Magic
We booked a private tour of Luxor from Marsa Alam with a French speaking guide. The driver arrived on time at our hotel (4am). Arrival in Luxor at 9am, where we picked up our friendly guide Ahmed. We started with the impressive karnak temple with its giganticism. As we arrived early, there were not many tourists, what happiness! The site is beautiful and we learned a lot from our guide. Then head to the beautiful temple of Luxor (extra charge but to do). Crossing the Nile by motorboat (optional). After a good meal in a restaurant, we headed to the Memnon colossus s for a photo. Then we went to the beautiful temple of Queen Hatshepsut in a beautiful setting. We ended with the majestic Valley of Kings with the visit of 3 exceptionally well preserved tombs in thousand colors and one of the most beautiful site of the visit. We were able to visit a store that works albatre and make quality purchases (statues and other souvenirs). We ended our visit at 3pm with a return to the hotel at 8pm. The only downside is the great distances , the drivers are forced to drive quite fast. The day was tiring but to do absolutely so much it is magic. I recommend Marsa Alam tour.
Wander61287444144 · Dec 2024 · via Tripadvisor · Translated
Great tour!
1 Day Private Tour from Marsa Alam to Luxor
Great experience with pleasant drivers and a good expert guide.
B2255LVpaulb · Dec 2024 · via Tripadvisor · Translated
Fun
Very good experience, highly recommended. youmna was very helpful in setting up the details of the tour and rapid response. Ali and Hazem were the best tour guides and we really enjoyed their company!
Jessy Z · Apr 2024 · via Tripadvisor
You can't go to Egypt and not see Luxor!
The guys picked us up at 3.15am from our resort south of Marsa Alam and our adventure began. The road to get there is beautiful but decidedly long, about 500 km, but then the spectacle of Luxor repays all the effort. The tour was very well organized, we asked for a guide in Italian and we had Ramadan, a prepared and very helpful person who we thank again who accompanied us in visiting all the wonderful sites. In conclusion we highly recommend it
Scacco60 · Mar 2024 · via Tripadvisor · Translated
Great tour, great guide and a day to remember
This was the best choice that we made on our trip, the tour itinerary was clear from the start and everything went exactly as planned. We had the best guide in Naama, she was very relaxed and took time to answer any questions that we had. Lucky to have her!
Also a big thank you to Noor who picked us up this morning, and has looked after us all day too.
We considered a group tour but the private option wasn’t that much more, but so much better. You won’t forget a day like this!
neilthetourist · Mar 2024 · via Tripadvisor
BE AWARE of low level scams everywhere
Overall, this trip takes in the sights of Luxor, which are spectacular in themselves.
BE CAREFUL - the tour company was trying to make us pay extra for museums that were ALREADY included in the Viator published price.
On the day the tour guide asked us if we wanted to buy extra entry tickets to another tomb, and he elevated the price and pocketed the difference.
The restaurant at lunchtime is well below expectations in quality - a poor selection of barely warm food. Additionally, ALL drinks are extra (even soft) and priced at European prices, and somehow cash-only because ‘their credit card machine doesn’t work today’ .. but conveniently there is a stand-alone ATM placed in the dust right at the entrance to the restaurant to save the day… call me incredulous..
CiaraM287 · Mar 2024 · via Tripadvisor
Thank You thank You thank You
What a fantastic day I had. Early in the morning I was picked up by 'mister pistacchio'. After a long car trip I met my guide Mansor. This energetic guy showed me some very beautiful things. During the day he really turned out to be a kindred spirit. His English is very good and his knowledge is enormous. "We will meet again you brother from another mother!" Of course, a big round of applause for the driver who transported me safely all 1000 km. It was an honor for me to immerse myself in the Egyptian culture of then and now... be open and surrender to Mansor.
151artk · Jan 2024 · via Tripadvisor · Translated
Excellent private tour to Luxor and its beautiful sights.
We had taken a private daytrip from Hurghada to Cairo using Marsa Alam Tours earlier in the week and that was a very pleasant experience. So when our family of four also wanted to visit Luxor while being in Egypt, we again booked this private tour through them.
Our drivers picked us up at the resort right on time. We had brought breakfast packed by the resort. There were several Police Check Points along the way, at two we had to wait quite long. I did not really see any restroom options there. We did make a break halfway and there was clean restroom availability there. Make sure to bring small change!
The drive to Luxor was interesting. You really get a glimpse of everyday Egyptian life, seeing people work their land, load their donkey cart to go sell their produce, watch the little tuk tuk taxis zoom by, people sitting together, talking.
We met up with our guide Mr. Mansour at the Karnak Temple. After a quick introduction, he started the tour. We went around the Karnak Temple pretty quick. Did stop a couple of times for family photos he asked he could take, using my phone. We made a little of the beaten track visit to a wall with hieroglyphs that showed counting symbols. Mr. Mansour also translated and explained the meaning of my daughter's name and my name in hieroglyphs. After the official tour, we got to roam the temple by ourselves for about 25 minutes.
After the Karnak Temple, Mr. Mansour explained that taking our taxi to the restaurant would take quite a long time, navigating through Luxor and crossing the Nile river. He would like to offer us two alternative options. One was take a quick boat over the Nile, the other was a boat with a stopover on Banana Island in the Nile just North of Luxor were we would be able to sample local fruits. We opted for the quick boat over the Nile, which surprisingly turned out to be included in the daytrip price. We had not counted on taking a boat on the Nile so this was a very pleasant surprise. Getting to the boat was down a steep steel ramp. A surface my sneakers did not like and I had to make sure to hold on the rope railing to prevent myself from slipping. As soon as we got of the boat on the other side, we got accosted by sellers (some even young kids) trying to sell us souvenirs (all of which were most likely Made in China).
The meal at the Nile Panorama Restaurant was a simple buffet style of Egyptian food. Drinks were not included but they had a menu that clearly stated pricing. Wait staff was very friendly and quick. We did not use the restrooms because we just went at the Karnak Temple (for which Mr. Mansour had been kind enough to give us Egyptian change).
After lunch we went on to the Colossi of Memnon. From there on to the Valley of the Kings. While driving there you get to pass a large field where they sun dry tomatoes (which are sold to Italy), the Old Village/Necropolis of Qurnet Murai, several alabaster shops/factories, and the Carter House. Mr. Mansour gave information and history of all those sights, while we were driving past them.
At the Valley of the Kings, Mr. Mansour warned us about the sellers. We had no interest in buying any souvenirs so we got through the little market place without any difficulty. We took a golf cart to the entrance of the Valley of the Kings. Our entrance fee covered visiting three tombs. If we wanted to visit the Tomb of The young Pharaoh Tutankhamun, it would be an extra 30 $. We went with the three tombs Mr. Mansour recommended, starting with KV8 Merenptah. That tomb was going to be the toughest one because of the long descend and getting back up again. My sneakers slipped on the ramps a lot and I definitely recommend wearing sturdy shoes. At all the tombs there were guards keeping an eye on the visitors. Sometimes they would indicate they could take your photo or even give you access to a roped off area. At the tomb of Rameses III my husband got curious. He followed the guard in the roped off area, and slipped him $2. The guy turned in to a private tour guide and photographer on the spot, too funny!
After a quick restroom break (for which Mr. Mansour provided Egyptian small change) we went to the Temple of The Queen Hatshepsut. Mr. Mansour arranged for a golf cart to take us close to the temple and then we walked up the stairs to the second level. He again dazzled us with a plethora of interesting facts and tidbits.
After the visit to the Temple of The Queen Hatshepsut we had the possibility to visit a certain alabaster factory. We passed up on this option. And then it came time for the awkward part of paying the remaining balance of the tour through their payment link (you click the link and it takes you through a payment screen in which your credit card company ends up giving you a robo call to confirm you are indeed making a payment to Marsa Alam Tours. They give you a 6 digit code you have to enter in the link screen). We ended up going through the payment process successfully while being in parked on the side of the road where we had cellphone service. Not the best experience. Apparently Marsa Alam Tours cannot process credit card payments directly. We also ended up paying processing costs. But the payments issues were the only negative thing in this whole day.
At the time of Goodbye, Mr. Mansour gave me a little scarab beetle souvenir, very thoughtful!
Our drivers took us back to our resort with a restroom stop at the same place we stopped in the morning. There were a couple Police Check Points, we got waived through at all. Our drivers delivered us at the resort safe and sound around 8:00 pm.
We really liked that we did not have to do anything but enjoy the experience. Marsa Alam Tours took care of the rest.
330nicolev · Jan 2024 · via Tripadvisor
Great day trip to Luxor
We took a private day trip with Marsa Alam Tours to Luxor in December 2023. The organization was flawless in every way, the guide (Ahmed) provided us with an exemplary service. His skills and overall contribution clearly exceeded the guides from other travel organizations we have met while visiting the monuments. We were also very happy with the driver (Hassan), who consistently drew our attention to all interesting sights during the travels. We were overall very satisfied with the services (including booking and support via email/WhatsApp) and will be happy to recommend you. Thank you all for the lovely experience.
Curiosity04013344581 · Dec 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Wonderful!
Definitely a challenging day, but absolutely worth it!!
Long journey (6 hours on the outward journey and 4.5 hours on the return) but comfortable having the van at our complete disposal for a stop each way,
Our guide Sallam was waiting for us in front of the Karnak temple when we arrived and our day began from there.
In order we visited: Karnak temple, shop selling decarated papyrus where they explained to us the technique for obtaining the scrolls, crossing the Nile, lunch in a small restaurant (I must say very good, we ate well), colossi of Memnon seen from the car, Valley of the Queens (visiting 3 tombs, including that of Queen Nefertari (we added this part at the moment by paying an extra supplement), Hatshepsut temple, local hard stone craft shop, Valley of the Kings (visiting 3 tombs ).
Every place was super exciting, Sallam was great at explaining many interesting things to us!
Advice for travellers: dress appropriately for the places and the very hot climate, bring mineral salts to give you energy during the day, have small denomination banknotes to give tips especially inside some tombs.
The only flaw of the day: in the tour description it says that water is included but unfortunately in our case this was not the case. Apart from lunch, where we expected to have to pay for drinks, for the rest we would have expected to receive bottles of water and instead we had to buy them.
Elleth_87 · Sep 2023 · via Tripadvisor · Translated
