The Physically Challenged Passengers in Egypt

Egypt presents challenges to the traveler in a wheelchair, but we are determined to make it possible for everyone to enjoy Egypt's wonders.

Here's what the wheelchair traveler may expect:

1. Airport arrival in Cairo may not be as smooth as at some more handicapped-ready airports, but it presents no big problems.

2. A number of five-star hotels in Cairo are well prepared to accommodate visitors in wheelchairs.

3. Most museums are not well prepared to receive wheelchair travelers, so their visits may be limited to certain exhibits, for example, those on the ground floor.

4. Some outdoor sights, such as the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and some temples along the Nile, are more or less readily accessible. Your Egyptian guides will display ingenuity in overcoming small barriers to access so that you can enjoy these wonders. It may be necessary in some places for the traveler to be carried by guides up or down steps or steep ramps to allow wheelchair access.

5. Unfortunately, some sights are inaccessible to wheelchairs, such as most of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings (including that of Tutankhamon).

6. At Luxor a suitable ramp connects the Nile cruise boat dock to street level. There are a few small steps which can be negotiated by wheelchair with the crew's help (our crew members are always available to help). At Aswan there is no ramp, but rather two flights of 20 steps each. Travelers will need to be carried between street and boat levels by our crew.

7. The gangway of some of the Nile cruise vessel is wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, but the angle of ascent may be steep and the guest may have to be carried aboard. Onboard, most of the ship do not have an elevator, but wheelchair travelers can be accommodated in a wheelchair-friendly cabin on the same deck as the reception and dining rooms.