My suggestions for a tour of egypt:

-What do YOU want to see? Have your kids studied Egypt in school yet, do they have an idea what they will be seeing?

The number one things to see - King Tut's mask, pyramids of Giza (and Sphinx), Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor temples, and - if you can swing it - see Abu Simbel.

There's a list of other things to see: The Step Pyramid, the pyramids at Darshur, the Red Pyramid (climb inside!) and the Bent Pyramid. See tombs of the Nobles and Valley of the Queens, several other temples in the Luxor area, the Luxor museum.

If you are really interested, there are no end of temples (we saw 13 all told). If you are not deeply interested the temples may start to look the same, and perhaps the best strategy is to take a cruise from Aswan after Abu Simbel and stop at Kom Ombo and Edfu (two significant temples) on the way to Luxor.

If you like odd and exotic places, see old Cairo, Coptic Cairo, the local town bazaars...

(see my trip report here, or visit bloggage.me for photos.)

My impression of Egypt - the vast majority of people visit in tours, private guides, or otherwise shepherded. It is not very well set up for "do it yourself". If you cannot afford a private tour, by all means get in a group tour.

If you have boy(s) who go for the morbidly curious, there is a roomfull of mummies in the Cairo Museum, plus a room full of mummified animals (you gotta start practicing somehwere); a "museum of mummification" in Luxor; if you pay to see King Tut's tomb in Valley of the Kings, his mummy is there. (The rest of the tomb is nowhere near as spectacular as the other tombs); and Kom Ombo has a museum full of mummified crocodiles ("The crocodile is our god - so we captured them all, killed them, and pumped them full of turpentine...")

The cheaper the tour, the more likely the tour guide will try to steer you to tacky souvenir shops where he gets a commission...

Enjoy!

Here is a guide who is highly recommended by many posters on this board.

http://casualcairodetours.com/

If you prefer a group tour please consider Lady Egypt. I used Lady Egypt in 2007 and they are very good about customizing a tour to suit your needs. They have something for every budget and they did not take us to tacky souvenier stores as so many tour guides do. If you would care to read my trip report you can find it by clicking my name.

In the world of tourism you get what you pay for. Certainly a private toru with your own transport and guide could cost more than being in a herd on a bus with 40 other tourists; but with your own personal tour you can proceed at your own pace, go when you are ready, stay longer, don't wait for a dozen other slow passengers.

However, for a group of 4 it might be practical to do your own private tour (I've never priced out vacations for 4). You will find several tour organizers and guides like the recommendation above. We used Ahmed Hamed Yousif (ahmedhayo@yahoo.com) as our tour organizer; see my trip report under construction at http://bloggage.me - we had a great time.

Whatever you end up doing, I hope you enjoy your trip. We certainly did!

Hello William, I had a trip -lifetime- in Egypt from months ago
I visited Cairo, Giza, Abu simbel, Aswan and Luxor was great at wonderful weather I recommend this trip for you and your family
http://www.lecairetravel.com/Classical05.html this link will help you to plan your trip or want you want to visit in Egypt
I think your child will love to run through Pyramids and temples
Have Fun

I second the motion for Casual_Cario Tours.

Debbie can take you to all the places you must see in Cairo.

e-mail her at Dds71@aol.com

I did a private tour with Lady Egypt. I would say that Egypt is definitely not set up for doing it on your own. Tours give you a lot more than just sightseeing.. convenience, security and lots of guidance.

Ditto everything MissGreen said. We had a very good experience with Lady Egypt, who arranged our hotels, transport, guides, etc. we split up into two groups toward the end of our trip (4 went to Mt. Sinai and Sharm El Sheikh and 2 of us stayed in Luxor one day extra and then left for Madrid) and they handled that quirk with aplomb. They even picked up the divers at one terminal in Cairo and drove them to the other terminal for their flight to London.

I would definately also recommend you take a private tour William because that way you can structure your holiday the way you want it and not be stuck to a rigid schedule on a group tour. Since you have 2 young kids you will want to keep them entertained as much as you can so that you and your wife can enjoy your time there without the kids being fed up.

So if you are private touring you can schedule things to suit yourselves and keep the kids amused. Try Egypt Quality Tours - www.egyptqualitytours.com they have always come up with great ideas for us each time we have used them and are also recommended by some others in this forum as well.

As you are travelling in family, I would recommend you to travel with GAT Tours. Their website is www.gattours.com
It is a family run company, which cares a lot about their travelers and will provide you a personalized service.
They make all kind of tours. You can ask them for more information.