Top Luxor Day Trips

We had a great day out with Salwa, our guide, and Elsam our driver. They were waiting for us in the hotel lobby at the agreed time, and proactively introduced themselves. The car was enough space for our family of 4 and nicely climate controlled. They also provided plenty of cold bottled water. Salwa gave us introduction as we headed to the first site, Karnak Temple. With strategic planning they were able to keep us ahead if the large tour buses for as long as possible. Karnak was wonderful and Sales pointed out so many unique details that we would have missed without a guide. She was also very patient with our children of 5 and 8 years who wanted to run and explore. After Karnak we headed to the Valley of Kings and Elsam keep us on track. Salwa arranged a nice intro for us with some visuals and actually managed to get the kids excited for what we were about to see with some highlights to look for in the tombs. She was also very thoughtful to help us arrange the transportation in the tombs and to stay in the shade as much as possible because it was already getting hot. The tombs were great to see and so much more interesting because we knew what to look for. Salwa steered us away for the shops selling mass produced trinkets, and next took us to a stone carving store. I know it was very tourist focused, but the men helping us were so very thoughtful not to make it feel like pressured forced sales or tips. They also had clean toilets (Salwa advised us to skip the public toilets at the tombs in favor of here) and extra refreshments. In the end we bought a few things and they were probably more expensive, but the price felt fair for tourist shopping. Elsam, who was always waiting a short walk from the exit of each site, then drove us a short way to The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. Salwa again pointed out great details and helped take family photos. Then it was time for lunch. Although the restaurant was crowded, Salwa made sure we got food as fast as possible, and it was by far the best Egyptian food we'd had up to this point. We had one more stop after lunch at the Luxor temple back in town. It was really getting hot so we kept it relatively short, but still saw highlights and learned more if the history thanks to Salwa. She also helped us arrange a hieroglyphic necklace for our daughter with her name and she picked it up while we finished looking around the temple. It was a really special way to end the day and very reasonably priced. They then dropped us back at the hotel after a really rewarding day. Again I really appreciated both of their patience with our small kids and their professionalism and knowledge. I would gladly recommend this tour to friends and family.

Travelling with Hany, our driver, was an outstanding interesting and informative experience. He was exceptionally attentive without being annoying and gave us a lot of information concerning land and people. Besides, he had a lot of charm and wit and we had a lot of fun during that long drive. Abu Simbel, of course, was really impressive and is absolutely worth a visit. As we arrived at noon, the masses had already gone which made the visit even better.

Best activity during our 10-day itinerary in Egypt - I fully recommend it to everyone. Pick up was easy at 4:30, and upon arrival we only had to wait for about 15 mins before we went up in the air. It is a truly unique experience and the sunrise made it even more special. Our captain gave us a minimal but humorous explanation of the view and handled the flight perfectly. 10 out of 10.