Luxor
On the east bank of the Nile, Luxor conceals millennia of pharaonic civilisation beneath its surface and within its standing monuments.
Luxor stands on the site of ancient Thebes, once the ceremonial heart of Egypt and home to gods whose names are still spoken today. The city spreads across both banks of the Nile, though most visitors spend their time on the east bank, where temples and museums hold court, and the west bank, where the dead were honoured with such grandeur that the valley behind the river became a necropolis unlike any other.
The Temples
Karnak Temple Complex is the largest religious site ever built. Successive pharaohs over roughly 1,500 years added to it, so its avenues of sphinxes, towering pylons and the Great Hypostyle Hall feel less like a single monument and more like a city of stone. Light falls unevenly across the columns, some still standing 21 metres high, and the sense of scale is difficult to grasp without standing among them. Luxor Temple itself stands at the town's centre, connected to Karnak by the Avenue of Sphinxxes, a processional route restored in recent decades. Unlike most temples in Egypt, Luxor Temple was not dedicated to a specific deity but to the rejuvenation of kingship.
The West Bank
Across the Nile, the Valley of the Kings descends into barren limestone hills where more than 60 royal tombs were carved into rock. Several are open to visitors at any given time, their wall paintings as vivid now as when they were first sealed. The colours come from minerals—blue from copper, red from ochre—and the images show not just mythologies but daily life: fishermen, dancers, harvests. Nearby, the Colossi of Memnon rise from the plain, two 18-metre statues that once guarded the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III.
The Museum and Atmosphere
The Luxor Museum holds a carefully curated collection of artefacts found in the region, including statuary and jewellery recovered from the nearby cachette where they were buried for centuries. Walking the corniche in the evening, with the temples lit against the dark sky and the sound of the river below, gives a sense of why ancient Thebes was considered a place between worlds.
Find it on the map
- Luxor Ancient site
Tours that visit Luxor
No tours visit this place just yet — tell us where you want to go and we'll build one. See all tours
Before you book you should know
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Is this trip right for you?
Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that.
Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in.
Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month.
How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above.
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Rooms, and travelling on your own
Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three:
- Twin share — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender.
- Travelling as a couple — one double room.
- Individual room — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book.
Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard.
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Accommodation
The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip.
Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking.
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Passports, visas and insurance
Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight.
Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport.
We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well.
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Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change
Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around.
What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions.
