All addresses
A pointed brick archway and old wooden doors in a narrow street.

Photo : Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 — Licence Wikimedia Commons

Luxor · Esna, south of Luxor

Esna souk

A restored souk street around the temple, between old shops and a caravanserai.

Budget

The town of Esna, some fifty kilometres south of Luxor, has restored its souk and caravanserai around the temple of Khnum: old façades, workshops, spice and fabric traders. One of the few restored old centres in Upper Egypt.

The extra bit

The visit combines with the temple of Khnum, whose painted hypostyle hall is one of the country's finest.

Know before you go

Esna is visited on a trip from Luxor: cruise boats stop there, so the town is busy when they pass.

Directions

Esna souk, around the temple of Khnum, Esna

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