After our lovely overnight sleeper train journey from Cairo to Aswan (nice drop through toilet even in 1st class!) - tip: use early on in the train journey if you can! transferred to the Nile cruise ship which was pure luxury after the Cairo experience - great service and great views alog the Nile. Plenty of visits to the main temples and tombs (Valley of the Kings etc), with our favourite being the Karnac and Luxor Temples in Luxor. The only problem when doing this as part of a tour company is that you don't get very long at each of the sites - i.e ony 45mins free time at the Valley of the Kings... View image
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and your ticket is now limited to only 3 tombs... If you want to see King Tuts tomb then you now have to pay extra - which isn't worth it considering it is now empty and all the artifacts are now in Cairo musuem.

Luxor has greatly improved over the last few years with more hotels and tourist developments. The most noticeable is that there are armed Tourist Police everywhere, so you are made to feel very, very safe - that does not unfortunatley shield you from the locals, who constantley hassle you in the street and don't seem to take no for an answer. Beware of the many horse and carriage tourist traps... It is also very easy to get lost in the maize of side streets and roads - keep to the main area's and you should be ok.
Also be aware that Egypt is a Muslim country, so watch out for when Ramadan is (it's the whole month that we are here) as you will find that services are very limited, if not unavailable during the afternoon hours - you also need to be very considerate about eating or drinking when out of the hotels etc.

Another tip is to take a felucca (sail boat) trip out onto the nile around sunset, for the most amasing views. Currently you can get one for about 20 egyptian pounds (about 2 pounds sterling) per person for the hour.