12 Jan 2020
We drove from El Gouna to Luxor on day 1 and met our guide Hoda. She was very informative and she showed us first the temple of Karnak and then later after lunch the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut. We went for lunch in a place on the west bank that served authentic delicious Egyptian food. Hoda was able to get our tickets at the temple of Karnak very quickly and we beat the queues. It was just me and my husband on the trip and we enjoyed the fact that it was such a private tour.
We stayed in the Lotus Hotel that night. It wasn't great but we knew that it was a cheap hotel and that we were only staying there a few hours - the day 2 start was 4.30am! We had the option to upgrade to the Steigenberger for 40€, which you should take if you want more luxury. We had the evening to ourselves in Luxor and we walked along the Nile and also saw the Luxor temple lit up at night.
On day 2 we were picked up early and taken to Luxor airport for our flight to Cairo. Egyptair is a great airline and the flight was comfortable and punctual. We met our new guide Reham and driver at 7.30am and they took us for a nice breakfast of falafel and and then we saw the pyramids and the sphinx! Such an amazing experience. Reham has a degree in Egyptology. She is a lovely gentle person and her English is impeccable. There was a good balance between providing information and then letting us take time to explore on our own. We paid extra to go inside the Great Pyramid, which is not for people suffering from claustrophobia, but we enjoyed the sense of adventure! Reham knew the best places to go for photos and took many pics of us. We went for another tasty lunch and then to the Cairo Museum. Reham accompanied us around and showed us the highlights and she really brought the museum to life for us. A particular highlight was the Tutankahmun exhibition. It is really stunning. We also went to the bazaar after this and the official tour finished at around 4.30.
We paid extra to attend the sound and light show. This is 19 dollars, and we recommend paying that yourself if you want to go. It was a bit old fashioned but entertaining. Plus the flight wasn't until 22.40, so you need to fill your evening somehow, and it's dark early.
We got our flight back to Hurghada that night with no problem and we were dropped to the door of our hotel in El Gouna.
One improvement:
We took a canal cruise on the Nile in Luxor for 15 euro each extra. We were told that the bridge option by car would take an hour extra and so it was presented as essential/highly desirable. You should include this in the package from the start - nobody likes having to pay for hidden extras.