Aswan Travel Forum

Hi all,

I'm going to be in Aswan for 2 days. What would be the most economical and fastest way for me to go to Abu Simbel from there.
I need to be back in Aswan by 8pm on the 2nd day for me to catch a night train back to Cairo.
First time to Egypt and I'm very excited!

Pls help with feedback and suggestions.

Thanks people!

Dear forum:

I would really appreciate your help with the following questions:

1) Can someone please suggest a 3-night Nile cruise for travelers on a tight budget?

2) Is it cheaper and less time consuming to see Luxor and Aswan without doing a cruise? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thank you in advance!

Warmly,

Ilya

Hi All,
I have decided to do a day in Aswan from Luxor. I plan on traveling by train from Luxor as early as possible and will look to arrive in Aswan around 9:30 or 10:00. I will have a duffle bag with me and don't want to lug it around to all the sites. Does anyone know of any storage options where I can leave my bags or should I just get cheap hotel room for the day to keep my bags. Or should I hire a driver to take me(and my bags) around for the days.

Anyone with ideas please respond as soon as you can. I am leaving for Cairo on Feb 8 and I'm trying to finalize all my plans.


Thanks for your suggestions! :-)

Is there anyone out there, perhaps living in Aswan, who could advise me about buying a felucca - ie who makes or sells them and how much they cost? We want a boat in good condition but could be secondhand or new, and one of the larger sized feluccas. I've had a suggestion of LE15000 for a very basic boat, and also LE25000 (unclear what sort). Does anyone have any further info or ideas?
Thanks!

We are investigating the possibility to sail from Aswan or Luxor to Cairo. Most likely we will buy one or two feluca's and sail in one or more periods to Cairo (where we live). Have you done this (partially) or know someone who has done this, or have any tips, tricks or anything else that can help us please let me know. Especially security issues north of Abydos are of interest. Thanks for your help

We are traveling in Egypt in late Nov and early Dec. We'd like to do a 3-night cruise from Aswan to Luxor. I was trying to do some research about the boats and the prices over the web. What I found was ratings for the boats are different from company to company. For example, Presidentail Nile cruise was rated 5* by some and 4* by the others. This makes it a little more difficult to compare. Also prices vary a lot for the same class, say 5* deluxe. One site quoted $289 for 3-night on 5* dulexe. Some quoted $80 or $85 pp per day. I think these prices are very good. The thing is what boat to choose. I've read some complaints about quite a few boats that were dirty, with bad food, bad service, rude crew, etc. Any advice about these info would be very appreciated.

Qin

I'd looking to travel from Luxor to Aswan in one day on the Nile. All the cruises want to take 4 days to get there. Does anyone know of a company ( or locals ) that will take you as a means of transport between the two places, rather than a cruise ?

Thanks

I'd like to hire a house in Aswan for some months. Anybody Knows something about it? Thank you.

What is the most straight forward way of getting from Dahab/Nuweiba to Aswan if I do not intend to fly?
Seems like the only way is to take a bus to from Dahab/Nuweiba to Sharm el-Sheikh, followed by ferry to Hurghada, then bus from Hurghada to Aswan. Is there an alternative route?
Is it possible to arrange for my ferry and bus tickets from Dahab/Nuweiba?
How many buses are there a day from Hurghada to Aswan? What time is the last bus?

Thanks

Firstly, do all the cruise boats congregate around one general area or are they scattered along the Nile over some distance?

If the former, what is a reasonable taxi fare from the train station to said boat pick-up point?

Tx.

In the interest of saving money and time, does this seem like a reasonable idea?

My wife and I wanted to join a 2 day nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor that stops in Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna, but since we have found nothing benificial I am forced to look into alternative means of transportation to hit each of these port cities.

I found a great Egypt train schedule online
http://www.seat61.com/Egypt.htm#Cairo%20-%20Luxor%20-%20Aswan

According to the schedule (from what I can gather) it is possible for us to do the following itinerary within one day -

Aswan
7:30am Train to Kom Ombo
Tour Kom Ombo
12:50pm Train to Edfu
Tour Edfu
5:25pm Train to Esna
Tour Esna
9:35pm Train to Luxor
Taxi to Hotel
Hotel in Luxor

Is there a more efficent way to do this? In theory we could accomplish everything in one day, albeit we would rather do this over the course of two days. Does anyone know the approx cost of each of these train hops? I'm thinking its around $3US/per person. Can anyone confirm that this is even possible?

I heard rumors that we can just show up at each port city and ask for water transportation to the next city (quite a gamble) - does anyone know anything further regarding this method?

Thank you for the help.

Hi All,

Is the bus ride from Aswan to Abu Simbel really bumpy? Or is it referred to the ride to Barghada? I get motion sickness easily, so I'm thinking about booking flights from Aswan to Abu Simbel. Does anyone know the price this month? Or any links will be appreciated. Thank you.

Maranda

In this forum, I see somebody mention the option of taking a private cab/taxi to Abu Simbel from Aswan. Can somebody please validate that? My understanding was that there were only 2 ways for foreigners to get to Abu Simbel from Aswan - (1) plane (2) bus.

If hiring a cab indeed is an option, then I am curious to find out if you still need a convoy to escort you, plus how safe they are. We are a group of 4 and flying by plane would cost us a lot but a cab for hire would be a great option if it's readily available.

Thanks in advance,
boarder

Hello All,

I was wondering if anyone new the best place to buy good quality linen, tablecloths etc. My wife and I will be in Aswan in October for a couple of days and would like to pick up some more after our last visit 4 years ago. Problem is that we can't remember where the shop was!!!

Hi everyone
Can anyone tell me is there a Nile cruise that leaves on a Tuesday to Luxor we require the 4 day 3 Night with site seeing.
We are 3 people so will require a Triple Cabin
Many thanks

Hello,

We are making an independent trip to Egypt this November with planning things on our own. One thing that we are having tough time planning is the Nile Cruise (4day) from Aswan to Luxor. We just can't figure out how to go about booking the cruise.

The things that we can't seem to decide are
- the choice of cruise line
- the agency to book the cruise with

The internet, as with most of the things, has plethora of information on Nile Cruises but at the same time it lacks the specifics on departure date, price, etc. We couldn't find one-stop-shop web site that has all the relevant information on Nile Cruises.

We would appreciate if somebody could share their experience on their Nile Cruise with our following requirements in mind
- 3 night/4 day
- 2 people
- Aswan to Luxor
- budget: US $100-140 per person per night
- Preferably a Monday departure from Aswan

We would love to hear how people have gone about finding and reserving the cruise. Any suggestions on reliable, authorized, and affordable booking agencies with their contact information will be really helpful too.

Thanks in advance,
snowboarder74

Planning on taking a 3 night cruise from Aswan to Luxor on the M/S Monaco. Anyone been on that boat? What were your experiences?

Hi all
Can anyone tell me If I should Book for a 3 Nights Cruise Down the Nile at Aswan or in Cairo, also what days do They Sail, and any recomendations to what Cruise Boat would be best for a Family of 3. How far advanced should I book or are they Just waiting for us to turn up. I hear that there are Boats Galore available "Is this True".
Many thanks and any advice is much appreciated

We - a group of about 6-7 - would like to be able to hire a felucca for a leisurely sail *around* the temple on the island and not visit the actual temple itself (that's for another date). Are there feluccas for hire down at the port where the motor ferries normally take people across to the island or would we have to arrange for one to come down from Aswan to pick us up? Note that we don't want to sail all the way down or back from Aswan, but hop on board and go straight out around the island.

I was wondering the same thing. We visited Aswan last year and we knew this would make an ideal retirement location. Our daughter loved it too. Can foreigners purchase property and a house in Egypt overall?
Thanks

Hi,
I'd like to travel from aswan to hurghada and make the 6pm sailing to Sharm. Would anyone know the best way of doing this?

thanks heaps in advance
alisha

Does anyone have information on buying residential property in Aswan. An apartment overlooking the Corniche would be fantastic!

Hi,
Does anyone know if it's possible to organise a day boat trip to Kom Ombo from Aswan. We have read that it's best to travel by the water rather than by bus but we have no idea where we could book this. Heard a felucca would take too long for a day trip. Any tips would be good

Thanks

HI

Can anyone tell me if Hotels let you store luggage at the hotel before you can check in or at the train station. We arrive very early by train at Aswan and can't check into the hotel till the afternoon

Thanks

hi,

initially we wanted to take a several day sailing trip from Aswan to Luxor on a felucca. Changed our minds as there won't be any bathrooms or other accomodations onboard. (Getting too old for this ;-))

Any suggestion for a small cruise ship going from ASW -> LXR? With small I mean max. 15-30 people onboard.

Any particular felucca sailing trips to recommend??

What about Elephantine Island?

Thx,

Mick

My wife and I are planning a trip to Aswan in November this year (I know, quite far from now!!). We would like to take a cruise from Aswan to Luxor, preferrably 4 day/3 night cruise. We are doing travelling independently and not through any travel agency (packaged tour, etc).

Can cruises be easily booked once we are in Aswan or should we try to book something in advance?

How do we know which cruise to go with?

Which is better - felucca or cruise?

Any other information on nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor will be helpful.

Replies are much appreciated.

Thanks,
sb

I am aware that there are bound to be differences between 5-star Nile crise ships, but are even the lowest standard 5-star ships advertised by many travel agents still reasonable and safe?

Hi All:

I would like to book a tour from Aswan to places such as Abu Simbel, Philae Temple, and Aswan Dam.

Are there many tours that offer this?

Does anyone have any tour company recommendations?

Aproximately how much should this cost so I don't get cheated?

Can I book this tour the night before in Aswan?

Thanks,
John

Hi,
I really hope someone out there can help me. I have heard about the Hydrofoil from Aswan High Dam to Abu Simbel, but nowhere on the internet can I find a way to get in contact with the company running/operating the hydrofoil. I have contacted a travel agent in connection with getting to Abu Simbel, but he seems more keen on selling me the "on-the-road" form of transport. Travelling in a police escorted convoy does not really apeal to me, so please, if anyone has any information for me on how to get into contact with ANYONE, ANYWHERE, who will be able to assist me with reserving seats on the hydrofoil, I am anxiously awaiting your reply. Regards,Heidi

I am visiting Aswan at the end of March 2005 for 7 nights together with my wife and 2 other couples (6 people in total). We will be staying at the Oberoi Hotel on Elephantine Island.

We would like to visit Abu Simbel. Can anyone advise us of the best way of doing so? Should we book flights in advance of leaving the UK? Could we hire a minibus with driver or perhaps 2 taxis and go by road? Will it mean staying overnight at Abu Simbel or is it possible to do it in a day?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Brian