Planning to go to Egypt in feb this year and wondering which all places to vist?

Can someone help with an itinerary for seven days?

Thanks

2 nts Cairo,

fly to Abu Simbel > Aswan

3 night cruise to Luxor

2 nts Luxor.

You really need more time.

Gotta agree with tkelvin69. You need more time.

But with the limited time you have available, his itinerary is spot on.

My wife and I were in Egypt in Dec 2006 for two weeks (my how time flies when you're having fun!)

We arrived in Cairo, and pretty much flew direct to Abu Simbel (do not miss it, it's very impressive...also stay for the evening light show and presentatoin). Our flight to Abu Simbel was all on EgyptAir, but each segment was on a different a/c. Thus it took an entire day to travel to Abu Simbel. Stops were at Luxor, Aswan, then Abu Simbel. All the way you're following the course of the Nile, which provides some impressive contrasts of the narrow green band surrounding the blue waterway in the midst of the brown sand desert.

Fly back to Aswan, see the High Dam, stay at the hotel where Agatha Christie wrote 'Death on the Nile', take a falucca ride, get on the barge/floating hotel to do the cruise back to Luxor. Many stops along the way on the cruise. Many cruise boats to choose from, too.

We took the overnight train from Luxor back to Cairo/Giza and stayed at the Nile Hilton on both outbound and return visits. (We were automatically upgraded to the 10th (Executive) floor with out even asking, or being entitled to it.) Ask for a Nile view if you use this hotel. We asked, but all they had was a view of the Egyptian Museum, which really means a great view of old Cairo. And you must do the Museum, too. Be prepared to buy extra tix once inside the museum for all the attractions, because that's where the really interesting stuff is.

A day at the Pyramids--pay extra to enter the Great Pyramid, because it's worth it, but not if you're claustrophobic because it's a narrow tunnel (~3' wide, 4-5' high, with tourists going both ways constantly!), and see the Sphinx, of course. (There are great views of this area on Google Earth, to help you get oriented.)

I think you can see why we both say that you need a bigger boat (I mean you need more time).

Ditto - I had three weeks and needed more time!

BUt if you do the pyramids (which is a must), do it first thing in the morning. If you want to climb around inside the great and lesser pyramids, not only does it get hotter in the afternoons but they only sell 100 tickets per day. Once they sell out, tough luck. So if you want to get in, go early and buy your ticket. When i was there it was 100LE - roughly $20.

i would also recommend the Cairo Museum for the afternoon - oddly enough for the same reason. there is no air conditioning inside; so people tend to stay away in the afternoon. you'll have the place more to yourself and will be able to stand right next to the cases containing all the absolutely incredible artifacts whose detail you'll want to stare at for hours! i had two days alone in the museum and still didn't see everything! but the gold room and the mummies room are air conditioned if you need a break (100Le for the mummies room as well).

luxor museum is smaller but has high quality stuff. dont bother with the mummification museum in luxor.

if you're a marriott person (forgot to look before i replied), the marriott in zamalek is excellent. it's an old palace originally created for the opening of the suez canal to host princess eugenie. the main building of the hotel is still this palace (and it's gorgeous) with two towers on either side that compose the very modern rooms. it's right on the banks of the nile with nile views from every room. if there, get a massage - an hour for about 100LE. insane. actually get one from every hotel. your feet will hurt after all the walking every day anyway and they're so cheap!

I could be mistaken, but not sure you can enter the Great Pyramid. When we went (last year) it was the second largest pyramid, or Pyramid of Khafre, that you could enter. However I'll echo a previous poster and say that if you don't like confined spaces, this is not for you.

I also agree that the Luxor museum is worth a visit - I think people ignore it, but it's got some interesting pieces. And if you go later in the day (we went right before closing time), you basically have the place to yourself. Another fun Luxor thing to do is to take a hot air balloon ride. It was pretty neat to look over the Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Habu temple, etc. at sunrise.

Also, if you happen to visit the Habu temple in Luxor, there's a great restaurant just across the street from the entrance. Doesn't look like much from the outside, but serves some great food and it's really neat to sit outside staring at an ancient temple just across the street!

We spent 5 nights there at the end of December and really only wanted one or two more. We did a couple days of diving in the Red Sea and then went to Luxor for a couple nights. We missed the pyramids - a shame but we were time limited and the flights were booked by the time I went to book - but I figure we can go back and see those one day passing through some time.

The tours around Luxor were fine - figure $80 to hire a car & English speaking driver for the 5ish hours and then another $70ish per person for entrance fees to the various sites - but I wasn't all that impressed by Tut's tomb and it was crazy expensive. The stuff is well maintained but the regular interactions with the people on the streets and around town were mostly just annoying to me. Hard to find good food though we did eventually.

Certainly one could spend more time doing more things and seeing the sights in different ways but that wasn't for me.

I just returned from 1-1/2 days in Cairo, and that was enough for me for that city. That will give you a chance to see the Light Show, the Great pyramids, sphinx, the step pyramids, carpet and papyrus schools the Museum and such. Unless you are interested in seeing garbage strewn streets, insane traffic, and irragation canals with floating dead animals, after the pyramids, Cairo isn't much. Get to Luxor or Sharm el shek or Answan.

If you are an egyptoligist, the above does not apply, of course.

What are your suggestions regarding a tour company? Is it safe and easy enough to get around Egypt to do it on your own or would it be recommendable to hire a tour company?

Thanks!

I think Eygpt is safe for tourists, bar the odd terrorist (very serious) incident. On a global scale it is not exactly "easy" but it is certainly possible to travel without one single tour. You can pick up day tours and day cruises on the Nile, can take a taxi to places like the Pyramids and fly or go on the train between Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. People trying to sell you stuff, haggling for taxis etc, can become very tiresome, but being whisked about on a bus all the time cuts you off a bit.