- Luxor
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Egypt
Now is the best time to go to southern Egypt – the weather is perfect and the locals will be particularly pleased to see you after a lean year. The Winter Palace’s grander rooms and elegant late 19th century façade overlook the Nile, and conceal from the bustle of the Corniche a lush and well tended garden. You can relax with a drink or a swim after a day exploring the sights, and watch the desert sun turn even the drabbest building to gold as the sound of the muezzin rises from mosques all around. For a romantic dinner, albeit without alcohol, go to the atmospheric Sofra, where delicious mezze are served on round brass tables under hand-blown glass chandeliers.
www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-1661-sofitel-winter-palace-luxor/index.shtml
Corniche el Nile street Luxor
(+20)95/2380425
Google map: bit.ly/H3jLOJ
www.sofra.com
90 Mohamed Farid St.
+20 95 2359752
Google map: bit.ly/HmHdos
+20 95 235 9752
It's a Victorian era hotel, built by Thomas Cook in 1886, and has not been overly modernised. It was used by passengers of the flying boat era, though I don't know if they stopped overnight or just for lunch. Now it is just 'old school': extensive gardens, grand piano in the bar, peace and quiet. Best position on the Corniche. Timeless.
If you don't mind that Tony Blair had a suite there, its worth a couple of nights.
Corniche el Nile Street, Luxor
+20952380425
Hotel website shortened: bit.ly/dRizgG
Google map: bit.ly/k0kxZA
Cool, smallish pleasant place to have a snack or drink. Good for vegetarians.
Between the corniche and the evangelical church
It is the way to cruise the Nile - small, intimate 19th century style sailing boats with six cabins and private moorings, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd. The company has four boats - Nesma, Amber, Zahra and Musk! Don't do the Nile any other way.
This lovely little family-run hutted camp is a true oasis of calm on the West Bank - perfect for independent-minded souls who want to be close to all the monuments but avoid the brutal commercialism of the mainstream Luxor scene. Your money goes straight to the local economy, not tour companies, and you'll meet friendly local people who can help you arrange any trips and activities for a fraction of the price on the East Bank.
Great food (lentil soup is amazing!) and incredibly friendly staff. Ask to meet Nemo, the owner - he can also arrange all your trips for you and if you need any shopping done, he's your man! A visit to Luxor without a visit to Smileys simply wouldn't be right!
Passport Street, Opposite Nile Palace Hotel
A lovely hotel set on an island in the Nile, around 10 minutes from the centre of Luxor. The views are stunning - especially at sunset, unobstructed (no huge Nile cruise ships anchor there) - sit on your terrace with a cocktail and enjoy.
A welcome escape from the hustle (and hassle) of Luxor!
Crocodile Island, Luxor
The building housing this wonderful collection of antiquities is purpose-built for the job. Although the number of items on display there is fewer than in Cairo Museum, I think that these exquisite pieces have been selected for their importance and beauty. The lighting of all exhibits is really superb. This gem is not to be missed, but if you're pushed for time you could go in the evening as they stay open quite late.
Konish el-nil, East bank
Great food at resonable prices. Staff are friendly and have a sense of humour, and the whole place is spotless. Ask for Captain Nemo - he can fix anything from boat rides to balloon trips and airport transfers. If he can't do it he knows someone who can, he knows everyone.
Opposite the Nile Palace is Passport Street, next door to Murphys Bar.
Although millions of tourists visit the west bank at Luxor every year the area is so rich in archaeology that it is not difficult to find quiet and equally spectacular monuments away from the hordes.
Just across the road from the bazaars and the coach-park at the Hatshepsut temple a jumble of mud-brick remains marks the cemetery of el-Asasif, site of some of the largest and most spectacular tombs anywhere in the country.
Three of its tombs are open to the public: that of Kheruef of the 18th Dynasty, and those of Pabasa and Ankh-hor of the 26th. Their subterranean ‘sun-courts’ are unique to this area, and each of the tombs preserves beautiful relief decoration of varying styles.
I would highly recommend taking a walk from here back to the road through the crumbling remains of tombs yet to be investigated; at the road I recommend hailing one of the local service taxis and riding back to the river with the locals for a few piasters, rather than taking a private car for 100 times the price.
Egypt decided some years ago that it was relatively unsafe to allow tourists to travel outside the established tourist centres; as a result several isolated, but nonetheless spectacular sites in between Cairo, Luxor and Aswan are infrequently visited.
For those looking for archaeological adventures away from the hordes, I highly recommend making arrangements (in hotels or with taxi drivers) to join the daily convoy down-river (north) from Luxor to see Dendera and Abydos. The former is the site of one of Egypt’s best preserved monuments, the Ptolemaic and Roman temple of Dendera, with scenes of Cleopatra VII (the Cleopatra) and her son Ceasarion; at the latter the atmospheric temple of Sety I and his son Ramesses the Great features some of the most beautiful relief decoration anywhere in Egypt.
The drive is fairly lengthy but provides an excellent opportunity to see the Egyptian countryside.
I would like to recommend a restaurant I discovered in Luxor. It is called Sofra Restaurant & Café. Both food and ambience were excellent and it was the highlight of the trip to Luxor for some people I was travelling with. We were so impressed that we went there four times in one week.
90 Mohammed Farid street, El Manshia
and near by the train station in Luxor
Phone 095 2 35 97 52
www.sofra.com.eg
Fabulous food, great staff, well stocked bar and spotless kitchens!
We enjoyed many a night here in February this year. Try the duck or kebabs. Tell them Caroline and Paul sent you, they assure us you will get a free drink!
Opposite Meridian Hotel, next to Murphys Irish bar. Passport Office Street.
Private double sleeping berth, with dinner and breakfast, for $60 each way. It is fantastic to watch Egypt go by in the night and very romantic though the train is a bit 'grubby' but after a bottle of wine (sold on board!) you won't notice!
It is cheaper to book it yourself than through the travel agents in Luxor itself. The train leaves Luxor around 9pm and gets into Cairo at about 7am.
Email to reserve - www.sleepingtrains.com
And specify you want to pick your tickets up in Luxor (the office is on Platform 1). You have to pick up/pay for your tickets the day before (sometimes 24 hours).
For a romantic sunset over the Nile it's hard to beat the Movenpick. Situated at the far southern end of the resort there aren't any other hotels nearby to spoil the view.
The sunset concert mixed with the sound of the evening chorus of birds and the sight of fellucas sailing gracefully by is hard to beat. It's open to non-residents so just turn up and watch the sun go down with your partner.
Movenpick, Crocodile Island, Luxor
Great rugs, provided you actually get to go home with the one you 'bought'. Be very careful that the one you agree to buy is not switched for another, half-finished reject. If the merchant wants to take your rug out of your sight, don’t agree and don’t let him bind it all up with twine either. Do your deal and take your rug – don’t have it pulled out from under you.
A donkey trip gives you the best views and is the most fun, slightly ridiculous way to see the valley of the kings. We made the mistake of booking through a hotel, who take massive commissions (up to 80% of fee). The donkey trip guides are VERY poor, so why not book direct and cut out the fat? Then they get a fairer deal and you get a cheaper price. Call Abdl on this number: 095/2060352, or 010 472 9416. He will meet you at your hotel and take you on a great 5-6 hour trip which should cost about £4 sterling each.
Call him on 095/2060352 or 010 472 9416
This colonial-era hotel in Aswan, about 80 miles south of Luxor, is famed for Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. The glamour has faded but it remains a lovely retreat from the heat and hawkers where you can take scones and tea on a palm-fringed balcony.
Sofitel Old Cataract Hotel, Abtal El Tahrir Street, Aswan;
tel: 00 20 97 316000
For many tourists, the way to see the West Bank temples and tombs appears to be the highly priced offerings from their tour company.
Typical costs are £39 per person for a visit to the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepshut's temple and the Valley of the Queens. Included in this price are the ticket prices (approximately £9.50 per person).
To hire an air-conditioned minibus and a guide, and to visit temples and tombs that you wish to see, will cost at most 200LE (£20) for up to six people (total price), so adding the cost of the tickets, the trip will probably cost an individual in this situation about £12.
The other plus of this is that you can actually spend as long as you wish at a site, and not have to rush back to take in the obligatory visit to an alabaster or papyrus shop, for which the tour leader on the coach can make up to 50% of your purchase price in commission.
Great restaurant outside the Sheraton Hotel - good selection of food reasonably priced, British run.
Is this your business?Search Been there
