Luxor Private Tour

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our trip to Egypt with Luxor Private Tours. Because of COVID, we had many roadblocks pop up before and during our trip,and our mainguide, Ashraf, made sure that were safe the entire time.

We had a wonderful driver and guide in Cairo - we affectionately called them Mohammed 1 and Mohammed 2, because they asked us to and because theyhad the same name. They were always on time and spoke mostly in English so that we didn't feel left out. The information and experiences were terrific. They made sure that we found American food for my teenage daughter, too! Mohammed 2 looks a lot like Robin Williams and was just as funny! Whenever we had questions, Mohammed 1 answered them fully and gave us interesting stories when possible. We saw all of the major sites and were awed by what we saw.

Our hotel was very high quality in Cairo, and we were provided a beautiful breakfast every morning. It was buffet, but people were distancing and wearing masks. In the evening, our main tour guide, Ashraf, took my daughter and me into downtown Cairo to experience night life. We had dinner at an outdoor cafe.  Ashraf ordered for us, because we didn't know anything about the food. Then we went to a rooftop cafe for a glass of wine and a sprite. It was very cool to see the city at night, but would not have been comfortable walking around by ourselves, mostly because crossing the street is scary in Cairo.

Our flight to Luxor was short and brought us to the most beautiful place I have seen in a long time. Luxor is an oasis in the desert. It is indescribable from an American point of view. I've never seen anything like it. It sits on the east bank of the Nile. The Upper Nile in Luxor is much lovelier than the Lower Nile. There are antiquities EVERY WHERE!!

In Luxor, our driver was Buddi (sp?) and our guide was Hanny, although, as in Cairo, we communicated with and saw Ashraf often. He picked us up at the airport in Cairo, Luxor and then took us to the airport in Luxor. He also spent time showing us the city of Luxor from his point of view, which was so special.

Hanny, like Mohammed, is a very well-educated Egyptologist. They connected the stories for us. Mohammed covered the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom in Cairo and Hanny took us through the New Kingdom and later rulers of Egypt. Karnak, Luxor, The Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut - AMAZING. Essentially, the east bank of the Nile was the capital of the rulers of the New Kingdom and the west bank was the Necropolis. Fascinating.

Our trip was seven days, including 60 hours total to get back and forth from the USA. We really felt like we saw and learned so much in the four days of touring that we did. We asked for and were offered five days of touring, BUT we were so tired, that we slept all day the last day. Ashraf was very accommodating and changed our itinerary to suit our needs whenever we needed a rest and when we decided to extend our time in Luxor.

Make sure to ask Hanny or Ashraf to take you to Mohammed's alabaster factory on the west bank. You will learn how alabaster is refined and produced. We ended up buying a lot of alabaster gifts to take home.

We stayed at the Sonesta St. George Hotel in Luxor. It was perfect. There is an outdoor pool RIGHT on the Nile.  EVERY person who works at that hotel speaks perfect English. Anything little thing we needed; we were provided. It was certainly a five-star hotel experience. Room service food is outrageously good. The pizza suited my American teenage perfectly. The breakfast was included and was absolutely beautiful and delicious. There was plenty of "American" food for picky eaters and tons of lovely local cuisine for the adventurous eater.

I think Luxor Private Tours did a magnificent job of picking our sites, hotels, guides, drivers... everything!

72 hours before we were to leave to go home, we received an email from KLM that Netherlands had changed their policy and that we would need a PCR test to transfer to go home through Netherlands. In the USA, it is very difficult to get a test appointment and results within 96 hours, let alone 72 hours. I messaged Ashraf, and he told me not to worry. The next day, a doctor showed up at our hotel, took our samples and left. The following day, 24 hours later, we had our negative tests, and we were all set to go just as Ashraf promised!

I think the most important part of our trip to Egypt, was having someone we could count on to take care of us. We are two women who travel all the time, but we had no idea what to expect or what to do in Egypt. Having this group of people on our team made it easy to relax and focus on the moment.

I would recommend Luxor Private Tours to any group or person planning a trip to Egypt!  

I have included a picture of our guide, Ashraf, and his family who we met on our last night in Luxor.