Luxor Travel Guide

Luxor is high on your priority list: it has some of the most important archeological attractions of the world. The Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the Tombs of the Noble are unique highlights of the ancient Egyptian Civilization. These complexes of graves and tombs are located 20 km west of town, at the other side of the Nile. The most famous of these tombs is of course that of Tutankamon.

In the town itself, superbly positioned on the banks of the Nile, is the beautiful Luxor Temple, built by Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) on the site of an earlier sanctuary raised by Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC.  The temple was added to by Ramses II, Alexander the Great and the Romans, and is a graceful and striking piece of architecture.  It has four pillared courts and hypostyle halls of great beauty, and in front of the enormous first pylon are some colossal granite statues of Ramses II and a pink granite obelisk – the partner of which was removed to Paris's Place de la Concorde.  In the Great Court is a 13th century mosque.

The modern town is nothing special but not unpleasant. There are a few restaurants where you can get decent food, accommodation options range from cheap to quite expensive. There is no alchohol in the area. It is a sober town.