What to pack

Light cottons for the day. A woolly or fleece for the evening if you are in Luxor between November and March or if you are going to Cairo on the overnight train. Beachwear is only appropriate within the hotel grounds or on a cruise ship. There is more about this on the What to Wear page.

Skin care

At the moment Avon have offers on sun creams and 'anti-insect' Skin So Soft body lotion. For more about caring for your skin in the sun see the Sun page.

Travel insurance

Insurance provided by credit card companies usually only covers you for personal accident whilst on the journey paid for using the card - not for illness or other accident whilst you are abroad. Check the terms with your card issuer.

Most adults under 65 can get insurance for a week, including hot air ballooning, for around £8. See the insurance page for more.

Airport formalities

Read the item called arriving to take you step by step through what happens when you get to the airport.

Gippy Tummy

A lot of the problems are not caused by food, but when you pick up bugs on your hands (e.g. from dirty notes) and don't have chance to wash before touching your food or your face.

It is best to take some anti-bacteria gel wherever you go and use it regularly. You can get it from most pharmacies or buy online at just over £2 for 50ml - click the picture for more details. The same people sell bigger ones and another that you can click to a belt. For more about tummy problems see the health page.

Our sponsors

We travel anonymously, pay all travelling costs etc ourselves and do not accept donations or advertising from anyone. This keeps us independent and neutral. We also do the web site design and management ourselves.

We have to pay for web hosting (that enables you to access the site from anywhere in the world). These costs are subsidised by besthighstreet.com a web site that helps visitors to find internet shops and providers of a large range of services. Using besthighstreet.com helps us (a lot) to keep going.

Where to stay

Most kinds of accommodation are available, from tent pitches to 5 star hotels. Read the Hotels section for a review of some.

Where to eat

Descriptions and reviews of some restaurants and cafes are in the Eating section.

What to see

Luxor is probably best known for its decorated tombs, for its temples and as a start or finish point for Nile cruises. Luxor has all this to offer and a great deal more. For a hint of things to see, visit the sights page.

Keep up to date!

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Getting around

Read the page on getting around to find out about taxis, buses and the different boats that sail the Nile.

Holidays

The Holidays section has information about booking packages or just flights or hotels.

Luggage

The airlines are getting very fussy about weights. Worse still, there are reports of a scam at the Luxor end when you are charged at the check-in even when you are convinced that your luggage is not over weight. You can get a useful gadget for about £10 that includes a 34kg scale and a 1M tape so that you can check, and demonstrate if necessary, that your luggage is not overweight. Could save you a lot more than its cost in saved luggage supplements. Click on the image for more details.

Reading in Luxor

Many of the bigger hotels have libraries of English language novels you can borrow. Ask at reception. Magazines are more difficult to find in Luxor. If you prefer to read magazines it is best to take them with you. You can get trials of the 3 latest issues of some major magazines for £1.

Balloons

Following 3 serious accidents in 2009, balloon trips were stopped for several months but restarted on 26th October 2009. There are new rules limiting the number of balloons and requiring new licensing and fees to various authorities. These things combined have caused prices to increase. For more see 'Hot air balloon' on the Sights page and insurance.

New Ferries

The National Ferry now has new boats operating across the Nile, but the cost for tourists has doubled from LE1 to LE2 each way. Read other news about improvements to the city and the facilities.

Hotel changes

The Mercure Inn (Coralia) became the Swiss Inn and has since been demolished. The Mercure Hotel (Etap) on the Corniche is now the El Luxor hotel.

Emergency Numbers

Police 122
Ambulance 123

Time

Luxor is 2 hours ahead of GMT most of the time, but not all of the time. See more about time.

Tipping

This is often difficult. You don't want to overdo it, but you don't want to be mean. Read the tipping page for the latest guide.

Electricity

You will need a 2 pin continental type converter. This one provides two 13 amp outlets plus a nightlight and is about £9 from the travel section of Presents For Men. They also charge postage. You need the European one, not the US one.

If you are unwell

Most hotels have access to English speaking doctors. Most medicines are easily available and very cheap. Read about pharmacies on the health page. If the worst happens, Luxor has a large and quite modern hospital.

Children's luggage

Not many people take children to Luxor, but if you do, look out in luggage shops for Trunki, a ride-on child's suitcase. It costs around £30. If you can't find it locally, you can click on the picture for more details on the manufacturer's web site.

Drink plenty

It is extremely hot all year round. Dehydration is the greatest health risk. Always take plenty of water. It is cheap and easy to get safe bottled water. Keep it cool if you can, but don't drink it really cold as this may upset your stomach. If you don't want to hold a bottle this carrier for about £4 may help (you can click on the image for more details). More about keeping well.