In Luxor

As this is a flight based forum and I am prone to rambling on a bit anyway I shall keep my observations on Luxor to a minimum. Suffice to say it is genuinely impressive from a historical perspective, I personally found the tombs and temples utterly awe inspiring and was even mildly taken by a couple of the museums, which given my tendency towards abject boredom when faced with museums and the like is a resounding recommendation. My better half, who often despairs at my preference to seek out an interesting building or a decent restaurant or cafe in favour of an afternoon gazing at religious artefacts or paintings, was in her element.

Whilst in Luxor we stayed at the Sofitel in Karnak, which offers a decent compromise between proximity to Luxor itself and the advantages of an out of town location from a relaxation perspective. The hotel was perfectly pleasant, particularly the pool and gardens overlooking the Nile, and as long as you don’t take your expectations of what a Sofitel should be from their properties in London or Paris to this property you will be fine. Catering was, however, pretty woeful, particularly in the evenings when the options were hotel buffet, room service (omelette or burger) or starve. As we were also entitled to use the facilities at the nearby Sofitel Winter Palace, we also tried a couple of the restaurants there but were similarly unimpressed.

My main point of contention with Luxor as a destination was the extent to which it is focused on package holiday travellers doing the Pyramids-Nile cruise-temples circuit. Upon check in at the hotel we were asked who we were with, which it transpired was an enquiry as to which tour group we were part of. There was general disbelief that we weren’t with a group and we were referred to throughout our stay as the ‘independent travellers’. Whilst this does have its downsides, all the tour groups appeared to be on identical and predictable itineraries so could be avoided quite easily.