Prelude
One of the more enjoyable questions we often wrestle with is where to go for winter sun to escape the dank chill of London and its short days during the SAD season. Somewhere we can go to read, write and just relax and where local colour is a secondary consideration. We usually find that a week suffices. Experience has framed our criteria. We are beyond the time when those luxurious but anodyne beach resorts hold an attraction for us. For a week, distance is a factor. As are time-zone afflictions that disrupt sleep patterns. Our options are further narrowed; the weather on the south coast of Europe is just a bit too unpredictable. I know from experience how grey and cold it can get in southern Spain. Florida? Time zone counts against it. The Gulf? Neither the Emirates resorts nor those in Oman lift themselves out of the category we eschew. As with Florida, the flight distance is on the cusp. The Red Sea resorts? Again that beach resort vibe that makes them a no. The mountains of Oman (already visited in another time) or of Morocco? Too chilly at this time of year. Marrakech? We have been twice already and its hectic bustle does not work for what we were seeking. We have been to more southerly Morocco and enjoyed two separate relaxation trips to the Gazelle d’Or near Taroudant now, sadly, defunct. These were almost ideal but a change is as good as any other cliché.
There may be other places we could not think of that we should have considered but we ended with Luxor, and a stroke of near genius it was. There are direct flights with Egyptair from Heathrow. The weather is warm in February. We have been on more than one occasion so have ‘done’ all the rightly famous sights (most twice) so we could just relax. And relax we did.
Structure of the Trip
Organisationally, seven nights in one hotel was as simple as it gets. However, taking advantage of their personal familiarity with the hotels available, we used long-time travel advisers, Audley Travel (https://www.audleytravel.com/egypt/accommodation). It was they who suggested our hotel as a good place to mix relaxation with peace and quiet. They also sorted our flights and, on arrival at Luxor airport late in the evening, the organisation of our visas and the transfer to our hotel. It does not sound much but, when you are tired after a day’s travel and a few of the things you least fancy include hanging around in disorderly queues at a visa desk or bartering with taxi drivers over fares, it has its benefits. It also meant we could get their Luxor local agent, Emeco Travel, to organise the two activities that we did decide to undertake whilst we were there.
Weather
Day time temperatures were in the range 23°C-26°C (73°F-79°F). The nights were chillier dropping to around 10°C (50°F) which meant early mornings were crisp. No wind and clear blue skies all week meant that we had what we came for: sun and warmth.
Time Zone
The time is two hours ahead of London so very manageable without any material jet-lag issues. Ideal when you only have a week and prefer to minimise time-lag recovery.
Flights
As mentioned, this was with Egyptair direct from London Heathrow (Terminal 2). It is quieter at this time of year so a breeze through security. The outbound flight was not full, although extraneous factors may have been at play (see below). One of the non-Egyptair staff we spoke to at the airport was a bit sniffy about Egyptair’s food offer. I do not understand why. In the world of airline food (not a high bar, I admit) we felt that their offer was substantial, had variety and was pretty palatable. Luxor airport is small and does not have any jetways so it is a bus-ride from plane to terminal. We were the sole incoming flight and the only scrum of people was to pay for your visa in the arrivals hall. When we went this was $25US payable in dollars. Egyptian pounds are not acceptable it seems, although with inflation hovering around 30% this is, perhaps, understandable. Lacking dollars, and with our Audley local representative doing the talking, we were eventually allowed to pay with a credit card. Luggage arrives promptly.
As we found on departure, Luxor airport, being small, does not have a lot of facilities airside. Just one café (bizarrely called ‘Bell’s’) serving tea, coffee, bottled water and canned fizzy drinks and a very limited selection of sandwiches (hot dog panini anyone?). It also only takes cash (Egyptian pounds this time). There are two security checks within the airport so coats, shoes, belts off and laptops, phones etc. into trays two times, once before check-in and later to access the departure gates.
Mobility Access
Egyptair made sure we had a wheelchair at the plane on arrival in Luxor and we were taken down on the lift-lorry that delivers the food and drink to the planes. The wheelchair guided us right through to our arranged transport. On our return flight a wheelchair was produced at the check-in desk. The return to Heathrow was also straightforward with a buggy waiting at the plane arrival gate at Terminal 2 and, if we had needed it, a wheelchair up the jetway from the plane.
Hotel
As the hotel we were to stay at was central to our enjoyment of this holiday, we were delighted to find that the Al Moudira Hotel (https://moudira.com/en) was everything we could have wished it to be. It is not in Luxor but on the West Bank on the opposite side of the River Nile, so away from the hurly-burly of the city. For us its location, with only two or three nearby houses, made it a peaceful oasis. It is a large walled compound built in a faux-Moorish style with rooms set around small courtyards that feel very private. There are 53 rooms but, as they are all at ground level and the grounds suitably extensive, the whole has a soothing sensibility. Started on a piece of open desert in 1996, the hotel is the brainchild of a Lebanese woman (who still spends most of her time at the hotel) who became known locally as Al Moudira (colloquially the Boss). The gardens are very carefully tended with plants, shade-giving palms, vegetables growing and beds awash with the mint and basil that is used by the kitchens. Staff seem to be plentiful and the service in the restaurants and at the pool is attentive and friendly.
Our room was capacious, as was the en-suite with separate bath and shower. The décor and furnishings were in keeping with the Moorish style with just the right hint of Oriental wackiness. To keep out heat and bugs, the windows are small and shuttered with protective fly screens. The beds are vast, although quite high. We asked for, and promptly received, a set of wooden steps (just two steps) just to make the process of getting into bed a little easier. Cooling and warming systems were available but, in the temperatures we had, they remained unused as the room was cool enough during the day and felt warm enough at night.
There are four eating places. The Khan has an Egyptian menu, the Ottoman Hall and Eastern Bar have a more international menu as does the Pool Pavilion bar and restaurant which is open during the daylight hours. The fourth place is the separate breakfast room with its outdoor courtyard and tables in sun and shade. The food was very good quality and with sufficient variety that, even after a week, we did not find ourselves wishing for something different. A full range of drinks is on hand and all their still and sparkling water is filtered using a Brita system. As we sat around the pool, each day around 12.30 the staff would appear with free, fresh-cooked pizza slices to offer around. The pool itself is a sensible size (twenty plus metres long and rectangular) allowing proper lap-swimming as well as recreational splashing around. It is fringed with plenty of loungers and, for Celtic-skinned people like me, plentiful shade in the form of canopies with curtains. More chairs, tables and cushioned seats are set amongst the trees.
The hotel was very quiet, particularly during the early part of our stay. One of the duty managers explained this was a consequence of quite a number of cancellations by those travelling from Europe and North America because of the horrifying events of 7 October 2023 in southern Israel and their dreadful aftermath both in Gaza and in the resulting Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The United Kingdom Foreign Office advice had cautioned against travel to the Red Sea resorts but the Nile Valley remained in the ‘safe to travel’ category.
What else to say of the hotel as a place for winter warmth and relaxation? Oh! There are no TVs or screens anywhere – a plus point as far as we were concerned. Conversely the wifi signal worked fine, a little weaker in some parts of the compound but strong enough for our podcasting and contact purposes. There is a rustic edge to the décor and fittings; this is not the slick perfection of some five-star hotels in Europe. For us this was part of the charm of the place and the staff were always on hand to try and help with our needs.
For those seeking a dose of urbanity, a free shuttle goes twice daily to Luxor town centre. For us, our local Audley partner organised the two ventures we made out of the tranquillity of the hotel.
Mobility Access
With the hotel essentially all on one level and paved paths linking all the elements of the hotels, it was very easy to get around. Distances between those same elements were manageably short thus our room was no more than 50 metres from either pool or restaurant. There are some steps as the land slopes up slightly away from the reception and there is a slope down to the pool area, but we are talking of no more than six or seven in a couple of places and there are always alternative routes that can be used that have no steps.
The pool has steps down into the water (see bottom left in the image). There is no handrail but grab surfaces are available if stabilisation is needed.
Activities: Karnak Temples at Sunrise
I am not going to try and write anything about the history of the temples or the sheer architectural splendour of the different elements. For that you must look elsewhere. It is one of the key sights of Ancient Egypt and is, accordingly, popular. We had visited it on two occasions on previous trips so our self-selected tour this time was to see the sun rise across the site. To help with transport to and fro and to sort the access tickets we had a guide from the local tour company used by Audley. He was an archaeology graduate currently undertaking a Masters in Egyptology. Having struggled to find a post in archaeology he was putting his knowledge to use doing guiding. His knowledge was exhaustive and enthusiastic. It is not his fault that I get lost in the nuances of ancient Egyptian history and culture and sometimes just like to sit or wander taking in the atmosphere of the remains. Thankfully he did give us the chance to do just that.
Seeing the rising sun play across the stones and statues was magical, aided by the fact we were, initially, the only people in the huge complex. Even when others did start to move through the site is so large we never felt the complex was overrun with visitors (which we know can be the case). So my suggestion is to go early to this much-visited site. Not only is the complex so much more engrossing at that time but the drive to the site through the pre-dawn time, with the sky pinkening and the early morning life encroaching on the streets, has its own enchantment. Sunrise in February was around 06.30 and we were back at the hotel in time to have breakfast (which ran through to 10.30).
Mobility Access
The Temples Complex at Karnak is a large site and, in front of the complex but beyond the entrance hall and visitor centre, is a large plaza bigger than a football pitch. There are no seats within the complex until you reach the café that sits alongside the Sacred Pool at the rear of the site. We had the use of a wheelchair. In our case it was thoughtfully provided by the local agency although I have read online somewhere that wheelchairs are available at the visitor centre. It certainly made all the difference in covering a site that, otherwise we could not have easily managed with mobility constraints. The word of warning here is that, although the site is broadly level and there are occasional slopes to assist with changes of level, some parts of the ground are quite rough and bumpy, at least for wheelchair users. Although smooth paving covers the plaza in front of the complex, within the complex the paving is ancient stones that, although easily manageable for the most part, do have areas of unevenness and in a couple of places it was easier to walk across the few steps of bumpier ground that go across in the wheelchair. Another obvious advantage is that the wheelchair provides a handy seat when you want to stop and give more time to at a particular element.
Without a wheelchair, it would be more difficult for someone with mobility constraints to do full justice to the site.
Activities: Felucca Trip at Sunset
Okay, there is an air of cheesiness about sunset trips but we knew from a previous trip on a felucca (in Aswan), they can be such a peaceful way to enjoy the River Nile. Once again we used the local agency, Emeco, to arrange the tour thus obviating any need to negotiate with felucca skippers (and getting the hotel to river transport thrown in). What we did not do was listen more closely when the local agency representative said he hoped there would be some wind. There wasn’t any. Feluccas are purely sail powered and without wind our trip upriver, against the stream, became a strenuous mix of the skipper and his ten-year old mate pulling us along by using boats moored along the riverbank and some ungainly punting using a pole the diameter of a small tree trunk. It was laboured going and far from relaxing as shouts passed from skipper to youngster.
There is clearly a favoured spot for sunset watching from the river at Luxor as was apparent from the cluster of motor launches and a few feluccas (towed into place by motor launch) gathered in a particular section of the river. About two hundred metres short of that clustering our skipper gave up our painful progress and the two crew rowed us (using a pair of oars that looked like two bits of white painted two-by-four) out into the middle of the river. We stopped to take in the sunset only to find that a large Nile cruise boat, seemingly oblivious to our presence, was swinging slowly round in mid-stream. As its stern curved gently towards us our skipper’s warning cries became more strident. With the stern about twenty metres away from knocking into us, the vessel straightened out and passed by safely. We were all too glad when the skipper, deciding enough was enough, called up a friend with a motor launch and we were transferred in mid-stream for our return to the shore.
So, if it is manifestly clear there is no wind, insist on your trip being in a motor launch and not a felucca. It won’t seem as romantic but you will be able to relax and enjoy the sunset. Just make sure they turn off their squeaky on-board sound system if you want to enjoy the sunset serenely.
Mobility Access
The issues for those with mobility constraints are manageable. On the West Bank side there is a wooden gangway (with handrails) down to the dock from the embankment but getting from dock to boat just requires a step over the gunwale into the well of the boat (be it motor launch or felucca). The process reverses on return to the dock. The crew provide helpful assistance as needed, including placing a step in the well of the boat to help with getting in and out.
For those who enjoy a splash of winter sun without having to travel to the Caribbean or to the Indian Ocean and are not particular fans of resorts, my sense is that Luxor and Al Moudira Hotel, surprisingly, provide unusual but wonderful alternatives. We are considering a return visit when, once again, we hanker for winter warmth.