Luxury Trip to Egypt Travel Review: Nile River Cruise, Egyptian Museum, Wadi al Hitan, Waterfalls, Pottery, Local Cuisine & Culture

The travel company helped us plan an awe-inspiring trip to Egypt.  Kristy, the owner, was a wonderful partner in working with our complicated schedule, as we completed three weeks in Greece and Turkey and added Egypt as a last leg.  Our dates and plans were further complicated when our son joined us after a diving expedition in the Red Sea.  No matter — Kristy seamlessly interwove our trips and made sure that flights, transfers, porters, drivers and our local travel team in Egypt were in sync. When our airlines canceled our return flight home, she arranged our travel plans from Aswan, linked us up with an amazing foodie tour in Cairo, and found a return flight/hotel schedule that eliminated a 16-hour layover.
The local team met us on time with professional drivers and porters.  They were eager to ensure that our trip was memorable and that whatever little wrinkles occurred were addressed immediately to our satisfaction.
We spent two days in Cairo (the pyramids, Egyptian Museum and the Khan el-Khalili market) and then one day in Fayoum to see the Wadi el Rayan waterfalls, the Valley of the Whales and the inspiring Village of Tunis to see the pottery.  Worth the long ride through desert and again, we were some of the few tourists to make the trip.
We spent one night in Luxor (really, could have used more time there as the luxury hotel was charming) with the West Bank, Karnak and Luxor Temples and an early morning hot air balloon on our plan.
We spent the next five days on the Nile river cruise boat.  The staff was kind, the food wonderful, and the pace a pleasure.  We saw many larger boats zoom past and were so grateful we had chosen a slower, calmer way to see life on the Nile and meet some amazing people along the way.
Our last stop was in Aswan, where we flew to Abu Simbel and returned to spend the rest of the day at the hotel off the Nile.