Excursão Terrestre - Excursão de um dia a Luxor saindo do Porto Safaga

We were at Safaga Port and it was great to see our pick up was there and waiting for us. They transferred us to our guide, we were a little unsure of who our guide/ drivers were at pickup and what was happening due to little explanation- however once we reached our destination we were greeted by our guide and rushed off to see everything quickly to avoid crowds. A great day and amazing experience!

We have had good experiences using Viator in the past but this shore excursion wasn't up to the standards we expected. My husband and I and another couple were picked up at the port by a driver and another man in a van for a tour in Luxor. We assumed the other person in the van was the tour guide. After about 2 hrs riding in the van, the driver stopped and the person who we thought was the tour guide was dropped off. No explanation was given and the driver proceeded on. When we arrived outside the entry gates at the Temple of Karnak, the van stopped and a woman and man approached. The woman said she would be taking my husband and I on the day's tour and the other couple in the van would continue on with the man as their tour guide. We left the van and waited for a car to pick us up. The first stop was the Temple of Karnak. Our guide, Neba, was very difficult to understand as she had a strong accent and spoke fast. She didn't seem pleased about answering our questions. When she explained historical aspects of the sites, it sounded as though she was reading from a memorized script. During the tour, there was pressure put on us to buy things from vendors Neba knew. One was a papyrus shop where artwork was painted on papyrus and the other was an alabaster shop. Also, we were pressured into taking a boat ride across the Nile for an extra charge. After a couple of hours riding from place to place, we were finally given a bottle of water. Neba spent most of the day talking on the phone. When the tour ended, we were reunited with the other couple that we started the day with. Also, the other man we had dropped off earlier in the day appeared and joined us for the ride back to the ship. He coughed the entire way back. Overall we felt like an inconvenience and it seemed like we did a self guided tour since we could barely understand our guide.

After a slight bit of confusion as to where to meet our driver, Our guide, Marwa, was incredibly knowledgeable and took very good care of us. We saw everything possible to see in Luxor.

Mahmoud made sure that all our needs were met precisely. Nothing was too much trouble. Our hotel was perfect, great views, very clean.

Amazing Tour = Good Value. We were on a Cruise and the only way to see Luxor (as the cruise port was hours away), was booking a cruise. Better value to book Viator than through the Ship, as Cruise Ships prices are much higher, for similar Tours, so we always try to book private when possible. In hindsight, wish we would have been allowed to shop at Luxor Vendors Market for an hour however, the Tour Guide did not allow it - he preferred to only allow 15-20 minutes at one pre-arranged washroom/coffee/Market stop and 30-45 minutes at another pre-arranged washroom/coffee/Alabaster Shop. It was clear he received commission from sales generated per bus stop, as he warned to not be stopped by Luxor vendors, as it would ‘eat up’ time away from our Tour Day, limiting time spent at designated Tour stops. Had we known this in advance, since there were only 6 of us, we could have all agreed we need 30 minutes to shop for souvenirs at each Luxor site. The Lunch Food Stop was awful, as agreed by all of us & others from our Ship who stopped at the same Lunch Trough Spot on other Tours the same Day. Tasteless (everything), unsanitary and it’s simply a means to an end in offering something to eat. You won’t starve however, you might wish to bring your own Food along that day (10 hour day). My favourite part of the day was seeing/driving through all of the roadside communities along the way to & from Luxor. Also the Valley of the Kings site was amazing to experience in person, as the history & artifacts are incredibly surreal. Aside from that (which all Tour Guides do), our guide “Mahmoud Nafee” was very good however, he speaks too fast to catch everything he says and should slow down, as there is no headphone system (or microphone) for a 6 person Tour and the air conditioned bus was perfectly comfortable. Still better cost value than booking this Tour through the Cruise Ship, which all of us agreed. Save your hard earned dollars for shopping!

The temples were amazing to see in person. The lunch buffet was the MOST enjoyable part of my day. Drinks were extra. We took a small boat to cross the river that cost us an additional 500 EGP ($15) The drive was 3 hours each way so be ready…

We departed ship looking for van/guide - port area very busy and confused. At one point, they had us go into a building and through metal detectors - but then turned us loose back into the throngs of people coming and going. Could not find guide - local person tried calling them and told us to go out of port area which was a considerable walk. There was 10 of us looking for van and same thing happened three times - call and walk until finally way outside of gates. Finally found van, got in with 4 other (new) people and took off. No one in front seats, spoke/introduced themselves or offered any indication as to who they were until we got to Luxor (2 hrs) and we were introduced to guide(s) and split into party's of two each with a guide. That was good but initial introduction kind of odd. Guide was OK; showed us Temple of Luxor then gave us free time and asked if we wanted to go to papyrus institute - we didn't. Drove us out of Luxor and across Nile and stopped for lunch - where we were joined by others in group. From there went to Valley of the Kings - saw three tombs - great stuff! Asked if we wanted to go shopping or something but we didn't. Went to Queen Hatshepsut temple and Colossus of Memnon where we were to meet up with others from trip back to ship. There were restrooms across the street but you couldn't go in unless you paid two teenage kids and they argued with us and I mentioned to guide(s) that usually they find a place where you can use the restroom gratis. Long ride back to ship with just driver - no guide and we got back about 8:30pm. Great sites to visit but guides not so great.

We took car to Cairo then overnight train to Luxor. Mohammad and his staff took EXCELLENT care of us. I highly recommend this 2 day tour!