Weather in May --too hot for Cairo and Luxor and Petra
 

Our children will be in Israel for a semester and we would like to visit them. If conditions seem OK, Egypt and Jordan would be our stops before Israel. As a couple who like cool weather, how feasible is it for us to travel in this area during the month of May. How difficult is it for us to go from Egypt to Jordan and then to Israel. Allowing 1 week in Egypt and 1 week in Jordan, do we have enough time to cover each country's highlights?

weather2travel.com Climate guides good info.
I go then and enjoy it low humidity a dry heat.
Avoid the beating midday sun odds are great you wil lbe fine.
Do monitor travel.state.gov just came out on the news
that Israel will attack Iran in the next couple of months
accoreding to US Scretary of Defense will not be good
for travel in that area. insuremytrip.com wise stay flexible.

Happy Planning!

affordabletours.com Globus
ladyegypt.com
couple of good providers
for me in the past

May is a very nice month at least in Cairo...of course hot upper egypt but then it always is. Much much better than July August.

Maybe you should reconsider Egypt. I just read that 2 American tourists and their guides were kidnapped i n the Sinai heading toward Sharm el Sheik. It may not be safe for Americans in Egypt now. There are also 3 Americans in the Embassy who cannot leave Egypt.

FYI - Yes, yesterday 2 Americans were kidnapped on the Sinai, but for everyone's information they were released shortly there after unharmed. It does not make the kidnapping right or any less traumatic for them, but it's OK now. I am trying to find out which company they were traveling with and any other details. I'll let you know if I find anything more out.
As I understand it, the people in the US Embassy are there as they are part of unregistered NGO's that Egypt doesn't approve. If you do come to Egypt and break laws, you can be held. Our personal feelings on the work the NGO's were here to do is basically irrelevant to the Egyptian government. It should be made clear that no one is stopping ordinary American tourists from coming or going.

Now, back to the OP's question - May is a hot month in Egypt. "Hot" is subjective though - it all depends on where you are coming from. If you happen to live in the southern USA or on the east coast, you won't feel the weather in Egypt is bad at all. It is SIGNIFICANTLY less humid than Texas, Florida, DC or any of the states in between them... and it may be less hot too. If you come from the west coast or the pacific northwest, you might feel like a hot blow dryer is aimed at you all the time you are in Luxor/Aswan.

If you only have a week for Egypt, and IF you want to do a Nile Cruise, plan to be in Aswan on a Friday to get on s 3 night/4 day cruise to Luxor. That may be the most efficient way to see Upper Egypt in some comfort. Book flights to Awan for mid morning Friday, and out of Luxor back to Cairo mid morning or very early afternoon on Monday. Give yourself a day or two before and after the cruise in Cairo if possible. One thing you don't want to do is plan for an International flight out of Egypt that requires you to arrive from Luxor just in time to catch it. Come to Cairo a day or two early to BE SURE you are in Cairo the day you need to leave. Technically that gives you 3.5 days to see Upper Egypt and you can have another 3.5 days then to see Cairo and Alexandria if you have 7 full days. That should do it in a pinch.

Thank you sll for the information. We are still considering the timing of this trip. Casual_Cairo we do live in the Pacific Northwest, so May is not a good choice for Luxor. Would the end of April be any better? What months do you consider to be the best for that part of Egypt? Also, do you miss something not taking a Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, I thought you could drive between these two places.

I'm from the PNW too - Washington state. (In fact the comment about the hot blow dryer was first made by a friend from Wenatchee that came to visit years ago as he got off the airplane in Luxor) The BEST months in Egypt by far, are October and November - November being the better of these two. In the spring, you would like March and the start of April better, but the downside to the spring is that you can end up having a sand storm on one of your days which can spoil some site seeing.
Given your timeing, I guess the earlier you can move your stop here forward, the better. Late April will be slightly better (maybe) than early May.

You are right, you can drive between Luxor and Aswan, but even if you do this, I would plan about the same amount of time - one full day to site see around Aswan, one day for the drive between the two citis, and then a day and a half for Luxor (full day for the West Bank and half day for the east bank). You can do the main sites of Luxor faster if you want to eliminate the half day, but would be rushing it. With the cruise you will get less in the way of tours (1- you will not have as much say about which sites you see, and 2- you will no doubt be with a large-ish group), but more in the way of relaxation...as well as the fun parts like the parties at night. With the drive, you (presumably) will do this as a private tour, so you will have all the say in the world about which sites you want to see, how much time you spend at each site, and time with your guide. But, you won't have special parties at night. That may be a plus for some tourists. ;)