Luxor Travel Forum

Hi, we will be travelling to Luxor from Cairo in January and are staying only a few days. I wonder if anyone might give us tips on which sights which should'nt be missed, how much do the entrance fees cost, opening hours, and the best way to travel to these places? Is it better to engage a travel agency who can arrange these trips? I got an offer of 195US$ per person for 2 days which I thought is expensive. Appreciate any advice.

What exactly is being offered for the two hundred bucks/1000 LE??

bookmark

That would be my question to!

What is there to see in Luxor??? Buy a travel guide book!

Karnak Tempel
Luxor Tempel
Valley of Kings
Valley of Nobles
Valley of Queens
Deir el Bahari (Hatsepsut funeral tempel)
Deir el Medeina
The Ramesseum
Workers village
Colossi of Memnon
Luxor Museum
Museum of Mummification
3/4 day cruise to Aswan
1 day cruise to Denderrah
1 day trip to Denderrah and Abydos
Hot air balloon flight over the West Bank

You can do it all by yourself! There is a cheap ferry from the East- to the Westbank. There you can hire a bike or a donkey to visit the Valleys. Or have a cab taking you there. It will not cost much, depending on your haggling skills.

Prices of entrance fees? They are different all the time. Take a look at

www.touregypt.net

for accurate prices.

If you do not like to haggle and find your way around you will be better of with a travel agent. But in Luxor there are many who will beat the price of 195$ for 2 days! Just shop around for bargains when getting there. And when you want to combine several trips with more persons..... You can haggle for a big discount, even with the travel agents! There are no fixed prices in Egypt.

Good luck, Dora.

Come on Dora, it's not that bad....entrance tickets have fixed price printed on them:-) And you can avoid having to slip the odd five or one.....just about

It all depends what you want or expect, or what you think is good value for your money. I've been on a four day tour with Mara "www.egyptwithmara.com" which was £195 English per head try for a small reduction for kids keep. We thought that it was tremendous value for money. Just look at the itinerary on the site and consider it. The price is all in except for drinks and baksheesh. If you want a lesser deal or itinerary I'm sure Mara or one of her team could sort you out.
On your own for a couple of days, try to see:..........
Hire your taxi or Kaleesh each day to do what YOU want to do. One short trip should be about 20EL or 30EL for right across town + baksheesh. Longer trips are open for discussion.
These were the ticket prices at sites the first week in December 2007.
Karnak:50EL.
Hatshepsut: 25EL.
Kings Valley: 3 Tombs for 70EL
Luxor Temple: ? Can't remember.
Students go in half price which is handy if you took two kids.
If you want a "Felucca" trip. Go to the Metropolitan on the Corniche (try something from the menu while you are there) opposite Luxor Temple and ask a member of the staff to identify Captain Tayib or his brother, he looks like a young Tayib. Or call him on his mobile 02147 03638 ten numbers is correct for Egypt.
My son and I took a trip with Capt. Tayib last year. Which reminds me. If you do nothing else in Luxor. Do have a mango juice at the Metropolitan.
This year I had my two girls 11+13 and friend Gillian. We spent 7 hours with him. He's also an entertainer. We paid less than £** and a bit of baksheesh.
What you get in those 7 hours is all to do with your bargaining skill. What you pay baksheesh depends on how much you enjoy your time.
I have my own formula for how much I pay the vehicle/boat per hour. But that's to do with my white van man/gardener past. You Might be an MD or a brain surgeon.
Then you pay the driver/crew/guide according to your enjoyment.
Which as I keep saying, is half the fun, and then you feel like you should add a bit extra baksheesh for that part of the days enjoyment; nah you could go on and on. Anyway tell him Jim sent you it might help me next year.
Listen to Dora she always makes good sense. Read some of her previous posts on the forum. I've found them useful for three years.
Here's a handy tip I was told on my second visit. Go into any mobile shop (if your phone is unlocked) and get a local sim card £5 and £5 credit, enough for the week. Very useful for organizing your transport while you're in town. If you use your English sim you have to mess with international codes and high call costs.
For eating look at, http://www.luxortraveltips.com/
scroll down and in the left side column you will find restaurant reviews.
My favourites; The St Joseph and Snobs, here they make you feel special. At the risk of coming across like patronizing or all colonial or something. Go to either of these on your first night in Luxor and explain to the head waiter you have done so because you read they are SOoo.. good that you wanted to try them first, smile shake hands ask what please (min fadlak) and thank you (shukran) is in Egyptian and take it from there.
The Metropolitan where you can put your feet up and just watch the river by day or premiership football at night. BIG screen. The Ritz which was very reasonable, clean and welcoming, and the food was good to.
Snack Time where you sit overlooking Luxor Temple, is excellent by the way. We all had double trouble and large fries and no-one had room for the fries. McDonalds would be for novelty value only and anyway it is well outshone by Snack Time two doors away.
Always keep your small Egyptian notes for toilets shoeshine etc. and the odd baksheesh.
Take a dozen pocket size packs of tissues and a couple of packs of wet wipes.
Always carry at least one litre of water per head per couple of hours away from base and if you buy away from your local shop check the seal on the bottle cap. Amazing init that in a desert country 2 litres of water is 3EL=30p. Yet here where we complain about the rain all the time it can cost you £1 for 330cl.
Heard bad reports about Dasani I think it was called, bottled water. Something to do with coca cola. Dark Blue label. It sells for 2EL.
Here's a good one. I went into a small supermarket for two bottles of water. The guy had no change so said “bring it tommorow”. I went back twice every day but there was someone different there. I still owe him 4EL for 2 Dasani? An' I'm alright for drinkin' it.
Whatever you do have a brilliant time and start saving now for next year.
Peace and Blessings Jim..........

Hi everyone, sorry I missed writing the itinerary. Here it is. US$195 per person, personal tour for 2 days include

Valley of the Kings (3 tombs)
- Habu temple ( Madint Habu )
- Valley of the Queens
- Temple of Queen Hatshipsuit, the Queen who would be King
- The Colossi of Memnon
- Evening Light and sound show at the Karnak Temple
- Opportunity to stroll around the city with its quaint market places
- Luxor and Karnak Temples
- day Tours to Dendara and Apydos temples

Including English speaking Guide , entry fees , A/C microbus and services

or US$140 with a small group for the west and east bank of Luxor and a private tour for Dendara and apydos.

I wonder if these prices are reasonable?

If we do these trips ourselves, how do we go about it? Thanks

Dear Jim, thank you for the information about Luxor. I will take it into consideration when planning our trip. Cheers...

There was a big row about Danni in th eUK, simply over the fact that the Coca cola corporation was taking ordinary tap, filtering it & seling it. It's a purified drinking water, not a mineral wate.


In urban touristed Egypt yoy CAN drink the tap, it's generally chlorinated, therefore safe but mildly nasty.