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| *Travel Tips>>>Egypt Travel Tips |
Luxor or Sharm el Sheikh that is the question? |
Travel Info We are hoping to travel to Egypt next February for some winter sun. We need to decide between Luxor or Sharm. We would like to hear from anyone who has been to either in February. Luxor has more history, but does Sharm have enough to keep us occupied? Travel Tips I just returned Saturday from both places. They are night and day apart. Luxor is ancient Egypt. The area from Luxor south to Abu Simbal IS the history of the world's civilizations. There is no place like it on earth. Get a real Egyptologist as your guide. There are thousands of "tour guides" but only something like 140 Egyptologists. I went through Egypt Magic in Florida to book my trip, but you can also go through Fly Well Travel (www.flywellegypt.com). Ask for Amr Haggag. He was our tour coordinator in Egypt. From Luxor, you can either take a van convoy, fly (Egypt Air is great, and cheap) or take the highly recommended Nile Cruise to get to Abu Simbal. Our tour guide was the Chief Inspector of Kom Ombo Temple (just north of Aswan), and was the best! If you are interested in Ancient Egypt, Luxor is the place to go! I cannot imagine a better vacation in my life. Sharm, on the other hand, is Las Vegas on the Red Sea. It is clean, modern, etc. There are no antiquities, unless you take the overnight journey north to Mount Sinai, and climb it overnight (camels recommended to go up). This is a spectacular thing to do. The rest of Sharm is a big resort -- nothing more. Casinos, hotels, and boats. The snorkeling and SCUBA diving is spectacular. It was a great way to spend a day and a half after 8 days in the ancient civilization. Cairo is only good for the pyramids and Sphinx (including Memphis and Saquarra area), and the museum. The rest of the city sucks. I have seen bad traffic in parts of the world before, but nothing compares to Cairo!!!!! Lastly, in America, we hear nothing but warnings about safety and danger in Egypt. This is complete BS -- propaganda by the US government, because of the supposed conflicts between Egypt and Israel. The real truth is: Egyptians LOVE Americans!!! We have never felt safer anywhere else. There are police everywhere, just as a show, but we saw absolutely NOTHING for us to fear. Go to Luxor area for 5 - 6 days at least, and then a day or two in Sharm. Others I went to sharm and hated it, it's very touristy and you get hassled a lot. Out hotel was like an 18-30 resort and it was just full of drunk teenagers. Naama Bay is just a big tourist trap, you can't walk down the street without being bothered by the local shop and bar owners, I also got food poisoning from a local restaurant whilst there. We regretted not going to the "real" Egypt. Sharm is only really good if you are a diving enthusiast. We were bored to tears as our hotel was off the main road (as are many) and nowhere near a beach. A very disappointing holiday, i would go to Luxor. a friend has just come back from Sharm. there's plenty to do but it's more holiday stuff...watersports, nightlife etc. It's warm enough in Feb. I'm going diving in Sharm in Dec. Depends what you like to do. If all you want to do is set on a beach and drink go to Sharm. Why bother going all that way, go to Benidorm or Torremolinas as you will also be able to get English Fish & Chips as well at a much cheaper price! Luxor offers so much history all around it and the chance to jump on a cruise boat and travel the Nile North (Cairo) or South (Aswan) to see so much more. It's a nobrainer really. I travelled to Sharm in March this year, and it was really nice, I've been to Egypt twice before but stayed in Hurghada, so it was my first time in Sharm. Luxor is more of a city and you see the real Egypt, and also the valley of the kings and the river Nile are both there. Sharm is a real holiday resort, the sea life and coral are amazing so you can do lots of snorkeling and you can do diving really cheap. They also have a place called Nama bay which have all the shops and restaurants. The food was really nice in Sharm when you ate out, which i was really surprised by. The hotels do lots of excursions to Cairo to see the pyramids, to the valley of the kings, so you can do that while staying in sharm. Its also cheaper to do excursions from some of the local shops, as the hotels charge a bit more. I don't think you'll be bored going to Sharm. you're welcome any time , i prefer sharm or both , i work with travel agent and i can help you very well,from sharm you can visit luxor for one day by flight mamado1eg@yahoo.com www.hophoptravel.com |
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