Hi Catref, I know Jolleys near the Old Winter Palace. The people very friendy. Also I so good report about http://www.reallifeegypt.com for the tours.

Hi Catref, My wife and I have used Jolleys many times and feel that you will be perfectly okay with them. When you make contact with them initially, explain how you feel and I'm sure that they will make every effort to put you at ease.

Thanks Moudi and Carrot for your advice I am looking forward to going I am also visiting an orphange there and I am looking forward to that too.
I will let you know how it went. Thanks again.

Hi Catref,
Where are you staying? If it is near the Sonesta Hotel there is a lovely restaurant called the Lantern about 100m down the road opposite the hotel run by a lovely english lady. You will have no problem dining there, or the Sunrise restaurant on the corner above the shops. There is a lot of hassle on the streets as you know but you can always take a taxi from your hotel if necessary. We were a family of 4 and my daughter did receive many proposals and offers of camels all in good fun! We never felt unsafe or threatened in any way. Hope this helps,
regards
sj

Hi, I go toLuxor every year (Jolie Ville) and can agree that jollies is a good choice for excursions and reasonable in price, If your looking for advice on trips to various sites whick are ouside Luxor itself then you will have to go by road convoy.

Sites that I would reccomend would be as follows:

Approx 1hr north Dendra temple
Approx 2hrs south Edfu, andif you have the money a 3hr trip down to Aswan to go to Phillai Temple (stopping of at Kom Ombo)
Any further trips really arn't worth it due to the price i.e a trip to Cairo or Abu Simbel.
For example last year the cheapest price I found to go from Aswan (3hrs south of Luxor) to Abu Simbel was about 900 EP P/P !!!!! too much.

hope this helps

Abu Simbel is most definitely worth going to! I thought this was far more impressive than the Pyramids and it wasnt as expensive as you may think. Myself, my hubby and son done ALL the trips possible, we stayed in Luxor went on a nile cruise as far down as Abu Simbel then flew to Cairo and back to Luxor. We also went to Banana Island, had a camel ride and a balloon ride over the nile which was beautiful. For the three of us this cost just under 900.00 with Thomson.

If you go with a local company you will get it a lot cheaper. Having been to Egypt before and arranged all trips ourselves we decided to go with our travel company for a change.

900 Egyptian pounds is roughly £90.00 in our money, well worth it in my book. The way to look at is you may never go back and even if you do certain sites may eventually close to visitors, I say of you can afford it go and see as much as you can. That is what Egypt is all about, the culture and the history of a fabulous country and its people.

Have a great holiday.