kak113

I've been doing some research about booking a private trip and am curious as to the ideal plan, being mindful of our limited vacation time and my husband's request that we see lots but at a reasonable pace.

That being said, I was thinking the following:

If Day 1 is a limited sightseeing day:

Cairo 3 nights
fly to Abu Simbel
O/N Abu Simbel
Fly to Aswan
O/N Aswan
3 nights Nile Cruise Aswan to Luxor
3 nights Luxor
Fly to Cairo
O/N Cairo before return flight home

I think overnighting in Abu Simbel would allow us to see the light show and recouperate a little from Cairo sightseeing, it seems like we'd want to spend at least a day exploring Aswan before the tour. I definitely want to do the hot air balloon in Luxor so would 4 nights be better? are there enough nights in Cairo?

Since neither of us are divers, I don't think a trip to Sharm is in the cards.

all thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Elizabeth_S

Hi - a few comments -

- flying from Cairo to Abu Simbel might mean a really early departure from Cairo so you might want to do it this way

- 3 nights Cairo
- depart Cairo for Aswan - O/N Aswan
- next morning check out of hotel and flight to Abu Simbel (I like the idea of staying overnight - we wish we had) then transfer the next day from Abu Simbel directly to your boat)
- boat for 3 nights (if Oberoi Philae it could be 4 nights ...ours was)

3 nights in Luxor seems a lot to me seeing as you actually will have already spent one night in Luxor (on the boat) - do you have a specific reason for 3 nights? i.e. are you planning on staying at Al Moudira to relax? Or visiting Dendara (full day trip)?

Also - you might find the cruise you want (on the days you want) goes from Luxor to Aswan, which will change the order of things too (and I think would definitely be 4 nights for that direction).

Re the balloon ride - it's a very early morning event and in our case was done from the cruise so you don't need to add a day to do it.

Re Cairo - I think 3 nights is good - essentially there are 2 main sight seeing groupings (assuming you don't go to Alexandria)

- Giza/Sphinx plus Sakkara (out of downtown Cairo)
- Egyptian Museum/Coptic Cairo/Market/Citadel (can be done in one long day)

Given that you have 12 nights have you considered adding Petra? It might take abit away from the reasonable pace but it is breathtaking.

We were very happy with a trip planner/guide based in Cairo - Ahmed Hamed Yousif - many positive reviews/trip reports here. Link to our Cairo blog....

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...8_adv/b_cairo/

On the right hand margin of the blog is a link to the Nile Cruise section

We loved Egypt and Jordan - happy to answer any questions you may have.

kak113

thanks! your trip report has already hooked me on Ahmed so that's a definite, but I am sure I will have more questions as we go.

sf7307

My thoughts (having been in Egypt in August of this year). For pure sightseeing, I think you need 2 days in Cairo, 1/2 in Abu Simbel, 1/2 in Aswan, 2 in Luxor. Assuming the Nile Cruise does NOT include sightseeing in either Aswan or Luxor (those are on each end of the cruise), I'd say your plan is pretty good, but for three small things: 1) I wouldn't personally stay anywhere just for the sound and light show (who invented those things anyway?). Most people seem to go to Abu Simbel, do the requisite tour and leave for Aswan or Luxor, all on the same day; 2) Aswan is a pleasant little town, but it doesn't have much "explore" value -- see the dam, visit Philae Temple, wander the [very nice] market; and 3) unless you want a lot of downtime (which is fine -- we loved our full day at the pool), 3 days in Luxor is a lot -- we were supposed to do two half-day tours but opted to do it all in one long day and then have a free day. As a point of reference, these were actually my favorite sights/temples -- even better than the pyramids of Giza.

BeniciaChris

Hi Liz-I have E-mailed Ahmed 2 times with no response. Maybe I don't have a correct E-mail. Or maybe because we are not going until October 2010.
I look at your pictures periodically and am looking forward to planning our trip.
We are flying from the West coast and my husband would like to spend a few nights in NY-Not sure why!!!It will help the jet lag transition.
The only for sure thing is we have a weeks time share in Hurghada October 9-16th. My guess is to fly in & out of Cairo.I want to do the Nile cruise and basicly follow your itenary-Jordan afterwards. We could be gone for just about a month.
Do you have an idea of how much the Mena House in Cairo was a night-it looks devine.Thank you for all your helpful information-Chris

Elizabeth_S

Hi Chris - sorry I don't know the Mena House cost as it was part of our total trip cost - I did have an email from someone recently who had booked it themselves on the internet and it was really expensive which leads me to believe Ahmed/Lady Egypt get a much better rate.

This month is Ahmed's busiest and he is usually up the Nile over Christmas - here is his cell number - you could text him and find out when he's back in Cairo

+20101507268

(I think you dial 011 in front of that)

BeniciaChris

Thanks Liz for getting back to me. I'll wait till after the New Year to try to E-mail him again. Could you post his E-mail again-Thanks Chris

josele

I agree with your plans of spending the night in Abu Simbel, the temple looks great in the morning light, and the light show is worthy.
In Luxor: The Valley of Kings you must visit early in the morning to avoid crowds and heat. But the balloons take off very early as well; and the Luxor temple's front entrance is in the sun only first hours of morning (tha Karnak you can visit in the afternoon). I believe you can do Dendera in the morning, and be back for lunch, or arrange to visit Abydos too (more to the north). Knowing this, plan the number of nights you may need.

BeniciaChris

Liz-I heard from Ahmed-I can't wait for us to start planning this trip.He sounds just as wonderful as your trip report says. It will be fun putting the pieces of this trip together. Thanks again Chris
PS Were you able to get out of the cold of Canada this winter?