Egypt?

nearlyrich

We just did a Nile cruise in early February and it was getting hot when we left so be aware of the temperature when you plan to go. There is not much shade in the Valley of the Kings at all. I haven't done Cairo yet but I think you need more than a day to do it justice so maybe a couple of days in Cairo then fly or train to Luxor, week on a cruise (the one we did included enterance to all the temples etc some don't) then a few days in Sharm or Hurgada to relax.

miss_edith

Go independently, Egypt is very cheap and easy to travel around by yourself and you'll be free to spend as much time as you want at the different sights instead of being herded round in a couple of hours on a tour.
Easiest way is to fly to Cairo, stay for a few nights as there's lots to see there apart from pyramids. And don't just go to the Giza pyramids, hire a taxi for a day to go to Giza, Sakkara and Abu Sir. Abu Sir was brilliant, the descent into the pyramid was like a scene from Indiana Jones!
You can also go to Alexandria for the day from Cairo, which is lovely and peaceful compared to the other places.
Sleeper train to Luxor is good, it costs more than the normal train but is a bit faster and you can sleep properly on it. When in Luxor hire taxis for the day to go see all the sights you want. You can also book direct with a cruise ship to do the trip to Aswan. I did that about 8 years ago, we paid $30 each a day for 5 days and were on a 4* ship full of British package tourists. Bargain!
Personally I'd spend the least amount of time possible in Luxor now - just go do the sights and leave. Much rather spend the spare time in Cairo or Alexandria.
Hope that helps, have done that trip 3 times independently now and would never consider a tour.

bryanb

Thanks all for some excellent advice, I'll take time to digest it all and come back with my experiences later. BB

teallach

miss_edith wrote: »

Personally I'd spend the least amount of time possible in Luxor now - just go do the sights and leave. Much rather spend the spare time in Cairo or Alexandria.

I found Luxor to be an incredible place with far too much to see in just a couple of days. Not only do you have the tombs which you can go into in the Valley of the Kings and Queens, there are also the temples of Luxor and Karnak where they have a light show at night. Then there are perfume factories, museums, souks.....and the temple at Hatshepsut. We also did a day cruise down to Denderrah where they have the only known carving of Cleopatra.

Pollycat

teallach wrote: »

I found Luxor to be an incredible place with far too much to see in just a couple of days. Not only do you have the tombs which you can go into in the Valley of the Kings and Queens, there are also the temples of Luxor and Karnak where they have a light show at night. Then there are perfume factories, museums, souks.....and the temple at Hatshepsut. We also did a day cruise down to Denderrah where they have the only known carving of Cleopatra.

I agree with that, teallach.

There's the Valley of the Artisans (Deir Al-Medina) and although our week-long Nile cruise included tours of Karnak & Luxor temples, we revisited them on our own. We also walked to the temple of Luxor at dusk, it was lovely to see it illuminated.
Luxor museum was very interesting.

We didn't do a cruise to Dendera, we did a full day coach tour to there and Abydos (Temple of Seti).

miss_edith

teallach wrote: »

I found Luxor to be an incredible place with far too much to see in just a couple of days. Not only do you have the tombs which you can go into in the Valley of the Kings and Queens, there are also the temples of Luxor and Karnak where they have a light show at night. Then there are perfume factories, museums, souks.....and the temple at Hatshepsut. We also did a day cruise down to Denderrah where they have the only known carving of Cleopatra.

I didn't mean the sights. I've visited most of the temples/tombs in the Luxor area and loved all of them. I was just referring to the town itself which is fast becoming nothing more than a tourist trap. All I meant to say was if I had done all the sights and had free days to just wander around and do some shopping then Luxor would *not* be a place I'd want to do so in.:)

moggitymog

we have just visited the egyptian museum in cairo and it was fab, highly recommend it

bcl999

miss_edith wrote: »

I didn't mean the sights. I've visited most of the temples/tombs in the Luxor area and loved all of them. I was just referring to the town itself which is fast becoming nothing more than a tourist trap. All I meant to say was if I had done all the sights and had free days to just wander around and do some shopping then Luxor would *not* be a place I'd want to do so in.:)

Have to agree. My overriding memory of Luxor is the smell of horse-sh*t due to all the caleches along the Corniche. The only reason to go to Luxor is because the sites are there. I was lucky enough to visit Nefertari's tomb while it was open to the public and it was gob-smacking. However, as a place, I much preferred Aswan where I stayed at Villa Amoun on an island in the Nile and looked out at the Aga Khan's house and mausoleum. Like you, I loved Alexandria too and would like to re-visit to see the new library.