Recommendations
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We were visiting Luxor for the first time and – not being in the first flush of youth (!) – we decided to use a tour guide to help take us through the initial stages of our visit. We used Ali Abdo, www.luxortoursegypt.com, having read about his services on this web site from other users. We, too, found him to be extremely helpful, entirely reliable and trustworthy. Perhaps one of his biggest advantages is that he has a British representative/counterpart, who can be contacted if there are any difficulties, such as we encountered during the political unrest earlier in the year. The British representative also means that all tours can be pre-booked, and paid for, in the UK before departure, making budgeting extremely helpful. Ali’s prices are very reasonable and very close to those available locally, which could save a small amount but would, of course, involve negotiations, i.e. heavy haggling! Once you have chosen and paid for your tours, you receive a spreadsheet, detailing exactly what you have paid for and what each tour involves. There are absolutely no hidden extras. What you pay for is detailed in the spreadsheet and is exactly what you get. We tipped members of Ali Abdo’s team, but this was entirely at our discretion and we felt absolutely no obligation to do this. Obviously, if you buy extra tours when you get to Luxor – as we did after meeting Ali Abdo - then obviously you pay for this, but no more than his advertised prices. Ali Abdo cannot spare you completely from the numerous pestering from local hawkers, shop-owners, tomb guardians, etc. but he can certainly help to ameliorate these annoyances. Luxor is a wonderful place to visit and we will certainly return, as one visit is by means anywhere near enough to visit anything but a superficial number of the almost countless magnificent historical sites available We booked our ticket through Easyjet, but we may look at Egypt Air in the future, as Easyjet certainly has lost of hidden ‘extras’ and a 5.5 hour flight with a captive audience gives plenty of opportunities for ‘retail activities’! Doug - May 2011 |
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Dear Ali I hope this email finds you well. I apologise for not getting back to you before now but have only just returned from Jordan. We continued to have a fantastic stay in the Middle East and having been telling all our friends that they need to book their next holiday there. I tried to submit a review to trip advisor so that you would be listed, but there would not allow it yet (their response is forwarded at the bottom of this email). However I have posted about you on their travel forum (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g294205-i9426-k4433010-Best_tour_guide_in_Luxor-Luxor_Nile_River_Valley.html) and on the Lonely Planet travel forum (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?newPost=true&threadID=2050184). The following website gives details about how to get listed on Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/pages/getlisted_resource.html). If you wanted to email me once you are listed officially I would be delighted to add a review. Please find attached the photo of us as well, and I will send the photos of the Princess Sarah to the info@luxortoursegypt.com email account. Once again, thank you for everything you organised for us in Luxor and your wonderful hospitality. It was the best holiday we have ever been on and we felt that meeting you was the luckiest part of our trip. We will be in touch next time we return to Egypt, and if you are ever in the UK, please get in contact so we can return your hospitality in London. With best wishes, Your friend James James Hunter - 27 April 2011 |
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Dear Vanessa, I thought I would send you a quick email to let you know how my holiday went in Luxor. The arrangements made with Ali exceeded all expectations and he couldn't do enough to make sure my time in Luxor was a memorable one, I also had the privilege of meeting his young son who accompanied me on my tour of banana island after a superb, relaxed lunch on board the boat at a sandbank in the middle of the Nile lazily watching the world go by. My trips to the west bank were excellent, having been picked up at my hotel in a private cab with a private tour guide, who was extremely knowledgeable and I was treated to a complimentary lunch on both occasions. It really does make a huge difference when you have your own guide as you can take your time and ask as many questions as you like rather than being herded in a big group as I was the last time. I would have no hesitation in recommending Ali to anyone who is thinking of visiting Luxor as I can guarantee that they will have a wonderful time with a trustworthy and accommodating tour arranger, the touts all left me alone as soon as I mentioned I was with Ali!! I bumped into him one afternoon along the corniche and he insisted on making me tea on his boat as a token of friendship, quite superb hospitality. I would like to thank you for putting me in touch with Ali and would ask that you pass on my thanks and very warm greetings to him and his family. I have attached a couple of photos for you to have a look at. Once again many thanks and I look forward to returning to Luxor soon. Yours James Hunter - April 2011 |
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Hi vanessa just a quick note to thank you for introducing me to a wonderful man. Ali made sure we felt special. i will send a review to you soon. once again my thanks best regards pat Pat O'Leary - 7 April 2011 |
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We had a few precious days to spend in Luxor, and wanted to make the most of them, so we asked Ali Abdu(www.luxortoursegypt.com) to organise our activities (we booked the hotel and train to/from Cairo independently). Hedid a fantastic job. We've seen some (old) unfavourable reviews of Mr. Ali on TripAdvisor, but can categorically statethat he did everything possible to ensure that our few days worked like clockwork. We gave him a list of what we wanted to do, and he organised: * An extremely knowledgeable and interesting guide (Yahia Adbou Ahmed, aka John) for our two West Bankantiquities visits covering the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Hatsepshut's Temple, Medinet Habu, Deir elMedina and the Colossi of Memnon, plus a minibus to take us round, * A Horus hot air balloon ride much less expensively than the hotels offered, * A day-long cruise to Dendara and back * Dinner on his boat, the "Tom & Jerry" (twice) * A caleche-based tour of the town and the local market with Hamdi and son * Dinner at an excellent restaurant on the West Bank, (including ferry to/from), * All transport to/from the airport and around town (including pickup twice at 5am). Ali did all this for us for a fixed price agreed ahead of time, and this also had the great merit that we could confidentlydecline the many, many other people who wanted to offer us these services! Mr. Ali was an interesting and stimulating person to talk to, and we really enjoyed his company. He was also extremely reliable and punctual, and easily contacted by mobile phone whenever we wanted to change anything. Equally, he was happy to leave us to our own devices, when that was what we preferred to do. All-in-all, we found this an extremely satisfactory way to ensure that we got as much as possible out of our few days,without feeling rushed at any point. We have no hesitation in recommending Ali Abdu's services to anyone who wants to make sure their time in Luxor is agreat experience. Chris & Anne Moller, Cambridge, UK. - November 2010 |
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We are a family of six and recently spent a fabulous week in Luxor. John & Sam - Oct 2010 |
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We have just returned from a weeks honey moon in Luxor and we must thank Ali & his team for making a good holiday a fantastic one . For the whole week Ali gave us V.I.P treatment and a service second to none and was only a phone call away for anything that we needed. We booked all of our trips with Ali including museum, valley of the kings , hot air balloon and virtually every temple worth seeing and we did it all in style. When all of the other tourists were squashing onto a coach and sharing a guide between 40 people, we were picked up in a air conditioned people carrier or car, just the 2 of us and a guide all to ourselves (which was fantastic for my wife as she had so many questions to ask). The service did not stop after the days trip as Ali would come pick us up ,(if we needed) take us to a restaurant of our choice and then ask us to text him when we needed collecting . All of this service would of been more than enough but Ali even had a surprise for us on our last day, were he took us for a sunset cruise on his boat down the Nile and we enjoyed a great meal on board and he had even had a cake made for us with our name on. Yet again we had the whole boat to ourselves and it seemed all the other boats on the Nile were crowded. Ali kept saying "they are sardines you are king and queen" funny but that is how we felt. We have been fortunate enough to have traveled to a lot of places around the world and yet this is only the second time i have felt i needed to share my good fortune in finding such a person as Ali. Mr & Mrs Ball (Justin & Claire) - Sept 2010 |
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We had a great time, Egypt is an amazing place. The tours were good, it was nice just having ourselves and the guide. Mr Ali was very helpful any help, advice where to go he went out of his way to help. Must admit it was like being with your favourite uncle, him doing anything and everything to make your stay enjoyable and for you to come back again (he surpassed himself). Mrs U C - July 2010 |
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Dear Vanessa, I just wanted to pass a message on to Ali that I have posted the review below on tripadvisor. You can also use it on the website as well, if you like. I have also attached aphoto we took of him. Please pass on our gratitude for all his efforts when were inLuxor. Review:If anyone is looking for a tour guide in Luxor, I can highly recommend Luxor Tours (http://www.luxortoursegypt.co.uk/ourtours.htm), run by Ali Abdou. Ali went out of his way to make our trip great, and it made a big difference having someonetrustworthy to arrange things for us. Ali states that '"honesty is the best policy", and this was certainly apparent in hisconduct. Importantly, the tour guides he arranged to take us to the historic sites were excellent: very knowledgeable andfriendly. Alex - Feb 2010 |
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We had a few precious days to spend in Luxor, and wanted to make the most of them, so we asked Ali Abdu (www.luxortoursegypt.com) to organise our activities (we booked the hotel and train to/from Cairo independently). He did a fantastic job.
Ali did all this for us for a fixed price agreed ahead of time, and this also had the great merit that we could confidently decline the many, many other people who wanted to offer us these services! Mr. Ali was an interesting and stimulating person to talk to, and we really enjoyed his company. He was also extremely reliable and punctual, and easily contacted by mobile phone whenever we wanted to change anything. Equally, he was happy to leave us to our own devices, when that was what we preferred to do. All-in-all, we found this an extremely satisfactory way to ensure that we got as much as possible out of our few days, without feeling rushed at any point. We have no hesitation in recommending Ali Abdu's services to anyone who wants to make sure their time in Luxor is a great experience.over the Nile, absolutely brilliant. Bill & Margaret Smith - May 2010 |
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Just to say we had an absolute FABULOUS time in Luxor and can't wait to return! Ali has to be the nicest man I have ever met and am so proud to be called part of his family. The tours he organised were far above what we anticipated and the way we were treated was impeccable. I would recommend him to everyone going to Luxor.I only wish we had had more time to sample more tours but am already making plans to return for 2 weeks and Ali's tours are on the top of my list of priorities. Please thank him again so much for us-he made our holiday. He went out of his way to treat us like Queens of the Nile Sandra - Jul 2007 |
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Alan and I cannot thank you enough for making our week in Luxor such a happy, relaxed and interesting experience. Your support, advice and services could not be faulted and everything you organised for us ran well. When visiting an unfamiliar place it can be worrying for the tourist about who to trust and who can be relied upon. You proved to be totally dependable and we felt completely confident and comfortable with the organisations and individuals you used from Magic Horizon/Alaska Balloons to Nasser the caleche driver and the Arabian Horse Stables. Michael & Alan T - Mar 2007 |
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We had a wonderful time! Everything Ali arranged was great. We spent a lot of time with Ali on his boat just sitting and reading or swimming round the boat, wonderfully relaxing. Jamie & Debbie - June 2006 |
For more information about any of these tours and activities, including the current prices, please contact Vanessa Hyde at home on 01373 832700 or by mobile on 07740 468003. Alternatively, email info@luxortoursegypt.com.