Here are the available villas for rental in Egypt.

Sands of time

From the Daily Mail

You heard the wind before you felt it.
From down in the dry lake wadi came a rustling of leaves; moments later a night breeze flowed over you like cool water. I lay in my sleeping bag, watching the crescent moon. And I was confirmed in the belief that nothing in this world can equal the simple joy of sleeping out under the stars - especially in the Holy Land of Sinai.
Sinai is a place apart; a rugged land of deserts, mountains and miracles. This is where Moses encountered the Burning Bush, and received the Ten Commandments. It has been inhabited, mostly by Bedouin nomads, for 5,000 years.
Our small group had come here for a week's walking, followed by a week on Egypt's popular Red Sea coast. We set off from the village of St Catherine - a dusty shambles of weathered stone houses - climbing up through a wadi. Above us, three bigger mountains - Safsafa, St Catherine's and Sinai itself - stood like watchtowers.
'Paradise' is a Persian word which found its way into the Egyptian language and came to mean 'walled garden'. Making our first camp in one, it was easy to see why. Low stone walls enclosed a grove of olive, cypress and fruit trees. There was a well with drinking water, and a bamboo canopy hung with vines for shade. A Bedouin family nodded hello with dreamy smiles.
Sitting round a fire built from apricot branches, we talked. Not the urgent, fill-in-the-gaps conversation of most urban life, but a slower, more reflective process. ... more

Charm of Sharm

From the Daily Mail

On one of those doldrum days of midwinter, when you wonder whether the sun will ever shine again, I started wondering: how close is guaranteed heat? Can it be reached without the stress of a long-haul flight and without a major time-change?
And that's how I discovered Egypt's Sharm el Sheikh. As the plane descended in the early evening, after just five hours of flying, I could see the jagged red hills of the Sinai desert lit up by the dying rays of the sun. This is biblical country, full of resonances. It is where the Red Sea parted and Moses received the Ten Commandments, and where Crusaders fought to keep Christianity alive from a famous castle near the resort of Taba.
It is also full of underwater wildlife, just waiting to be explored. I could already see the changing depths of the turquoise sea below, and the promise of snorkelling trips to observe rainbow-coloured fish.
I was not prepared for the teeming life of the town itself. Later, as my daughter, Polly, and I stepped out of our hotel for an evening meal, the town was like a mini Las Vegas. The main drag, let's call it the Sharm Strip, was dancing with neon fairylights, which illuminated the throng of people eating out under radiant heaters. There's even gambling for foreign visitors.
Egyptian family life takes place on the streets after dark. At 1am, whole families, from babes in arms to veiled dowagers, were still strolling up and down, arms linked, chattering loudly. At the cafes, their menfolk sat and smoked hubble-bubble glass water-filled pipes and occasionally broke into a little Zorba-style dance together. All around, children were whizzing about on motorised scooters while tradesmen were trying to sell reproductions of ancient Egyptian gods, glass perfume jars or henna tattoos.
But the next morning, the street was like a ghost town. Even the keenest shopkeepers were still snoozing inside their shops at midday, avoiding the sun. Not so the Britons, myself included, who were out on the beach at breakfast time, where it was hard to remember this was the middle of winter back home.
For the first couple of days there was a bit of a breeze, but when it died down the heat reached a searing 80F for at least a couple of hours, quite long enough to get a gentle tan and try a little exploration of underwater life.
We took a sedate trip round the bay on the glass-bottom boat, spotting some rocks which looked perfect for a snorkelling trip later. They turned out to belong to the Hyatt hotel - the place where President Clinton tried to accelerate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process before leaving office. ... more

Wear comfortable shoes for walking

I would highly recommend a cruise down the Nile. I did a cruise boat trip with MS Suntimes, and it was wonderful.
The only downside was that our resident Egyptologist would often leave us at the hands of the local traders! But apart from this, it was truly wonderful.I highly recommend people to go to the temple of Philae, an awesome place indeed.
Plus if you want to go anywhere, wear trainers as there's alot of walking.

Nile file - cruising down the river

Face facts - Britain's cities look grey in January, while those of Egypt are a riot of colour.
A Nile cruise between the cities of Luxor and Aswan is an ideal escape from the winter blues, offering a feast of sunshine, amazing vistas and history.
You won't see the Pyramids but you will see an awesome range of ancient temples and burial chambers of kings and queens as well as a dazzling modern panorama.
As 96% of the land in Egypt is desert, it's unlikely a holiday there will be spoiled by rain.
Summer months can be unbearably hot but at this time of year days are warm, balmy and often blessed with a gentle breeze. Temperatures dip after sunset so take a sweater.
A Nile cruise allows you to top up your tan on deck in between visits ashore to step back into history.
On the West Bank of Luxor is the Valley of the Kings with 62 tombs of pharaohs who, to deter grave robbers, were not buried under a conspicuous pyramid.
Here is the tomb of King Tutankhamun - now less impressive since its fabulous treasures were unearthed by Howard Carter in 1922.
More awe-inspiring is the temple of legendary Queen Hatshepsut which at a distance resembles a Hollywood filmset.
Luxor is also home to Karnak Temple - staggering in size and complexity, which hosts a nightly sound-and-light show. Further downriver are the temples of Esna, dedicated to the god of creation, and Edfu, dedicated to Horus the falcon-headed god.
The banks of the Nile once teemed with crocodiles and Komombo Temple is partly dedicated to croc-headed god Sobek.
They disappeared after the great dam at Aswan - a huge project to make more of the country fertile - was built.
Its construction meant the Philae Temple, dedicated to goddess Isis, was shifted to a nearby island and rebuilt after being briefly half-submerged. ... more

Scents of spices

From the Mail on Sunday

Luxor is about temples and tombs and the beautiful Nile river - plus blue skies, warm days and cool evenings.
As you step off your flight you meet the Middle East scents of spices and wood smoke, and see the desert slipping away endlessly in a soft, sandy haze.
My husband and I have chosen to stay in the Movenpick Hotel on Crocodile Island in the Nile. The hotel is Swiss and there's a strangely apres-ski feel to the reception area, but the bar is open at midnight and the staff are very welcoming. The rooms are a series of circular, pink bungalows in a 30-acre garden that borders the river.
The first morning of our week's holiday is spent visiting the awe-inspiring Luxor Temple. A long avenue of sphinxes leads to the magnificent statues of Rameses II and a lonely obelisk - one of a pair, the other being in Paris. The temple is entered through another avenue of giant columns covered with engravings and relief work whose sheer beauty and skill take your breath away.
The sun beats down and the muezzin's call to prayer echoes across town while we repair to the nearby old Winter Palace Hotel for a drink. This stately pile overlooks the busy corniche with its horse-drawn caleches plying their trade amid the traffic.
The hotel gardens are magnificent and there is a good swimming pool. King Farouk of Egypt had winter apartments here before political change in the Fifties.
Later on, we walk along the corniche amid groups of schoolgirls in white headdresses and blue school-uniform robes and men of all ages in elegant djellabas.
Further down the corniche is the Temple of Karnak. The stone figures are at least three times the height and twice the width of a man. The double line of lotus and papyrus-topped columns are 70ft high and the colours of the painted relief work can still be seen - gently glowing pale corals, greens and soft yellows.
Guide books will give you all the information, but it is still 100 times more fabulous than you expect. ... more