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Luxor

Temples on one bank, tombs on the other, and three more temples upstream and downstream.

East bank for temples and life, west bank for tombs and silence: two days minimum, three if you want to breathe. Start early — at noon in summer it is over 45 °C and there is no shade. Three of the temples on this page are not in Luxor: Esna and Edfu go together on an early start southwards, the driving alone taking half a day, while Dendera, to the north, is a whole day. Add them to the two banks rather than squeezing them in, and settle the order and the time of return with your driver the evening before.

28 addresses

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Photo : Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Pyramids, temples, museums, mosques, Coptic churches

Monuments & sites

  • 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

  • Luxor Temple

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

    LuxorCorniche

    €€ Mid-rangeOpen late

  • Valley of the Kings

    Unmissable

    Over sixty tombs in a wadi without a scrap of shade, and a ticket that opens only a handful.

    LuxorWest bank

    €€€ High endUNESCO

  • Temple of Hatshepsut

    Three white terraces set into the cliff, and the queen's name chiselled out everywhere.

    LuxorDeir el-Bahari, west bank

    €€ Mid-rangeBest in the morning

  • Medinet Habu

    The best-preserved temple on the west bank, with colour still clinging to the ceilings.

    LuxorWest bank

    €€ Mid-rangeUNESCO

  • The Ramesseum

    The colossus of Ramesses II lies in pieces in his own courtyard: it is the statue behind 'Ozymandias'.

    LuxorWest bank

    €€ Mid-rangeUNESCO

  • Colossi of Memnon

    Two eighteen-metre statues at the roadside, all that stands of the west bank's largest temple.

    LuxorWest bank

    € BudgetUNESCO

  • Luxor Museum

    Our favourite

    A museum that chose to show little, and to show it well. Keep it for the hot hours.

    LuxorCorniche

    €€ Mid-rangeFamily-friendly

  • Valley of the Queens

    The wadi of royal wives and children, and Nefertari's tomb, which is paid for separately.

    LuxorWest bank

    €€ Mid-rangePaid entry

  • Deir el-Medina

    The village of the men who cut the royal tombs: their houses, their tombs, their accounts.

    LuxorWest bank

    €€ Mid-rangeUNESCO

  • Temple of Edfu

    Unmissable

    A Ptolemaic temple still almost whole, roof included, dug out of the silt in the 1860s.

    LuxorEdfu

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue

  • Temple of Esna

    A hypostyle hall on its own, at the bottom of a pit, under the town that grew over it.

    LuxorEsna

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue

  • Temple of Dendera

    Hathor's face on every capital, and a zodiac taken from the roof in 1821, now in the Louvre.

    LuxorDendera

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue

  • The Avenue of Sphinxes

    Unmissable

    Two kilometres and seven hundred sphinxes between Luxor and Karnak, reopened after forty years of excavation.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue

Feluccas, desert, diving, markets, cruises

Outings & activities

  • Hot-air balloon over Luxor

    Our favourite

    Lift-off before daylight on the west bank: the wind picks the route, not an itinerary.

    LuxorWest bank

    €€€ High endNile view

Egyptian, street food, fine dining, brunch

Restaurants

  • 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
  • The columns of Luxor Temple, floodlit gold against the night sky.

    Al Sahaby Lane

    A rooftop terrace above the souk, with the illuminated Luxor temple as a backdrop.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    €€ Mid-rangeRooftop
  • Grilled chicken pieces on flatbread, with parsley and grilled tomatoes.

    Aisha

    Egyptian home cooking, served on a street terrace near the souk.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    € BudgetWhere locals go
  • Green fields and palm trees at the foot of the desert cliffs of the west bank.

    The tables of the west bank

    Terraces in the middle of the fields, between the Colossi and the Valley of the Kings.

    LuxorWest bank, Luxor

    € BudgetWhere locals go
  • A glass of sugarcane juice in front of freshly cut lengths of cane.

    The tables of Qena

    Off the beaten track

    A road stop between Luxor and Dendera, where you eat for next to nothing.

    LuxorQena

    € BudgetWhere locals go
  • Three whole fish clamped in a wire grill basket over the embers, with a plate of ash-baked potatoes beside them.

    Esna's fish

    Nile tilapia grilled beside the lock, fifty kilometres from Luxor.

    LuxorEsna

    € BudgetWhere locals go

Specialty coffee, historic ahwas, rooftops

Cafés & tea houses

  • A steaming glass of black tea on its saucer, backlit.

    The Winter Palace terrace

    Tea on the 1907 terrace above the Nile, between the palms and the west bank.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    €€€ High endHistoric venue
  • An alley lit by lanterns, tables set out for the evening

    The cafés of Luxor souk

    Ahwas between the stalls, where the traders themselves go for tea.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    € BudgetWhere locals go

Souks, fair-trade crafts, concept stores

Shopping

  • Luxor souk

    The souk's covered street: spices, galabiyas, statuettes and a great deal of bargaining.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    € BudgetHandmade
  • A stone carver at the chisel, on a pale block

    The alabaster workshops of Gurna

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

    LuxorWest bank, Luxor

    €€ Mid-rangeHandmade
  • A pointed brick archway and old wooden doors in a narrow street.

    Esna souk

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

    LuxorEsna, south of Luxor

    € BudgetWhere locals go

Recent openings, new concepts, addresses that have just arrived

What's new

  • The Avenue of Sphinxes

    Unmissable

    Two kilometres and seven hundred sphinxes between Luxor and Karnak, reopened after forty years of excavation.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue

Bars, pubs, clubs, lounges — local rules flagged

Nightlife

  • Luxor after dark

    The temple stands floodlit gold at the roadside, and people sit out on the Corniche until late.

    LuxorCorniche

    € BudgetNile view
  • The columns of Luxor Temple, floodlit gold against the night sky.

    Al Sahaby Lane

    A rooftop terrace above the souk, with the illuminated Luxor temple as a backdrop.

    LuxorEast bank, Luxor

    €€ Mid-rangeRooftop

  • The Karnak sound and light show

    Walking the hypostyle hall at night, lit, while the temple tells its story.

    LuxorKarnak, Luxor

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue