I plan to fly to Luxor and stay for perhaps two or three days, before getting an express train to Cairo, which I may use as a base for excursions over the following couple of weeks. Or I may travel by train up-country, stopping and staying in various places along the way.

Maybe I've answered my own question before asking it, considering the unplanned nature of my itinerary, but I need advice on accomodation and train travel: Is it advisable to book both of these in advance (i.e. before getting to Egypt)? I'd like to retain some flexibility for whim, but obviously I don't want to sleep on the streets.

Any help on this would be really appreciated.

Hi Hedgewood. The summertime *isn't* peak season in Egypt for an obvious reason - it's pretty hot - and so you should be fine booking accommodation and rail tickets when you turn up. As ever, this sort of info is in guidebooks so do get one and digest it. I do genuinely recommend the forthcoming seventh edition of the Rough Guide to Egypt; it's been revamped in places, maps have been improved and so forth - and it was already a pretty good book to begin with.

There's plenty of choice of accommodation in both Luxor and Cairo. When I was in Luxor a few months ago I chose to stay partly on the west bank in Gezira and partly in Luxor itself; each side of the river has its pros and cons.

Enjoy Egypt - a great place, despite various hassles.

Richard
www.myspace.com/rltl

PS: Note that Cairo numbers have apparently recently changed because of the sudden addition of an extra digit, which might mess things up a little for you but if you're being spontaneous you probably won't be calling around much anyway.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: re17,

Thanks alot. That's very helpful.

When I was in Luxor I stayed at the Nile Palace Hotel And Resort. You might want to consider it. It's a great hotel.