Private Tour West Bank Luxor: Valley Of The Queens, Nobles, Lunch

Our guide was friendly and relaxed. The car was good with air con. We had a good day but I was a bit disappointed by the guiding - he seemed keen to get all of the information “out of the way” so we had lots of information up front which was hard to retain. There was also a massive focus on the family that helped Carter find King Tut’s tomb, the descendants of whom now make alabaster. Lots of information on this - more than on the pharaohs themselves with an unadvertised stop at a slightly painful “experience” where they demonstrated how alabaster products were made before ushering us into an expensive shop. At Hapsetshut temple other guides showed their guests around, pointing out interesting features with a laser whilst ours did the information upfront thing again and then we were on our own to look round. It didn’t work for the kids who would have been much more engaged with shorter commentary.

We enjoyed our half-day private tour tremendously. Aladdin was an excellent guide. We appreciated his knowledge and explanations. We enjoyed learning more about the way the tombs were created and about the different artisans. This tour was a nice complement to the Valley of the Kings which we had visited the day before. Lunch at Malkata house was nice. They are very friendly and accommodating.

This tour is for those who can space things out a bit with their visits to the West Bank of Luxor. Specifically, having seen the Valley of the Kings, this tour offers an excellent overview of the locations associated with the Queens, Nobles and Artisans. In particular, the Artisan Village is a gem that should not be missed if you enjoy the stories of the people who worked so diligently to create the beautiful views seen in the Valley of the Kings itself. Further --- our guide, Mr. Hamdy, expertly led us through each location and patiently explained the relevant particulars about the sites while answering all of our many questions AND providing plenty of free time to fully explore. Finally, the lunch at the Malkata House might have been one of the best meals of my life. Wow! Do not miss.

The tour was well organised from start to finish with an excellent English speaking guide and a courteous Egyptian driver. Hamdyi, our guide was fantastic and very nowledgeable. We visited the Valley of the Queens, tombs of the Nobles and artisans village - all a very interesting experience and insight into the lives of ancient Egyptians. There was no hard sell at the alabaster shop. Hamdyi took us to a very good restaurant, Malkata House for a traditional lunch which we enjoyed a lot. Overall this was an excellent trip with our guide Hamdyi and we recommend to other travellers.

I arrived in Luxor with a group of 20 fellow travellers in which I was free to join them in visiting the Valley of the Kings the next day. However, I choose for the Valley of Queens instead which is one of the reasons for having booked the Luxor West Bank Valley of Queens tour. In royal tombs you can usally see a funeral of the deceased king as well as his trip to the afterlife. The Valley of Queens is less in mind, therefore out of sight for the majority of travellers visting Luxor. Still, it deserved my attention because in here the tomb of Queen Nefertari is located and said to have the most beautiful wall paintings in Egypt. Note that the Nefertari tomb visit is not included to this Luxor West Bank tour. I have purchased this ticket separately through the travel agency. Despite the high ticket price and 10 minute limit it was well worth the visit! The tomb is a beautiful display of Nefertari’s journey to the afterlife. Mind-blowing bright colored paintings! Thanks to Mohamed of Far And Beyond Travel for his assistance in purchasing the Nefertari Tomb ticket prior to my visit. I was also interested in people’s day-to-day life such as agriculture, hunting, craftmanship, get-togethers etcetera. That is what I hoped to see on the wall paintings within those smaller tombs in the Valley of the Artisans as well as the Valley of the Nobles. This is where my guide Hassan came in. Before entering the tombs he explained to me the function of tombs regarding the concept of resurrection. As the sun as well as the moon can set and rise through the sky Godess of Nut people pass away and expected to rise one day. That is why the body needs to be preserved and stored as a mummy in a tomb. Hassan lives at the West Bank. It has been a privilege for me to hear such stories from a very local person in my case. From Hassan’s point of view I was his guest taking a deep dive into ancient Egypt with a nice cup of coffee in our hand! We felt a mutual connection in our interest for the stories of Egypt. After each ‘’lecture’’ Hassan gave me free time to visit the actual tomb. It all worked out well for me. I want to thank Hassan for making this particular tour pleasant experience! Hassan’s colleague Omar has driven me around in a nice air-conditioned Lexus SUV. We picked up Hassan first and talked shop on our way between the different valleys. Omar is a is a talkative and considerate persoon. I want to thank him for the soft music in the car which is very relaxing. The lunch, which is included to this tour, in Malkata house was delicious. I enjoyed the local cuisine once again.

My review for this agency is mixed. My first guide in Giza and Cairo was absolutely amazing. He knew how much of the history to tell me, answered my questions, and was considerate of the heat and took me to the best sites. He also knew where to take the best pictures. Even though I don’t take pictures usually he really convinced me to and took some good ones and when I said no more he was super respectful. However, he is a subcontractor for this agency. In Luxor, the guide I received was not the best. He “mansplained” everything and repeated the same things multiple times. He also would tell me something at the beginning and then give me “free time” while he rested. I saw other guides walking through the temples and even waking guests to the door of the tombs and explaining things as they went along. I did not get that. He also lacked total consideration for the heat (probably because he was resting while I was waking around) and he did not let me ask any questions. When I was able to get one in, he would not understand me and would talk but without answering my question that I just gave up. The second day with The Valley of the kings and queens - I just called it quits halfway through. I did not feel like I was getting what I needed out of my guide - the heat was too much - and he couldn’t articulate what exactly the other temple and tombs would be and why they were important or different than what I had already seen. Also, this is minor but this guide also never offered to take a picture of me (I was traveling alone). I also opted to have the company take me from Luxor to the airport as an add on and they completely overcharged me compared to what I would have paid had it been through the hotel or any other company. Not sure I would recommend them - the subcontractor in Cairo would recommend 100%.

Guide was very nice, provided good information on the history at each site. We were picked up on time, no issues & lunch was amazing!!!!!! No major crowds, would recommend this tour!!!

Yassin organized an excellent private tour of the West Bank tombs for two of us. We began with a boat ride across the Nile, where we were met by a driver with a clean comfortable car. Our Egyptologist guide Hamdi was wonderful—very knowledgeable and pleasant, with excellent English. Top notch organization—we highly recommend it.

We absolutely loved this tour. The guide is amazing and speaks a perfect French, he is very knowledgeable and answers all questions in details. Everything was nicely organized and made easy for us. Highly recommend!

I travelled with my wife and two young children. The team created a seamless experience for us and adapted the tour a few times given our circumstances and needs of our children. Mohammed has assembled a great team and network of services, most importantly the majority of them are from the villages surrounding the West Bank landmarks which means you get an authentic viewpoint. The integrity of the team is what stood out the most for me, they charged appropriately and were transparent throughout. Alaadin was our tour guide, he was excellent and down to earth. He had in-depth knowledge of ancient egypt and is well educated. Chef Hassan prepares all the meals which are authentic and difficult to find for a tourist, very friendly and willing to go the extra mile. High quality food. I would highly recommend this team for your Luxor experience, especially if you are with a young family requiring personalization in your tour.

We had a 2-day tour and saw so many incredible things. It was jammed packed with unforgettable sights. Hamdi was our guide, he was amazing! Compared to other guides we had in Egypt he was kind, humble, and patient with our large group. His knowledge of the antiquities was vast and that was only the tip of the iceberg. He answered all of our questions with concise proficiency. He was honest and trustworthy, our favorite guide we had while we where in Egypt. I would love to come back and spend more time in the temples. Never enough time to see it all.

We got Samah as guide and she was wonderful, so nice, patient, she share we us all the things she knows. And in the same time she let us some time alone to visite and discovers by ourselves. We spend a great time and a wonderful day

Saber was excellent and a wealth of knowledge. He was extremely passionate about his studies, patient and accommodating, and fluent English. He even took us through the local market and helped score some great deals! Mahmoud always had a big smile! He was our driver all week. He was very kind and took great care of us. Easy to talk to! And very safe on the road. We would love to have these two in the future!!

It was a wonderful experience. We had two trips in one day. Mr Yassin organized our trips. We went in the morning to the balloons and saw the sunrise and the old temples. Afterwards we had our historic trip with our Guide Mr Hamdi. He rly is very knowledgeable and knows a lot. Any question we asked, he had an answer to it. It was a super nice experience. I can just recommend it.

Amazing and very interesting tour in the Valley of Kings, Queens, Nobles and Deir el Medina ! The guide Saber is truly passionate about the stories and very a kind guide. The lunch was made by Assan, a chef that looked truly passionate about cooking and very smily !

Amazing is the best description for our experience: amazing architecture, wallpaitings etc. Amazing guide Sabre, who knows everything about the sights and the people and shares it in such a lovable way. Amazing lunch in a beautiful guesthouse - the best we had in Egypt and we had many good ones. Careful driver. And Mohammed in front of the Winter Palace is a great and easy travel consultant. Thanks so much for the day. Highly recommend it.

The one and only, the greatest of all time - SABER. Mohamed wasn’t kidding when he introduced him as the best Egyptologist guide in all of Egypt. He ACTUALLY is!!! In fact, I would go as far as to say that he is the best tour guide of the WORLD. We have had many tour guides in several cities in the world and Saber is one of a kind. His knowledge of Egypt’s history and culture is unparalleled. He had answers to every single esoteric questions we had. The other Egyptologist guides in Egypt can’t even compare. He cared about his clients so much that he took the time to craft a good itinerary for us to see as many sites as possible given the limited time we had and told us about tips and tricks in navigating Egypt. He got us the correct entrance passes that was the most cost-efficient (we honestly wouldn’t have gotten this pass if it weren’t for his persuasive skills to the guards! It takes a long time to get it if you are doing it by yourself) and took many, many pictures of us that were just priceless. Photography should be his side gig! He would make a killing with his skills! When you are on a tour with Saber, he brings the history to life. Even in the drive to each stop, he starts telling us stories and fills in more details over Egyptian coffee. He takes time pointing out all the details of the tombs and even stopped MANY times to allow us to take pictures and took many cool pictures of us!!! The pictures he’s taken of us are memories of a life time. He is also famous throughout Egypt - literally - all the guards and guides know him, so we were able to get VIP treatment in different sites. Saber is super passionate about Egyptology - he came from a family of Egyptologists and scholars! He genuinely wanted to show us what Egyptian history meant and how it continuously shapes our world today and we were instantly hooked by his passion! After a tour with Saber, we realized how much info we were missing out with our other tour guides. When we go back to Egypt, we are definitely booking Saber for ALL of our tours. He is honestly that great!!! He has set the standard very high for our future guides. He can read HIEROGLYPHS. Whaaat!!!! He translated many of the tombs' hieroglyphs for us and told us what they meant! I was shook! You can't get this level of knowledge anywhere else!!!!! It was an honor for us to take a tour with Saber. He was the highlight of our trip and we were sooooo lucky to have been able to book him. We were skeptical at first due to a previous tour guide in Aswan, but he has dispelled all those fears and made us realize that there are good guides out there who are passionate, knowledgeable, and respectful. We booked a 2 day tour with Saber. On the first day, we wanted to see Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. On the second day - we wanted to see Valley of the Kings (and visit ALL of the tombs), Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon, Ramesseum, Medinat Habu Temple. Sounds insane, right? Well, Saber made ALL of this happened AND helped us take fantastic photographs AND gave us invaluable knowledge before and after each site AND fed us delicious lunch by Chef Hassan. I don't know what magic he has, but he is INCREDIBLE and we will never forget the memories, laughs, and knowledge he has given us. Thank you, Saber, our friend. You are amazing and we are lucky to have met you. Definitely request for Saber if you have any trips coming up in Egypt. He will teach you more than you can ever imagine.

The organization was amazing and adjusted to our needs. Our guide Hamdy was super competent and knowledgeable about the history. We just loved our tour and would definitely recommend it!!! It is a must see!

The most incredible experience with via vagari!!! Thank you to the incredible detail by Muhammad. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for the amazing service showed by Abdullah it was so amazing that I made sure to also cook him dinner personally. Chef Hasan was also amazing with his dedication to our group. It tour guide hamdy is truly a gift in Egyptology.. He gave us his knowledge , hard work, sweat and tears and for that I can't thank him enough. I know everyone says they will be back but I'm not everyone. See you guys next year when I will host a dinner for everyone that dedicated their time to our group In sha Allah!! thank you for everything and keep up the great work.

My experience was far and beyond belief! I arrived at the Winter Palace early in the morning. The desk clerk suggested I go on a tour while waiting for my room and of course suggested Far and Beyond. I was cordially greeting by Yassin who, within minutes, arranged two days of solo tours for a very reasonable price. I was paired with Mamdouh, an excellent guide very knowledgeable in Egyptology and whose English was impeccable. Day 1 we took off for the Valley of the Kings. I felt so lucky have Mamdouh as my guide. After stopping at an alabaster school at my request, we had lunch and took a speedboat to the dock of the Winter Palace. Later that evening he returned to escort me (believe it, you’ll need an escort to avoid the locals) to see Luxor Temple illuminated at night. The next morning I went on the sunrise balloon ride that Yassin arranged separately. Mamdouh and I met in the hotel lobby at 8am and continued to Karnak and Luxor Temples. On my last day in Luxor, after visiting the Luxor museum on my own, Yassin arranged a 2-hour felucca cruise to Banana Island and then arranged to have me transported back to the train station for departure. Yassin is very accommodating in customizing a tour to meet what YOU want to do. And he’s a great guy. It’s no accident that he’s got a five star rating. Nothing but great service. You won’t be disappointed.

We organized a private trip with our guide Saber, who proved to be very professional and really made our trip by sharing his many years of Egyptology experience with us. He really brought home the history to life in an engaging and thoughtful way, which made our trip and the experience magical. As a local to the tombs we gained from his inside knowledge and passion for his subject. We were very happy we did these trips and will definitely be back. Such an amazing experience ! The entire team were very professional throughout - from 6:00 am pickups to make the most of the day before the midday sun, everything was well organized. We ended up taking 7-8 trips and every single was amazing and special. There is so much to see in the Valley of the Kings and the Tombs alone - trying to visit by yourself is possible but you would really miss out on such a lot of the history, culture and art. We’d definitely recommend this team and our guide Saber to everyone. Thanks Saber and team - see you next time! Marina and Richard

We had two private tours in Luxor. Saber was recommended as a very good guide by the office. He was an extraordinarily wonderful guide, kind, respectful, and had an Egyptologist with extreme knowledge. He shwoed us the historical and cultural side of Luxor with a lots of episodes and stories. Even Ramdan in the very hot days were wonderful two days with him. Tours were in very clean air-conditioned cars and a frieundly driver. Thank you Saber! Yumi & Arnold 3. 4. May 2021