Luxor Private East & West Bank Tour–Vallei van de Koningen & Karnak

Mo is the best guide ever , thank you so much

Great experience with Wendy Holidays for our trip to Luxor and Hurghada. The operator who followed us, Mohamed, was always available via Whatsapp at any time to support us and answer our questions. He arranged transfers and excursions in detail and with clarity on prices. Our Rino English guide for the full day in Luxor (east and west shores) was perfect. He provided detailed explanations and conveyed his passion for Egyptology. Our driver Eslam accompanied us on excursions and roundtrip transfers from Hurghada, driving safely and on time. Everything perfect. thank you

AMAZING EXPERIENCE was so helpful and showed so many good tourists sites. Overall a very easy and stress free day. Would definitely do again.

Very good experience. The guide show a lot of knowledge about egiptology and pharoes. Good guide!

We arrived with minimal knowledge but left with much information thanks to our tour guide Mo who answered all questions and was efficient throughout our visit . Thank you!

Mo was amazing, very knowledgeable and friendly. Highly recommend 👌

Excellent experience. Mo the tour guide was great 👍

"I just had the best day on the East & West tour with Wendy Holidays! Everything was so well-organized from start to finish. Our guide, Mo, was honestly the highlight of the trip—he’s so knowledgeable, friendly, and has a great sense of humor that kept us all smiling. The lunch was also fantastic; super fresh and delicious, which was exactly what we needed. If you're looking for a stress-free and fun way to see the sights, I highly recommend this tour. Big thanks to Mo for making it such a memorable day! ✨🙌"

I’m leaving this review to give future travelers a clear picture of my experience. I waited several days before writing this to ensure I could be fair and objective. While the sites themselves were outstanding, the tour experience with Mo and Wendy Travel was terrible. I’ve booked many tours with Viator, including two others in Egypt- so while some problems are just to be expected (e.g., upsell requests), our guide Mo took it to whole new level. FIRST THE GOOD: THE SITES WERE EXCELLENT! -The Valley of the Kings: Only a limited number of tombs are open at any time, and this tour includes entry to three. Mo recommended Ramses III, Merenptah, and Ramses IX, and all were worthwhile. -Karnak and Luxor Temples: These were the highlight of the day—truly remarkable and well worth visiting. The 34-column Great Hall at Karnak was astounding and second only to the Pyramids at Giza! -Temple of Hatshepsut: Hard to evaluate because of the issues described below. ISSUES WITH THE COMPANY AND GUIDE: Several problems led me to write this review so future travelers can be aware. -Request to rebook privately: After booking through Viator, Wendy Travel asked me to cancel and rebook directly with them. I declined, but it was an early warning sign. -Constant upselling and unclear communication: Within minutes of meeting us, Mo began recommending additional tombs without explaining that the tour already included three entries. Later, he insisted lunch was not included, despite the tour being titled “East and West Bank of Luxor with Lunch.” I had selected the option that appeared to include lunch, but he maintained otherwise. -THE BIGGEST ISSUE: OUR GUIDE (MO) STONEWALLED US: The biggest issue was that Mo simply did not guide the tour in any meaningful way. At almost every stop, the pattern was the same: a short introduction, then we were sent off on our own with no context, no explanations, and no help understanding what we were looking at. For example: ---Valley of the Kings: Guides can’t enter the tombs, but they can explain the history, the symbolism, and the differences between tombs at the plaques outside. Many guides were doing exactly that. Mo, however, stayed at the entrance to the entire complex and waited for us to return an hour later. ("Bring me your questions" he said). We walked into each tomb with no background on the king, the artwork, or what made that tomb unique. ---Temple of Hatshepsut: Guides are allowed on the terraces here, and most were actively walking their groups through the site. Mo gave us a quick five minute overview at the entrance, then sat down and told us to “go explore.” Without any explanation of what we were seeing, I ended up drifting toward other groups just to get basic information. It was frustrating to rely on other guides to understand the site when we had paid for one of our own. ---Colossi of Memnon: This was reduced to a drive by. We had to ask Mo to stop for a quick picture, but he stayed in the car and offered no explanation at all. Other guides were out with their groups describing the history and significance; we got none of that. ---Karnak and Luxor: These were the best sites of the day, but even here the guiding was limited. Mo spoke with us briefly at the start of each temple, then sent us off again to wander alone. I repeatedly found myself standing near other groups just to hear the kind of information I expected from my own guide—basic orientation, key highlights, and the meaning behind what we were looking at. What made this more noticeable was that the guiding seemed to drop off even further after we declined the extra purchases he pushed early in the day. Once we made it clear we weren’t interested in add ons, the level of engagement felt noticeably reduced. One person in our group became so frustrated by the lack of guiding that they left the tour entirely. Repeated pressure for a 5 star review: Near the end of the day, Mo asked me six or seven times to write a 5 star review, include his name in the title, and send him a screenshot. This was uncomfortable as he kept asking while we were stuck in the car with him, even when I made it clear I didn’t want to. No wonder there are so many reviews mentioning Mo! This was ridiculous treatment- we pay the guide, yet he demanded we send him a screenshot providing our review? OVERALL The sites themselves were incredible, but the guiding and overall service was not just poor, it was near non-existent, Due to the combination of upselling, limited actual guiding, and persistent pressure for a perfect review made this a bad experience- I would not book with Wendy Travel or Mo again. If the guide/company takes time to respond with their perspective, I’m not sure how they could justify why the guide repeatedly sat at the entrance and literally told us “bring me back what questions you have”. Why did we even pay for a guide?

I’m leaving this review to give future travelers a clear picture of my experience. I waited several days before writing this to ensure I could be fair and objective. While the sites themselves were outstanding, the tour experience with Mo and Wendy Travel was terrible. I’ve booked many tours with Viator, including two others in Egypt- so while some problems are just to be expected (e.g., upsell requests), our guide Mo took it to whole new level. FIRST THE GOOD: THE SITES WERE EXCELLENT! -The Valley of the Kings: Only a limited number of tombs are open at any time, and this tour includes entry to three. Mo recommended Ramses III, Merenptah, and Ramses IX, and all were worthwhile. -Karnak and Luxor Temples: These were the highlight of the day—truly remarkable and well worth visiting. The 34-column Great Hall at Karnak was astounding and second only to the Pyramids at Giza! -Temple of Hatshepsut: Hard to evaluate because of the issues described below. ISSUES WITH THE COMPANY AND GUIDE: Several problems led me to write this review so future travelers can be aware. -Request to rebook privately: After booking through Viator, Wendy Travel asked me to cancel and rebook directly with them. I declined, but it was an early warning sign. -Constant upselling and unclear communication: Within minutes of meeting us, Mo began recommending additional tombs without explaining that the tour already included three entries. Later, he insisted lunch was not included, despite the tour being titled “East and West Bank of Luxor with Lunch.” I had selected the option that appeared to include lunch, but he maintained otherwise. -THE BIGGEST ISSUE: OUR GUIDE (MO) STONEWALLED US: The biggest issue was that Mo simply did not guide the tour in any meaningful way. At almost every stop, the pattern was the same: a short introduction, then we were sent off on our own with no context, no explanations, and no help understanding what we were looking at. For example: ---Valley of the Kings: Guides can’t enter the tombs, but they can explain the history, the symbolism, and the differences between tombs at the plaques outside. Many guides were doing exactly that. Mo, however, stayed at the entrance to the entire complex and waited for us to return an hour later. ("Bring me your questions" he said). We walked into each tomb with no background on the king, the artwork, or what made that tomb unique. ---Temple of Hatshepsut: Guides are allowed on the terraces here, and most were actively walking their groups through the site. Mo gave us a quick five minute overview at the entrance, then sat down and told us to “go explore.” Without any explanation of what we were seeing, I ended up drifting toward other groups just to get basic information. It was frustrating to rely on other guides to understand the site when we had paid for one of our own. ---Colossi of Memnon: This was reduced to a drive by. We had to ask Mo to stop for a quick picture, but he stayed in the car and offered no explanation at all. Other guides were out with their groups describing the history and significance; we got none of that. ---Karnak and Luxor: These were the best sites of the day, but even here the guiding was limited. Mo spoke with us briefly at the start of each temple, then sent us off again to wander alone. I repeatedly found myself standing near other groups just to hear the kind of information I expected from my own guide—basic orientation, key highlights, and the meaning behind what we were looking at. What made this more noticeable was that the guiding seemed to drop off even further after we declined the extra purchases he pushed early in the day. Once we made it clear we weren’t interested in add ons, the level of engagement felt noticeably reduced. One person in our group became so frustrated by the lack of guiding that they left the tour entirely. Repeated pressure for a 5 star review: Near the end of the day, Mo asked me six or seven times to write a 5 star review, include his name in the title, and send him a screenshot. This was uncomfortable as he kept asking while we were stuck in the car with him, even when I made it clear I didn’t want to. No wonder there are so many reviews mentioning Mo! This was ridiculous treatment- we pay the guide, yet he demanded we send him a screenshot providing our review? OVERALL The sites themselves were incredible, but the guiding and overall service was not just poor, it was near non-existent, Due to the combination of upselling, limited actual guiding, and persistent pressure for a perfect review made this a bad experience- I would not book with Wendy Travel or Mo again. If the guide/company takes time to respond with their perspective, I’m not sure how they could justify why the guide repeatedly sat at the entrance and literally told us “bring me back what questions you have”. Why did we even pay for a guide?