r/solareclipse • u/NastyRyuk • 3d ago
Cairo to Luxor Aug 2027 travel options
Hi guys, I'm traveling from Chicago to Cairo well over a week before the totality but can't figure out a way to get to Luxor in an affordable way. The flight tickets round trip are running about 1200USD Cairo-Luxor-Cairo which is INSANE. How are non-rich people doing this trip? We've never been to Egypt before.
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u/shots-the-fuck-up 3d ago
My husband and I are taking a private transfer from Cairo to Marsa Alam. $500 USD one way. It’s a long drive though.
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u/Ok-Moose-992 3d ago
I wonder if you offer like $300 USD (equivalent in local currency) to any cab driver on the street would they do it. That's how we got around in Vietnam.
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u/FirstReputation8500 3d ago
I agree it may very well be possible. But if you want the peace of mind of knowing how and when you will get there, nothing beats the plane.
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u/m-reading 1d ago
It is possible but it is not for sure. Normally having a cab in Cairo for a ride within the city requires onle eye contact with a driver and he stops, and you have a ride. But if you ask to go to Giza airport some of them refuses. I am not sure why but maybe they don't have license for this area. Co I would rather advice to found some recomended driver from Cairo on some Cairo group on Social Media and hire him for 3 days with a car. Probably you can make it around 1000 USD but thats a guess.
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u/shamelesspochemuchka 21h ago
How did you find your driver?
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u/shots-the-fuck-up 16h ago
I just googled and read a bunch of reviews and chose a company that looked reliable! I’m crossing my fingers that everything goes smoothly 🤞🏻
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u/Jumba2009sa 3d ago
Never been to Egypt? Oh boy prepare yourself, and arm yourself with knowledge on how to deal with people there.
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u/Defiant-Ad-7933 3d ago
1200 round trip sounds pretty good considering the alternatives. This is the longest total eclipse till 2114.
Train, bus, driving are your alternatives and all sound like not worth the savings. Hear horror stories about trains and busses and driving no idea if safe or feasible
I’d be more worried about where you are staying once you get there?
I’m gonna be on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Decided a while ago it just wasn’t worth it to deal with Egypt. Good luck! You’re very late
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u/NastyRyuk 3d ago
I booked an Airbnb about an year ago and talked to the host. They definitely up charged but not as much as what's it going for right now. I'm hoping they don't cancel as it gets closer to then.
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u/Defiant-Ad-7933 3d ago
If it’s really $1200 round trip that’s a screaming deal and you should book it immediately.
Eclipse chasing isn’t cheap. In some places you can do it on the cheap if you’re willing to rough it, but not Egypt.
For example. I slept in my car on the Exmouth peninsula in 2023 after a 12 hour drive from Perth.
In 2017 we stayed at a motel 6 or somethjng similar in Rawlins, WY the night before and drove 2 hours to Casper at 5 in the morning to beat traffic.
In 2024 I was able to book at Hyatt in San Antonio 11 months before the eclipse at normal rack rates before they jacked up prices/filled up.
In 2019 I found a cheap hotel in La Serena, Chile, and flight from Santiago the morning of the eclipse. Booked the flight the day availability opened. Flight was priced like there was no eclipse at all.
Problem with this eclipse is the location. It’ll be hot as hell so the elements could kill you without shelter, it’ll be insanely crowded because the eclipse duration and location is once in a lifetime, it’s not safe outside of standard tourist corridors because it’s Egypt, people there are going to try to extract as much money out of you as they can so reservations you have now are basically subject to future extortion and cancellation making reliable planning for cheap impossible.
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u/GlockulusQuest 3d ago
Egyptians are gearing up to skim as much cash as possible from every tourist. Eg the Hilton Luxor goes from 400$ to 2000+$ a night a week either side of the eclipse. Even Cairo is doing the same, Marriott men’s house 320$ a night jumps to 2000$ for the whole week prior and after the eclipse. Total scam.
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u/FirstReputation8500 3d ago
You do know those are international chains and probably the prices are set somewhere other than in Egypt?
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u/GlockulusQuest 3d ago
Sure but it’s real. Check out all hotel prices and air bnbs. Air bnbs are worse as people cancel bookings to get more. If you search for Luxor hotels absolute 1* places are charging thousands for that week
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u/FirstReputation8500 2d ago
Oh I know. I live in Luxor. As I see it, most of the people charging these prices are delusional. The problem is really that the kind of people who can afford these 1 star hotels would never stay in a 1 star hotel and if they did they would absolutely hate it.
When I first came to Egypt, 33 years ago, I stayed in one of these 1 star hotels. on the West Bank. I think there were only 4 hotels on the West Bank at the time. We paid $15 or so for a double. They want $1500/night per person. I remember the toilet didn't flush properly and was never fixed, and when we asked if we could have eggs for breakfast the guy serving us told us he didn't know how to make eggs. Who doesn't know how to scramble or boil an egg??? I'm looking at photos of it now on Booking.com and the mattresses are visibly sagging and the bed linens are the same ones you would find in a lower class Egyptian home.
Would people who are willing to spend $1500/night going to accept a place like that?
We have a new family villa we just moved into this year and we were going to rent out 3 flats in it for the eclipse. We probably have the best view of the entire West Bank from our rooftop. But we decided to pull our listings though when we saw all the shenanigans going on. We may reconsider closer to the date of the eclipse, if there is a demand for it, and the government has a clear plan for managing the event, and the rates people are happy to pay are worth our while to turn our lives upside down so we can convert our home to an Airbnb for a few days.
But for now we are just sitting it out because the shark feeding frenzy isn't something we want to participate in.
I saw a post elsewhere from someone who has a tour company and they decided to not participate as well because they weren't willing to pass on the outrageous prices service providers were quoting them to their customers. I also heard about a hotel that isn't releasing any rooms until closer to the eclipse.
I would recommend Luxor as a superb PLACE to view the eclipse. I feel blessed and excited to be able to view it without having to go anywhere. However, I don't blame anyone for being put off by the unethical goings on regarding accommodations and other practicalities. No one should have to deal with this kind of stress to have a once in a lifetime experience.
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u/GlockulusQuest 3d ago
Massive risk of them cancelling or demanding more money. It’s already happening with many Luxor air bnb bookings. Hotels are safer but also not risk free. This is Egypt land of the scammer
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u/Alternative-Ad4581 3d ago
I posted about this issue but the other way (I have too many booking) a month ago. I have used my miles to book two round trip and I will cancel one of them and that will almost always bring back to the miles availability to be booked again. If you'd like to then we can coordinate my cancellation and your booking!
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u/peter303_ 3d ago
Since totality passes of Luxor August 2, there is huge demand for transportation.
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u/FirstReputation8500 3d ago
I live in Luxor, and I agree it's a crazy price. That said, if you want to lock something in and can afford it, I'd book the plane. It's the fastest way to get to Luxor, and you are guaranteed your seat won't disappear or be increased in price. Nothing else can be booked this far out and once other options open up the prices I am sure will be the same as the plane.
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u/Hemingwayboy 3d ago
I'm not even sure if this price will stay the same or probably increase. But if you're looking for a reliable probably cheaper option but it'll for sure take longer time probably 6 hours from Cairo to luxor then it'll be a private limo It'll be comfortable, definitely cheaper than the flight even if the prices inflated but as i said it'll take kinda more time than the flight. And I'm saying that considering i usually get private limos for my clients in Egypt if it costs probably now X money it won't go to 10 X tho
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u/Paradoxbox00 2d ago
I don’t know how people think Luxor is going to be a good place to view the eclipse. It’s going to be packed so most people will be standing in the desert for hours with no shade. And you will be gouged to high hell for everything, especially water. Save your money and go somewhere that won’t give you heat stroke and panic attacks.
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u/_bapt 3d ago edited 3d ago
It will only get more expensive with time.
Also, it's always good to have a solution to be mobile during an eclipse. In case clouds start to appear.
So if you havent already, try to find a car there.
Edit : as people are starting to downvote this without reading the rest of the thread, here is the reason why.
During an eclipse the sun gets blocked, the temperature drops, and sometimes it is just enough for the air to get bellow the dew point. Meaning the water vapor in the air condensates and creates clouds.
It is what happened in the mexican desert during the eclipse of 2024. If it happened in the mexican desert, it can happen too in Luxor. It is a known phenomena during eclipses, and thats why the predictions for clouds during eclipses are never 0%. There is always a risk.
Hence the need for mobility, so most of the time a car.
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u/FirstReputation8500 3d ago
No clouds will appear. I live here in Luxor. I cannot even fathom out how some weather sites are saying there is a 75% chance of clear skies in Luxor on August 2. It's so absolutely ridiculous and I can only imagine they are calculating the chance of single tiny wispy cloud appearing somewhere during the 24 hour period. Nothing will block your view of the eclipse, but you should make sure you have a place to watch it with some shade or a/c you can jump into and that you have plenty of water to drink.
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u/_bapt 3d ago
Thats exactly what the local people said about the solar eclipse in Mexico in 2024. Except they were wrong.
Just when the eclipse started, in the middle of the mexican desert clouds appeared.
The reason is that when an eclipse starts, the sun gets blocked causing the temperature to drop a little.
And sometimes that temperature drop is just enough to pass the dew point and let water vapor in the air condensate to form clouds.
So especially during a long eclipse like Luxor's, the risk of clouds appearing at the last minute is something you need to take into account.
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u/FirstReputation8500 3d ago
I went up to my rooftop on August 2 this year with my weather station. At exactly the time the eclipse will start, it was 39.3 C and 12% relative humidity and that was higher humidity than normal. I don't think it is actually possible to get from there to dewpoint.
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u/GlockulusQuest 3d ago
What was the temp in Mexico? In Luxor August 27 it’s gonna be upper 40-50 C so zero chance of dew
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u/__nmd__ 3d ago
Looking at past satellite pictures, there have been a few days with a few clouds in Luxor. That's a low risk, but not a strictly zero risk.
No risk of fully covered skies, but even a small cloud right in the wrong path at the wrong time would be enough to ruin the experience - if you're not mobile.
Now, the difficulty in Egypt would be... which driver would accept to block just a few hours around the eclipse, instead of taking a much larger fee for a whole day excursion starting outside the totality path? Self-driving there seems quite impossible (considering the security checks constraints)...
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u/FirstReputation8500 3d ago
We do have clouds. I'm looking out my window and I see a few light ones right now. But August 2 in the hottest and driest part of the year chances are extremely small. I think if you try to do it in a vehicle, you are adding more complexity that could spoil things for you.
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u/__nmd__ 2d ago
I'm just saying it's a complex case, with trade offs.
Risk of clouds is very low, but in case it's the unlucky day / spot then you'd have spent a hefty sum for nothing.
Having mobility could reduce that risk, but with the likely mayhem on the roads in case there are clouds I'm not even sure it'd work (if departing from the city areas - if you're already in the desert, it may be possible).
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3d ago edited 3d ago
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u/howdyhowie88 3d ago
$1200 roundtrip for a one-hour domestic flight is a bit much. The fact that they haven't sold out already is telling - they are pricing it too high and likely causing demand destruction.
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u/NastyRyuk 3d ago
Two of us so 2400 for just the local flight. About 3k for Chicago to Cairo. That's 5.5k in just flights dawg. Come on now bsffr
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u/gensarmiento25 2d ago
I am also coming from Chicago with my partner about a week and half before the eclipse and I was also seeing the ridiculous domestic prices. We're planning on doing a private transfer, we have that booked as our last resort but will check if we can take a flight from Turkey directly to Luxor for cheap (so Chicago -> Istanbul -> Luxor) through Pegasus Air. I don't think flight schedules for next year have been released yet so we have to wait to see.
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u/fredthefishlord 3d ago
There's so much of Chicago that is highly affordable. Don't be rude, some people $1.2k is a lot for a flight to only Africa
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u/howdyhowie88 3d ago
Train / bus but those are both unreliable in the best of times in Egypt.