This is part of my series on Egypt:
East Bank of Luxor: https://jimmy1photo.wixsite.com/blog/post/east-bank-luxor-egypt
West Bank of Luxor: https://jimmy1photo.wixsite.com/blog/post/west-bank-luxor-egypt
Dendera and Abydos - Day Trip from Luxor: https://jimmy1photo.wixsite.com/blog/post/dendera-and-abydos-day-trip
Edfu and Kom Ombo Day Trip - Between Luxor and Aswan: https://jimmy1photo.wixsite.com/blog/post/edfu-and-kom-ombo-day-trip
Philae and Abu Simbel - Aswan: https://jimmy1photo.wixsite.com/blog/post/philae-and-abu-simbel
Egyptian Pyramids: https://jimmy1photo.wixsite.com/blog/post/egyptian-pyramids
Tips for Visiting Egypt: This page.
We took a family vacation to Egypt during Thanksgiving break. This was the first visit for me and kid; 2nd time for my wife. Based on learning from my wife's previous trip, we catered this trip so we maximize sightseeing, minimized wasted time at gift shops or restaurants, and have an easy schedule for our family.
When to visit? Best time to visit is during the winter months, because temperature is almost tolerable. At Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel, temperatures were into 90's deg F (or mid 30's deg C) during our visit. Most locations have zero shade. It is bearable. But my kid did not appreciate nor was aware of the historical significance. Just a lot of complaint about how hot it was and when do we return to hotel.
I haven't experience summer, but guidebooks state temperatures up into 113-122 deg F (45-50 deg C). That would be something not bearable even for me.
Where to visit? My wife and I are interested in historical sightseeing. That means pyramids, temples, and selected museums. And how many sights to visit depends on how much time you have, how detailed your plan is, and if you have time or want to hit 2nd and 3rd tier locations.
How to navigate the Upper Nile region? Most people fly into and out of Cairo to arrive in Egypt. People will either stay at Cairo at the start or end of their trip. Do day trips to see the lower Nile: pyramids (Giza, Dahshur, Saqqara) and sightseeing in Cairo.
To see the Upper Nile, fly south to either Luxor or Aswan; then take the boat cruise to tour the Upper Nile. In the map below, Luxor is at Thebes, and Aswan is at Philae. If flying into Luxor, take the Nile cruise upstream from Luxor to Aswan, and fly back from Aswan to Cairo. If flying into Aswan, take the cruise downstream from Aswan to Luxor, and then fly back from Luxor to Cairo.
Nile Cruise? My wife used the Nile riverboat cruise the first time she visited. There were many issues:
One is the crazy schedule. Daily schedule starts around 5-6 am, and they do not return to the cruise ship until evening, around 8pm. Dinner is not served until after 8pm. This is a crazy schedule for anyone who is jet lagged. And for certain a deal breaker for family with young kid like us.
Amount of time wasted at gift shops and restaurants, regardless of whether you are interested in shopping. They will stop at gift shops, and you have to waste time there. This can occur 2-3 times each day.
Amount of time spent at restaurant for lunch, coffee breaks, and restroom breaks.
Must stay with the tour group at sights. Once at the sightseeing location, you are not allowed to separate from the group. You must stay with the tour guide, listen to tour guide talk for 30+ minutes near the entrance, and then left with limited time to tour rest of the site.
Hire Private Tour: We decided to skip the riverboat cruise. And just hire day drivers and go on private day tours. This means also hiring private car to travel from Luxor to Aswan.
Advantages of private car is flexibility; ability to customize our schedule; less wasted time doing something we don't want. We typically got up around 6am. Ate breakfast. Met driver at 7 or 8am. Finish at whatever time we want, which was typically around 2-3pm. We ate combined lunch/dinner around 3-5pm. Then went to bed early. This worked out really well for us.
Downside of the private tour was that we had to create our own itinerary; booked hotels separately; and coordinate with drivers.
In terms of overall cost between private drive and Nile cruise, it depends on number of adults, child(ren), and rooms you need to book. Private drivers and tours cost around $120-$150 USD per day. $120 for driver only, without guide; $150 with driver and guide. For 3 people, we believe this cost was quite reasonable. Of course still need to include hotel cost.
Crowds: Biggest crowds were at Giza and Egyptian Museum.
The entrance to Giza was chaotic. Buses and cars parked everywhere. Tourists unloaded from the transportation, bought tickets at the ticket office, and then returned to the buses and cars to continue to the pyramids. Best to get here early, right when it opens. There will still be crowds. But before majority of tourist buses have arrived.
Once we got by the ticket office, the next crowded areas were the parking lots. So this depended on your driver on finding the parking. If we can communicate, we can just unload and tell the driver where to meet. But our driver's English was non-existent. So we had to wait for him to find parking, so we know where to find him.
Once we were on foot, it was much easier going. Tourists now are spread out over various pyramids and massive areas around each pyramid.
Then at the Great Sphinx, there is another bottleneck. Buses, minivans, and cars jammed packed into small parking lot. And single path to the left side (looking from front of the Great Sphinx).
Egyptian Museum in Cairo was also extremely busy. There were 3 security checks to enter. We took Uber and got there by foot. There was security check to enter the parking lot. For those arriving by tour bus, they could skip this security check. Then everyone had to go thru security check to enter the Museum grounds. And then another security check to enter the Museum building.
We got there when it first opened. I probably took us 45 minutes to get into the Egyptian Museum. Then the first thing you should do is head for the King Tut's (Tutankhamun) exhibit on the 2nd floor. There is another line to get in. Since we got there early, this line was only 10 minutes at that time.
We were basically done with the museum after 2 hours. When we were leaving, the Museum was jammed packed. It was hard to move around, and for our party of 3 to stay together.
Security and Safety: No issue with security and safety. We did not feel unsafe at any time during the trip.
Over 10 years ago, I read that tourist buses had to travel together in convoys. Now, the tour buses and cars can go anywhere individually. There were police checkpoints at major intersections and tourist sights, with policemen behind barriers carrying AK assault rifles. These checkpoints typically only took couple minutes. They ask for nationality; where we were coming from; and where we are going. They just write this down on notepad. I assume this is so they have a count of tourists, if something was to happen.
These checkpoints did not impact our travel time, except at Abu Simbel. On the road to Abu Simbel, there was a security check that required wait close to 1 hour. Somehow our driver bypassed the queue and got to the front of the line. And then he got into heated argument with another driver. The police didn't care, and just let us through.
We stayed at western hotels (like Hilton). Security was also very tight. Car entrances have ram proof pillars. Security guards do quick inside and under vehicle, before entering the hotel grounds. Luggages are checked by x-ray. I thought it was for show. I was wrong. The x-ray machines were working and they were actively checking.
Street Vendors: Vendor can be a hassle. Most were fine, but a few were quite aggressive. Not sure what is the right method to deal with them. And this also depends on you. Some just completely ignore vendors. I didn't mind chatting with them. Typically in very crowded places, we didn't see aggressive vendors, as they just moved on to other tourist. But in less crowded areas, some followed us for 10 minutes.
And the worst was a vendor claiming he liked my kid; placed a t-shirt in my kid's hand; and state that it was a gift. I already told my kid not to take it. But kid still closed the hand and held onto the t-shirt. So I just took the product and placed it on the seller's shoulders. Obviously just a ploy to make a sale.
Aggressive Baggage Assistants: At the airport, when we meet the driver, some people just grabbed and helped with our luggage. These helpers were not with the driver. They were there just there to make tip. Be prepared. If you don't want help, just hold onto your luggage tightly and refuse any help.
Sample Itinerary: This is how our schedule looked like for our 7-day trip.
Night 1: Stay in Cairo.
After 21 hours travel time and 1 connection, we arrived in Cairo at 9pm. We planned for Cairo sightseeing last. So our destination was Luxor. We could planned for connecting flight to Luxor that night. My wife is conservative. Didn't to miss our connecting flight and have to end up sleeping at the airport bench. It took 2-3 hours to go thru immigration. So in hindsight it was a good idea not to take connecting flight to Luxor that evening. It would have been very tight to make that connection.
Day 1: Fly to Luxor. Sightsee in Luxor: Karnak, Hatshepsut Temple, Valley of the Kings.
Night 2: Stay in Luxor.
Day 2: Sightsee surrounding areas near Luxor: Dendera and Abydos
Night 3: Stay in Luxor.
Day 3: Sightsee in Luxor: Luxor Temple, Luxor Museum, Medinet Habu, Mortuary Temple of Seti I, Ramesseum.
One thing I would change is not to go from east bank of Nile to west bank on the same day. Because the bridge crossing is south of the city, it takes around an hour to get cross the river (1-way). We could have just done the east bank sightseeing all in one day. And leave the west bank for another day. Unfortunately, we split our sightseeing based on priority. So we did crossed the river twice each day, on Days 1 and 3.
Night 4: Stay in Luxor.
Day 4: Move to Aswan. On route to Aswan, visit Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Philae.
Night 5: Stay in Aswan.
Day 5: Day tour to Abu Simbel. Fly from Aswan to Cairo.
Night 6: Stay in Cairo.
Day 6: Giza, Memphis, Saqqara, and Dahshur.
Night 7: Stay in Cairo.
Day 7: Egyptian Museum and National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Return flight home.