Getting Around Luxor

On my first visit to Luxor, I came by tour bus from the Hurghada resort. On the second, however, I made things much more comfortable and went by plane direct from London. About 5-5.5 hours' flight, Luxor is served both by Egypt Air (but you have to change planes in Cairo) and by UK's own charter airlines, catering mostly to the groups doing the Nile Cruise. Some airlines you can check are Thomas Cook, Thompson Fly, etc.

To Keep in Mind:

If you are doing the Nile cruise, charter airlines work out cheaper as you don't really need flexibility in dates. If you're exploring the area and are, at least to an extent, on your own you may find that there is no direct return flight on the day you want organised by the charter flight, so make sure you check Egypt Air as well.

We found this taxicompany on internet. Their response by mail was very quick and the English used correct. We confirmed the booking of a transfer from Luxor to Aswan last april 2011. We were picked up at the reception of our hotel and the trip to Aswan lasted about 3,5 hours. The driver was driving safe and the car was a 2009 Toyota Corolla with airco. We had a relaxed trip with even music on demand! I recommend this taxicompany to anyone who wants some assistence (transport) in Upper Egypt. The price was more then reasonable: € 80.- for two persons. Their website: www.luxortaxi.com

There are several colors of taxi in Luxor much the same as any other big cities in Egypt. Some have aircons, mostly non. And similar to the caleche, agree on the fare before getting in. A 5 - 8 hours tour around the westbank will cost you around EGP100 depends on your bargaining skills, non-AC will costs less.

I took a non-AC taxi from Luxor Temple to the airport at 4:30AM (it's normally cold during early mornings) with an nice old driver that cost me EGP35 only.

hey,

i think there is a bus too, from Cairo to Luxor directly with two times to move from cairo an vice versa

Upper Egypt bus Co

Luxor to Cairo

Time Of Departure:19:00 -21:0

60 LE For a local
85 LE for a tourist

in the same time Hurghada is a good midpoint in traveling and will make the road shorter in time by 3-4 hours and the departure time all over the day from cairo to hurghada

Hurghada / Luxor

10:00 Am
13:00 PM
19:30 PM
22:30 PM
01:00 AM
03:00 Am

30 LE For a local
40 LE for a tourist

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When you are in the area of the Valley of the Kings, it is nice to take a donkey ride. Our tour group organised ours from the boat at the West Bank to the Valley of the Kings and from Deir El Medina back to take our boat at the West Bank.
On the way back we also passed the Colossi of Memnon to take photos.
The ride was enjoyable but some of the donkeys were a tad unruly!!!

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Our tour gave us the chance to take a horse drawn carriage or caleche a few times whilst in Egypt. In Luxor, we took one from our Nile boast mooring area to Karnak Temple and on the return journey too.
As for cost, we did get quoted as little as 10LE to the centre of Luxor which is a 10 minute journey.
The caleche drivers are everywhere and especially on the Corniche by the Nile boats!

Mini vans will take you anywhere in Luxor. Each has a set route and can be very confusing. Just pray that one of the passengers speaks English, or write down your intended destination in Arabic (Your hotel will do this for you)

Our family went for a week 1-8th of November in and about Luxor to enjoy the ancient culture. As we where new to the area we did not know how to get around other than through the offered tours from the travel agents.
Do not buy that!
In our case the offers where more than double expensive and also very tied to a schedule that wasn't very flexible.
As an alternative, rent your own transportation, either through a local travel agent or as we did through a very good contact. We used this "agent" for several days, locally in a ordinary taxi cab and for trips to the "Valley of the Kings" and other sites further away, in a new airconditioned transit bus, with an very good english-speaking guide. A full day's rental with driver and and guide cost about 250 egyptian pounds, and was worth it to the last pound.
The "agent" that we used, Adel Said, can be reached through a call to his mobile (ph:012 2866505) can be reached any time and help you out with almost anything, balooning, restarant, or shop tips, different kinds of excursions. Probably most of the things you'd need for getting around. It was a no hazzle, good experience that definitley heightened our perception of both Luxor and the people there.