dana123

Are there any Boat cruises to Abydos/Dendera. Is the scenery that different from what you would see from Aswan to Luxor.

I read where you could take a day trip by road. Is the scenery on the way interesting? I think it would be good to see the Abydos, but am trying to work it in with my itinerary.

Thanks in advance.

tinydancer

I'm not 100% certain, but I think Abydos is in an area restricted to tourist boats due to security concerns. Dendera is possible as our cruise went there 12 months ago.

wanttogo

Dana123:

We took a road trip to Abydos and Dendera when we were in Egypt in February 2010. When arranging our itinerary, I requested the addition of the trip. Our travel company (STI) arranged for us to stay in Luxor and get picked-up early in the morning for a day trip to Abydos and Dedera. It is a long drive (about 1 1/2 hrs to Abydos). I thought the scenery was
interesting along the drive. We went thought agricultural areas, small towns and one city. The poverty is evident along the way. It also appeared to be a very conservative Muslim area. We did not stop along the way and I was glad that we didn't because I did not have on a blouse with long sleeves.

Anyway, the trip is well worth the trouble and expense. I was fascinated with Abydos and also found Dendera interesting. My husband did also. Our guide was very good and we had read up on the sites before we got there.

We got back to Luxor about 5 p.m. I believe that our guide brought along box lunches from the hotel which we ate along the way to Dendera. This was the only time on our 13 day trip that we did box lunches and I suspect that there was no other alternative.

I highly recommend the trip.

Pat

dana123

Thanks for this information. Wanttogo, your trip sounds like what I was looking for. I would be curious what your itinerary was in Egypt. Did you like STI ? I am working with another agent, but I do not find them very responsive. Sounds like you tried some different sights than the norm. I would be interested to know these.

Thanks

wanttogo

Dana 123:

Yes, I found STI to be very good. Briefly, our itinerary was the following:

Cairo (in city) -a couple nights

Luxor (in city) -one night before Abydos trip

Nile Cruise -4 nights on the Mojito

Aswan -2 nights with flying trip to Abu Simbal

Cairo-2 nights in the city.

We specifically asked for the trip to Abydos and Dendera, a visit to Dashur on the day that we visited the Great Pyramids,
and a short trip to St. Simeon's monastary while in Aswan area. We did them all except the trip to St. Simons was changed to a boat trip to the Nubian Village at the last minute because it was a cooler trip. By Aswan, I really was beginning to melt in the heat. The small boat trip to the Nubian Village was very nice. We also enjoyed our visit to the
Nubian Museum in Aswan and the Coptic Museum in Cairo. We had one day in Cairo on our own and found the city to be bad to walk around in because of the traffic and the torn sidewalks.
The subway system is easy, though. Otherwise we were with guides and drivers.

Look at the web site for STI travel. They have some good standard itineraries that you can build on.. We were upgraded from the Lady Dian Cruise to the Mojito Cruise at the last minute. I was glad for that. Do some research on hotels from guidebooks and decide whether you want to stay in the city or out at the pyramids area. Also look at Casual Cairo's web site. She has some wonderful day trips from Cairo. I will say that I did not care for Cairo because it is not a walkable city.

dana123

Thank you wanttogo !!