YaFandem
Saved and trip planner
All addresses
A stone carver at the chisel, on a pale block

Luxor · West bank, Luxor

The alabaster workshops of Gurna

Vases and lamps cut from translucent stone, on the road to the tombs.

€€ Mid-range

Between the Colossi of Memnon and the Valley of the Kings, dozens of workshops carve alabaster by hand: you watch craftsmen hollow the vases with a chisel before polishing them. Not every shop makes what it sells, and that is the first question to ask.

The extra bit

Hold the piece up to a lamp: real alabaster lets light through and shows its veins.

Know before you go

Pieces are heavy and fragile: have them wrapped on site, and count the weight in your luggage.

Directions

Valley of the Kings road, Gurna, west bank, Luxor

Directions

In the same spirit

  • The great hypostyle hall

    Karnak Temple Complex

    Unmissable

    Two thousand years of building for a single sanctuary — and a hall of one hundred and thirty-four columns.

    LuxorKarnak, east bank

    4.8Ratingour own rating€€ Mid-rangeUNESCO
  • A plate of hummus with black olives, toasted flatbread wedges, cucumber and tomato.

    Sofra

    Our favourite

    Luxor's best table, in an old house, far from the picture menus.

    LuxorEast bank

    4.7Ratingour own rating€€ Mid-rangeRooftop

  • Luxor Temple

    A temple in the middle of town, open after dark, with a working mosque sitting in its courtyard.

    LuxorCorniche

    €€ Mid-rangeOpen late