Photo : Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Luxor · West bank
Valley of the Queens
The wadi of royal wives and children, and Nefertari's tomb, which is paid for separately.
The Egyptians called it Ta-Set-Neferu, the place of beauty: from the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards the tombs of royal wives, princes and princesses were cut here, in a wadi much shorter than the kings'. The entrances open at the foot of the limestone cliffs, under metal shelters, and the corridors are brief: a slope down, one chamber or two. The best kept are those of the sons of Ramesses III, where the father leads the boy before the gods, gesture by gesture. Nefertari's tomb, wife of Ramesses II, is painted floor to ceiling, and its ticket, sold separately, is in another bracket altogether from the site's.
The extra bit
Ask your driver to drop you here on the way from Medinet Habu; it is the same road. Arrive at opening, before the sun drops straight into the wadi and onto the shelters.
Know before you go
The site ticket admits you only to the tombs available that day, and Nefertari has her own. As everywhere on this bank, there is no shade between the ticket office and the tombs, and nothing to drink beyond it. The wadi is done in under an hour: name it in the list of sites you agree with the driver in the morning, or the day can go past without it.
