Alexandria-but overnight in Luxor?

[elin]

Hello,

I did a search and haven't seen the same question so I thought I'd post.

We will be overnight in Alexandria on Oceania in Sept. 2007, (and our ship does not sail until 11:00pm the next second day).

I have contacted DeCastro tours about doing a tour of Cairo day 1 and then flying to Luxor, overnight in Luxor, touring, flying to Cairo, then back on the ship.

Has anyone else done this? Are they are suggestions on what to see in either Cairo (they have suggested the Museum, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Valley Temple, and the Old Khan El Khalili Bazaar) or in Luxor (River Nile West Bank to start visits to Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queen, Queen Hatshepsut temple and Colossi of Memnon, Luxor temple and Karnak temple and Luxor Mummification Museum).

Is there some other stop we should request?

Has anyone been inside the Great Pyramids is Cairo? Is this a worthwhile stop? Has anyone seen the light show in Luxor? Again any comments?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Elin

[sancarlos]

We are on Oceania Hong Kong to Athens in April, we will be in Luxor two days and Cairo one day. I am working on private tours of each. We will take a two days to the Valley of the Kings, staying overnight there. I understand there is a 2or3 hour escorted drive from Luxor and a 3 hour drive from Cairo to Alexandria. So our days are shorten by distant. I would like to know with this short time, what are the "must" see in both areas. I have received itineraries from both DeCasto Tours and A&K for these two days and they all are different. Will someone outline the highlights for the three days? Contact me at chester.stone@gmail.com or post to this board for others to see. Thanks,

[Hlitner]

Elin, Your post makes me smile. We just returned from 2 weeks in Egypt where we spent 4 nights in downtown Cairo and another 3 nights in the Giza suburb (within site of the Great Pyramid). It took us about 6 days to do what you you have on your itinerary for a single day. I suggest you prioritize. For Cairo you should certainly see the Great Pyramid and Sphinx (same location) and spend a couple of hours at the Egyptian Museum (see the King Tut room and the Mummy rooms). Luxor truly needs at least 2 days, but in a pinch you can spend half a day on the West Bank at the Valley of the Kings (there is also a Valley of the Queens and a Valley of the Artisans) and spend a half day on the East bank (in the city) seeing Luxor Temple and Karnac. There is also a wonderful Luxor Muesum (not the same as the Mummy museum) which is full of treasures from Karnac and Luxor Temple. The light show at Luxor (its at the Karnac site) is a bit touristy, but fun. If you are doing an overnight in Luxor, it makes sense to go to this show since there is really nothing else to do with your evening. No need to waste money on a tour to the light show....just take a taxi (about $5) and buy your ticket right before the show. Guides cannot take your through the sound and light show so any "tour" is a waste of money. Have your hotel check on the time of the "English" show since they have 3 shows per night in 3 different languages (they have English every night). As to Baksheesh, its a pain but its also the culture. The major problem is keeping enough small bills (1 pound and 5 pound notes which are 18 cents and about 90 cents respectfully) for tips. You also mentioned the Khallli Bazaar in Cairo, which is something that rivals the Covered Bazaar (Istanbul) for fun and browsing. This bazaar is actually an entire neighborhood of Cairo and it would take a few days to walk all the streets. But, a couple of hours is enough to get the flavor. The best time to go to this bazaar is late afternoon or evening when most of the day tourists are replaced with local Egyptians who visit to do their shopping.

 

Hank

[elin]

Elin, Your post makes me smile. We just returned from 2 weeks in Egypt where we spent 4 nights in downtown Cairo and another 3 nights in the Giza suburb (within site of the Great Pyramid). It took us about 6 days to do what you you have on your itinerary for a single day. I suggest you prioritize. For Cairo you should certainly see the Great Pyramid and Sphinx (same location) and spend a couple of hours at the Egyptian Museum (see the King Tut room and the Mummy rooms). Luxor truly needs at least 2 days, but in a pinch you can spend half a day on the West Bank at the Valley of the Kings (there is also a Valley of the Queens and a Valley of the Artisans) and spend a half day on the East bank (in the city) seeing Luxor Temple and Karnac. There is also a wonderful Luxor Muesum (not the same as the Mummy museum) which is full of treasures from Karnac and Luxor Temple. The light show at Luxor (its at the Karnac site) is a bit touristy, but fun. If you are doing an overnight in Luxor, it makes sense to go to this show since there is really nothing else to do with your evening. No need to waste money on a tour to the light show....just take a taxi (about $5) and buy your ticket right before the show. Guides cannot take your through the sound and light show so any "tour" is a waste of money. Have your hotel check on the time of the "English" show since they have 3 shows per night in 3 different languages (they have English every night). As to Baksheesh, its a pain but its also the culture. The major problem is keeping enough small bills (1 pound and 5 pound notes which are 18 cents and about 90 cents respectfully) for tips. You also mentioned the Khallli Bazaar in Cairo, which is something that rivals the Covered Bazaar (Istanbul) for fun and browsing. This bazaar is actually an entire neighborhood of Cairo and it would take a few days to walk all the streets. But, a couple of hours is enough to get the flavor. The best time to go to this bazaar is late afternoon or evening when most of the day tourists are replaced with local Egyptians who visit to do their shopping.

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank for your input! I know that the schedule looks a "touch" :rolleyes: aggressive and optimistic, but....

Glad to hear that the Bazaar is good (I love the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul so that will be fun). Did you go inside the Great Pyramids when you were there?

As for the light show, what time or times did it start at? They were originally telling us that we wouldn't be able to see it because we would get there too late (we would land in Luxor at about 8:30pm).

I'm hoping to give the DH a good overview of Egypt so I can talk him into going on a longer trip in the future.

Any thoughts for Tunisia?

Thanks.

Elin

[twscott1961]

Hello Elin,

 

I was wondering when in Sept., that you will be on Insignia? We are booked on Sept. 13th sailing of the Insignia, Athens to Rome. We're interested in doing private tours. The tour that you are thinking of doing, is what I also had in mind. Since a roll call for our cruise has not been started, I'm trying to find others to possible share tours and save money.

 

Tammy

[elin]

Hello Elin,

 

I was wondering when in Sept., that you will be on Insignia? We are booked on Sept. 13th sailing of the Insignia, Athens to Rome. We're interested in doing private tours. The tour that you are thinking of doing, is what I also had in mind. Since a roll call for our cruise has not been started, I'm trying to find others to possible share tours and save money.

 

Tammy

 

Hi Tammy,

Yup, that is us on Insignia, the Sept. 13th sailing. I had actually replied to your posting on the Oceania board, but if you are interested in discussing tours, please email me at elin dot lawrence at merrillcorp dot com (I'm trusting you can figure it out).

Thanks.

Elin

[Hlitner]

I believe that arriving at 8:30 in Luxor would be too late for the sound and light show. The time of the English show does vary, but I believe all the shows are generally over by 8:30. You would need to be at Karnac about 15 minutes before your show time, and they do vary the different show times vs language every night. Times would also vary depending on the time of sunset, so I guess you might want to check this out when you arrive. There is no reason to buy tickets (or make reservations) in advance, so, in the event that the times would work you could just get to the ruins as quickly as possible. You do need to be there at the beginning with your ticket, as they open the gates on time and than all the visitors walk through the ruins as a large group. The Great Pyramids are indeed "great" and it was really strange sitting at the pool of our hotel (Mena House) and looking at the pyramids. We climbed up to the entrance (so we could say we climbed on the Great Pyramid) but did not go in the entrance. It is about a 90 meter walk on a down slope where you have to stoop. My wife was having some knee problems so we thought it wise not to do the inside thing. Our guide (we had a personal Egyptologist guide) was relieved as he said he hates to do that inside walk. By the way, there is nothing in the chamber (or so our guide said).

As to Tunisia, we were only there once about 15 years ago as a port stop at Tunis (was on the Marco Polo). We did a morning tour of the city that showed us some mosques, a bazaar, and a carpet factory (interesting but nothing great). In the afternoon, my wife and I decided to walk from the ship to a nearby beach where we were the only westerners on a beach with about 5,000 Arabs. Needless to say, my wife (who was blonde that day) attracted about 5,000 pairs of eyes and we were quickly surrounded by about 50 children (while swimming) who thought we were French. When we told them that we were Americans (we do speak a little French) they were very excited because they had never seen an American. Finally, some of the adult Arabs on the beach started to give us some protection by telling the children to leave us alone. The Arab women wore their burkas even when they went swimming, but the children were dressed in western-style swim suits. When we returned to the ship (about 1/2 mile walk) the port guards did not want to let us back on the pier and even pointed their automatic weapons in our direction. After a very scary minute, we managed to persuade them to get an officer who finally waved us through the check-point. Even though this all happened about 15 years ago, it still seems like yesterday!

 

Hank

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, Elin. I just got back from an awesome cruise on Oceania (Nautica, review was just launched and is on home page). We arrived at Alexandria at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday (only last Tuesday, hard to imagine as I sit at my desk!) and departed at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. So a little less time but about the same.

 

It's my opinion that you're biting off way too much in trying to see Luxor and Cairo in that short of a time. Cairo is just a fantastic city -- and you should see the Tutankaman (sp) exhibit, take a boat ride on the Nile, go to the top of the Cairo tower and admire the city, hang out at the souk (it's particularly fun at night, when all the locals are off work and hanging out, drinking tea and eating mezze). The Pyramids themselves are so massive and powerful you'll want as much time there as you can get.

 

I really loved my experience and it left me wanting more. I was picked up at the ship at about 2:30 p.m., got a quick tour of Alexandria (also a fascinating city), then headed out on the three hour (totally boring) drive to Cairo. By the time we got to Cairo it was dark, but everything of course was open (about 6 p.m.) and we went everywhere but the museum. I booked a room at the Conrad Hilton for a night (it's right on the Nile as are the Marriott, Four Seasons and Grand Hyatt), had a balcony overlooking the river, wow! That night we did all the stuff I mentioned (plus my young guide -- he was 27 -- took me to a fancy new shopping mall to show me where hip Cairo goes to play).

 

Next morning he picked me up at 9 a.m. and we went to the Pyramids. Fantastic. Then had lunch at a gorgeous hotel called the Mina (with a table with a view of the biggest pyramid) and by the time we finished that, took the three hour drive back to Alexandria, and dropped me off, I was fried, spent, exhausted, exhilarated, etc.

 

I can't imagine doing any more....

 

The ship's tour basically went for the day (though it was a long day) and hit the museum, then spent the rest of the time at the pyramids.

 

Just my humble opinion but Luxor is pretty far away -- might be good to save that for another trip.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruisecritic

 

Hello,

I did a search and haven't seen the same question so I thought I'd post.

We will be overnight in Alexandria on Oceania in Sept. 2007, (and our ship does not sail until 11:00pm the next second day).

I have contacted DeCastro tours about doing a tour of Cairo day 1 and then flying to Luxor, overnight in Luxor, touring, flying to Cairo, then back on the ship.

Has anyone else done this? Are they are suggestions on what to see in either Cairo (they have suggested the Museum, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Valley Temple, and the Old Khan El Khalili Bazaar) or in Luxor (River Nile West Bank to start visits to Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queen, Queen Hatshepsut temple and Colossi of Memnon, Luxor temple and Karnak temple and Luxor Mummification Museum).

Is there some other stop we should request?

Has anyone been inside the Great Pyramids is Cairo? Is this a worthwhile stop? Has anyone seen the light show in Luxor? Again any comments?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Elin

[elin]

Hi, Elin. I just got back from an awesome cruise on Oceania (Nautica, review was just launched and is on home page). We arrived at Alexandria at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday (only last Tuesday, hard to imagine as I sit at my desk!) and departed at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. So a little less time but about the same.

 

It's my opinion that you're biting off way too much in trying to see Luxor and Cairo in that short of a time. Cairo is just a fantastic city -- and you should see the Tutankaman (sp) exhibit, take a boat ride on the Nile, go to the top of the Cairo tower and admire the city, hang out at the souk (it's particularly fun at night, when all the locals are off work and hanging out, drinking tea and eating mezze). The Pyramids themselves are so massive and powerful you'll want as much time there as you can get.

 

I really loved my experience and it left me wanting more. I was picked up at the ship at about 2:30 p.m., got a quick tour of Alexandria (also a fascinating city), then headed out on the three hour (totally boring) drive to Cairo. By the time we got to Cairo it was dark, but everything of course was open (about 6 p.m.) and we went everywhere but the museum. I booked a room at the Conrad Hilton for a night (it's right on the Nile as are the Marriott, Four Seasons and Grand Hyatt), had a balcony overlooking the river, wow! That night we did all the stuff I mentioned (plus my young guide -- he was 27 -- took me to a fancy new shopping mall to show me where hip Cairo goes to play).

 

Next morning he picked me up at 9 a.m. and we went to the Pyramids. Fantastic. Then had lunch at a gorgeous hotel called the Mina (with a table with a view of the biggest pyramid) and by the time we finished that, took the three hour drive back to Alexandria, and dropped me off, I was fried, spent, exhausted, exhilarated, etc.

 

I can't imagine doing any more....

 

The ship's tour basically went for the day (though it was a long day) and hit the museum, then spent the rest of the time at the pyramids.

 

Just my humble opinion but Luxor is pretty far away -- might be good to save that for another trip.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruisecritic

 

WOW! Thanks Carolyn! Much appreciate the input...now I am going to be faced with decisons, decisions!

Who did you tour with (as it sounds like your obviously did it "on your own").

Pyramids at night?....less crowded? Less tourist intense? More time to explore "alone"? Did you see the sound and light show? Thoughts?

What about the Bazaar?

We dock at 8 am and sail the next night at 11 pm. Wondering if you had the extra time what you would have wanted to see or do?

Thanks for your help Carolyn!

Elin

[Hlitner]

Thought I would expand a little on my other posts. You really need to figure travel logistics when planning to do a lot in Egypt. Egypt is still a third world country, and this is often reflected in the quality of roads, internal airline delays, etc. A few points for consideration. Although the mileage from Alexandria to Cairo does not seem too far, in reality it can take over 3 hours for the drive (each way). If you are planning on using internal air flights, depending on the time of day it can take an hour to get from parts of Cairo to the airport, and you need to be at the airport at least an hour (and that is cutting it close) before an internal flight. Most of the internal flights are on Egyptair, and they seem to operate on a strange philosophy of going when they feel like flying, regardless of the schedule. That being said, we found our Egyptair flights to have better on-board service than most US airlines. If you are trying to squeeze a quick visit to Luxor into your plans you must also factor the drive from Luxor (its on the East Bank) to the bridge, than over to the West Bank.,..and than all the way to the Valley of the Kings, Queens, Artisans, etc. This drive can take about 45 min each way. At the Valley of the Kings you will need at least (and this is a real minimum) 2 hours..and this would allow you just enough time to quickly see perhaps 3 tombs. A half day would be better if you want to visit many more tombs. I personally think Egypt is not a great cruise port because many of the best tourist sites (Luxor, Abu Simbal, Dandera, Edfu, etc are just too far from the cruise port. It would be like trying to visit Atlanta while in the port of Miami...

 

Hank

[Bo1331]

Sounds neat. We're going on the Insigna Rome-Athens in May and we'll be stopping in Alexandia over night. Who did your tour to the pyramids and Cairo. I don't think we'd stay over night but a long day there and back would be OK. Would you recomend them.

[Hlitner]

The hotel that elin referred to (great view of the Pyramids) is actually called the Mena House. We stayed there for 3 nights, and while we were at the hotel the Queen of the Netherlands paid our hotel a visit. The only problem with the Mena House is that it has a main building that used to be a palace, and than building has some great rooms and a very good restaurant. They also have added several "modern" buildings with additional rooms, but they are about old Holiday Inn quality.

 

Hank

[editor@cruisecritic]

...than we did in this incredible country. But I still think you should focus on Cairo, first (most folks, even those on individual tours, did all the official stuff but not necessarily the insightful stuff, like the Nile boat ride and the Cairo tower).

I had a quick roundabout through Alexandria (have a friend from there so it had some importance to me); would like to go back and spend more time in that city. I equate it -- well I am from the East Coast -- as the first trip you take to Egypt, you have to go to Cairo (NYC); the second time, you go to Cairo and Alexandria (Philadelphia/Boston/Wash DC).

I just think the drive to Cairo is too long and the sites of the city too amazing to venture beyond, especially on a first-timers trip like mine. Just my humble opinion...

Carolyn

 

WOW! Thanks Carolyn! Much appreciate the input...now I am going to be faced with decisons, decisions!

Who did you tour with (as it sounds like your obviously did it "on your own").

Pyramids at night?....less crowded? Less tourist intense? More time to explore "alone"? Did you see the sound and light show? Thoughts?

What about the Bazaar?

We dock at 8 am and sail the next night at 11 pm. Wondering if you had the extra time what you would have wanted to see or do?

Thanks for your help Carolyn!

Elin

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, Hank. I had lunch at the Mina (that's how I thought it was spelled, could be wrong of course) and the palace part is definitely glamorous but Hank is right -- the rest is more banal. I will say though that the location (the restaurant looks right onto the biggest pyramid), the proximity to the pyramids and the lovely, lovely grounds would, I think, make up for the Holiday Inn quality of the rooms. I have friends who stayed nearby; weren't too thrilled with that part of it. But the pyramids were everything; at least the Mina has a pool and some green grass and a lovely view.

I'd give it a shot next time I visit but I agree, Hank, that the guest rooms are not palatial!

Carolyn

 

The hotel that elin referred to (great view of the Pyramids) is actually called the Mena House. We stayed there for 3 nights, and while we were at the hotel the Queen of the Netherlands paid our hotel a visit. The only problem with the Mena House is that it has a main building that used to be a palace, and than building has some great rooms and a very good restaurant. They also have added several "modern" buildings with additional rooms, but they are about old Holiday Inn quality.

 

Hank

[elin]

...than we did in this incredible country. But I still think you should focus on Cairo, first (most folks, even those on individual tours, did all the official stuff but not necessarily the insightful stuff, like the Nile boat ride and the Cairo tower).

 

I had a quick roundabout through Alexandria (have a friend from there so it had some importance to me); would like to go back and spend more time in that city. I equate it -- well I am from the East Coast -- as the first trip you take to Egypt, you have to go to Cairo (NYC); the second time, you go to Cairo and Alexandria (Philadelphia/Boston/Wash DC).

 

I just think the drive to Cairo is too long and the sites of the city too amazing to venture beyond, especially on a first-timers trip like mine. Just my humble opinion...

 

Carolyn

 

Thought I would expand a little on my other posts. You really need to figure travel logistics when planning to do a lot in Egypt. Egypt is still a third world country, and this is often reflected in the quality of roads, internal airline delays, etc. A few points for consideration. Although the mileage from Alexandria to Cairo does not seem too far, in reality it can take over 3 hours for the drive (each way). If you are planning on using internal air flights, depending on the time of day it can take an hour to get from parts of Cairo to the airport, and you need to be at the airport at least an hour (and that is cutting it close) before an internal flight. Most of the internal flights are on Egyptair, and they seem to operate on a strange philosophy of going when they feel like flying, regardless of the schedule. That being said, we found our Egyptair flights to have better on-board service than most US airlines. If you are trying to squeeze a quick visit to Luxor into your plans you must also factor the drive from Luxor (its on the East Bank) to the bridge, than over to the West Bank.,..and than all the way to the Valley of the Kings, Queens, Artisans, etc. This drive can take about 45 min each way. At the Valley of the Kings you will need at least (and this is a real minimum) 2 hours..and this would allow you just enough time to quickly see perhaps 3 tombs. A half day would be better if you want to visit many more tombs. I personally think Egypt is not a great cruise port because many of the best tourist sites (Luxor, Abu Simbal, Dandera, Edfu, etc are just too far from the cruise port. It would be like trying to visit Atlanta while in the port of Miami...

 

Hank

 

Well you both offer excellent advice, which has go me thinking that maybe I should be leaning more towards the go to Cairo, stay overnight in Cairo, maybe do a Nile cruise or see the light show in Cairo.

Thanks for the advice. I will circle back with DeCastro and see what they will suggest for the overnight in Cairo.

I will also ask them what hotels they are suggesting. I'm wondering if, based on your suggestion, you can ask for a "Palace" room, or if it is like the Ciragnan in Istanbul and the Palace rooms are $1000+ a night, and the regular rooms are (now) $400+ (they used to be cheaper but I've been told by my girlfriend in Istanbul, since Princess uses them for the pre and post stays, the prices have jumped up).

I will post back with "new" itinerary suggestions to see what the thoughts are from those of you who have been there.

Thanks.

Elin

[elin]

Sounds neat. We're going on the Insigna Rome-Athens in May and we'll be stopping in Alexandia over night. Who did your tour to the pyramids and Cairo. I don't think we'd stay over night but a long day there and back would be OK. Would you recomend them.

 

Hey Bo,

You are doing our cruise in May. If you want to switch travel information my email is posted on one of the posting above.

Shoot me an email and we can maybe switch notes on plans.

Thanks.

e

[Hlitner]

Carolyn, The most interesting part of the Mena House (its a hotel owned by the Oberoi folks) was their very attractive and expansive pool. When we arrived at that hotel, it was directly from our flight from the states, and we were were exhausted. But since it was 2pm, we decided to simply take a nap at the pool. Well, from the lounges at the pool area you are looking at the top 2/3 of the Great Pyramid (the bottom third is blocked by the palace building) and we just sat there for a couple of hours with our collective mouths agast. Lounging at a beautiful pool in the shadow of the Great Pyramid? Who would believe. 30+ years of world travel, and this would be one of those strange highlights. Fortunately, the Egyptian who owns the small travel company that put together our Egyptian itinerary had insisted we spend a few nights at this hotel, and it was the perfect introduction of the amazing wonders that are scattered throughout the country. Egypt is one of those countries that should be visited once. We spent 2 weeks, but 10 days would have been fine. However, 1 or 2 days in Alexandria really does limit the tour options to either Alexandria or a small part of Cairo (with the pyramids at Giza).

 

Hank