We did the trip only about ten days ago. We too thought that the best way would be to go on the train, but it is an overnight trip on ordinary seats. Thist would obviousy mean two very uncomfortable nights(Cost about £50pp). There is the overnight sleeper train which sounds quite good (£95pp) But in the end we flew up and back in one day (£120pp) and we were very glad that we chose this option. It might sound a lot but was well worth the money and we strongly recommend this trip.
As I have just said, we have just returned so if you or anyone else needs any info. please feel free to pm me.

hi
our 1st trip to luxor in 2002 we did cairo in a day, we used a local travel agent carlson wagonlit travel (nr the old winter palace hotel) i cant remember exactly what we paid( i think but not sure it was around £130 each but its a while ago now!!!!) but it was much much cheaper than the uk charter companys for the same thing (thomsons,comos etc etc) picked up at our hotel taken to airport (about 7am flight to cairo) picked up at cairo by our guide & driver, had them in our own minivan all day. went to mosque,sphinx,pyramids & cairo museum. and as it was just us we could chose how much time & where wwe didnt want to go ( alabaster & perfume shops/factory) it was a fantastic day(exhausting) & well worth the money.
quite a few folks at our hotel did the overnight train & it was a bit of a nightmare & cairo is the maddest city ive ever been to a bit daunting to make the most of a short stay without a guide.
our last trip to luxor last january we decided to go to aswan & abu simbel instead & again used the same local travel company & again excellent. ( flew down to aswan stayed overnight then flew to abu simbel next day,back to aswan & got the night train back to luxor - about 4hrs)
any q's pm & i'll try & help.

Kind Regards to both. Im really excited now

oh i forgot to mention if your guide/taxi driver or indeed anyone else local mentions going to a perfume or alabaster 'factory' its more than likely that you are not going to see how something is made you will actually be taken to a shop....so if your not interested say so! ( in our experience anyway)
also leave enough time for the egyptian museum its huge & even looking at tutenkhamun's stuff will take a couple of hrs - i could have stood staring at tut's gold mask for hours just by itself.
have a great time im sure you will!!!

We booked through the Mona Lisa travel agency, near Luxor temple. By far the cheapest we could find (£120pp). When we arrived at Cairo airport we found that we had a guide and a driver all to ouselves, how special is that??
Also they were the cheapest for baloon flights that we found, £38 pp, another trip not to be missed.

Phil, you seem to have hit the jackpot price-wise for your tour & Flights to Cairo, plus the balloon trip. Any chance that you can post us all a bit more information and maybe a bit of a report on both trips?
Tez

Hello
Re day trip to Cairo - we just spent a week in Luxor and decided to do the day trip (plus many more). Booked with Jolleys for £120 each. In the end there were six of us in the same group. Transport from our hotel to the airport, accompanied by Mr Jolley who helped us through check in. Flight excellent with snack and coffee although under an hour. Met at Cairo airport by our guide (in air con mini bus). The guide was a lovely lady who was very passionate about the history. Lunch was included.
All in all a very memorable day and worth every penny.
Starty