is one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World.
Karim dropped me off at a Greek restaurant on the water called the White & Blue Restaurant. It was divine!!! I ate there 3 days in a row. The shrimp in red sauce was so divine I want to go back to Alexandria just to eat there!!! The homemade mango smoothie hit the spot. And the view was incredible. You are literally looking out at a sea full of boats. They are so close you could throw a rock and hit them. When I walked in they were playing Zorba the Greek which was the icing on the cake.
The next day I went back on my own and bought a ticket to go inside the Citadel,,,,and then went back to the Greek restaurant. (As a sidenote there is a small "aquarium" next door that only costs 75 cents so I popped in for 2 minutes).
The next day I hired a taxi driver from outside my hotel. ($6 for the first 4 hours and $3 after that. Of course I gave the driver much more than that). I was trying to communicate to my driver that I wanted to go to several places for a photo stop only. As you may know, Google Translates is now in Arabic but I'm hear to tell you that it is crap. The person only understands half of what you are saying, and when a person speaks in Arabic the English translaiton NEVER makes any sense.
So.....I called Karim. On What's App of course so it would not cost him. (EVERY tour guide I have had anywhere around the world is now on What's App. So now so am I).
Karim is so gracious he translated for me to the driver. All that day and then the next!!! That was so over and above what was expected of him. All at no cost.
I HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD. TRUST ME WHEN I TELL YOU IF YOU EVER GO TO ALEXANDRIA YOU SHOULD BOOK A TOUR WITH KARIM. He speaks perfect Arabic, English, and French. (He attended French school as a child).
I hope you find this helpful. :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 6, 2019
Wonderful 3 days in Alexandria - We had a great 3 days tour in Alexandria with our guide Karim. We really enjoyed your company karim you are a lot of fun and very informative especially in the library and where to get the best patisserie. Had a terrific time seeing your lovely city. Thanks to Ramasside for taking good care of us during our stay.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 5, 2019
Insightful and Enjoyable tour with Eriny! - The full-day tour focused on Archaeological sites, and it was very well done. The pace was perfect for my husband and me, covering lots of sites which was easy to achieve with just 3 people. Our tour guide Eriny was exceptional - she was very informative in an entertaining way, friendly and flexible to our wishes. In fact, we liked her so much, we booked her for several additional sites for the next day, which was equally pleasant.
Booking the trip from my home was easy, and Rammaside stayed in touch, as Alexandria was our last stop on a 3-week trip to Egypt. I would highly recommend this company, especially Eriny. I also loved having the private tour, as the Guide can answer all of your questions. The perfect ending to 3 fantastic weeks in Egypt!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 24, 2023
Good sites but take your own travel guide book - It was very difficult to understand our English speaking guide. He was a very nice man but we really struggled to understand him for most of the day. We said this to him and he tried to speak a lot slower for us . The sites are worth visiting and you are probably better off with a travel book if you don’t speak Arabic .
Review provided by Viator
Jan 4, 2024
Appalling tour and Appalling customer service, trying to dodge responsibility - This is a copy of our complaint to Viator.
We have been sent a stock reply - and they now refuse to answer us.
It is interesting to see how many new 5* ratings have since been provided.
We are writing with reference to a day trip from Alexandria to El Alamein we took through your company (via Viator) on Tuesday 3 October this year. The trip was booked in the name of AG (full name removed) in early September or late August. The relevant references are ...
Confirmation number: 1440324001
Booking reference number: 1054025617
The tour promised us "TOP VIP TREATMENT! We were entirely dissatisfied with the whole experience - pick-up, car, guiding, lunch.
For the pick-up - in a bit of an old banger of a car (perfectly pleasant driver, though) - the guide was not present, and the driver, who did not speak English, gave a reference we did not recognise (not including El Alamein) and so time was lost identifying it as our car. We then lost a further 30 minutes picking the guide up in town. He was clearly tired and actually fell asleep as we drove along. We had to make a coffee stop to get him to function again. His English was not good at all. For example, he had to break down years like: one-nine-four-two, for 1942. We often had to ask him to repeat what he said because we couldn't understand him. He knew almost nothing about the context and history of the El Alamein battle, and the little information he did give included obvious errors. At the different sites, he added nothing - beyond occasionally restating the information that was on the display boards (as if we couldn't read), or just sat in the car. We had to drag him out of the car to get the Italian memorial opened for us - having told us "you can't get in". The lunch, at a big tourist fish restaurant on the main harbour, was "off menu" - just a dried out, cold and not very tasty fish of some unidentified species, with some very simple mezes. Drinks were extra. And the guide complained about how late we were eating! Entrance fees were paraded in the Viator information as included in our option - but this was something of a misrepresentation as the only entrance fee was at the Museum, and was very modest.
We had considered just hiring a local taxi, which we understood would cost at most $50 for the round trip with stops. But we decided to make more of a "VIP event" of it and so went with Viator who engaged your company. What a mistake! We were charged A$ 285.86, a huge amount of money in the Egyptian context. What's going on? We'd like our money back please!
This complaint has been delayed as we were still on the road travelling until 30 October.
Yours Sincerely,
AG
CM
Review provided by Tripadvisor