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The first pylon of Karnak, with the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes leading to it.

Ancient Egypt in depth · Upper Egypt, on the river

Luxor

Luxor is two cities facing across a river.

The east bank belongs to the gods. The west bank belongs to the royal dead and their memory. Plan Luxor by that divide and the city stops feeling like a list of monuments.

Add to my trip15 tours here
Give it
2–3 nights recommended
Come for
Valley of the Kings, West Bank and Karnak
Kindest months
November to March
From Cairo
About 1 hour by air
Continue to
Nile & Aswan

The story here

Read the river before the monuments.

Luxor is ancient Thebes, and in the New Kingdom it was not really Egypt's capital. Barry Kemp describes it as a ceremonial city, a sacred place given over to festivals of divine kingship, while the court and the highest tiers of government were at Memphis and later in the eastern Delta.

It had started small. In the Old Kingdom Thebes was a third-rate provincial town. Then the family of the Eighteenth Dynasty kings, who came from Thebes, took the throne, and the Theban god Amun rose with them to extraordinary prominence. Egyptian poetry called it the pattern for every city, and it was often simply "The City". The New Kingdom builders levelled the earlier town to make a platform for the stone temples of Karnak.

In our reading, the river divides the city's two purposes. The east bank belongs to the gods: Karnak and Luxor Temple, about 2.8 km apart in a straight line, were joined every year by the procession of the Opet Festival, when Amun travelled south to renew the power of the king. The west bank belongs to the royal dead and their memory: the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon.

The two banks

One river, two ideas of eternity.

First time in Luxor? Read the two banks first. Everything below assumes that divide.

More to see

More of Luxor.

Each place has its own page: who built it, what happened there, and what you see when you stand in it.
All landmarks

Best months to go

Luxor, month by month.

Kindest for a full day outNovember to March

  1. Jan22.8° average high,7.1° average low.Mild.
  2. Feb25.3° average high,8.9° average low.Mild.
  3. Mar29.7° average high,12.8° average low.Warm.
  4. Apr35.0° average high,17.5° average low.Hot: sightsee early.
  5. May39.1° average high,22.1° average low.Very hot: dawn and late afternoon.
  6. Jun41.2° average high,25.0° average low.Very hot: dawn and late afternoon.
  7. Jul41.4° average high,25.7° average low.Very hot: dawn and late afternoon.
  8. Aug41.2° average high,25.6° average low.Very hot: dawn and late afternoon.
  9. Sep39.3° average high,23.3° average low.Very hot: dawn and late afternoon.
  10. Oct35.5° average high,19.6° average low.Hot: sightsee early.
  11. Nov29.1° average high,13.4° average low.Warm.
  12. Dec24.2° average high,8.6° average low.Mild.
  • Mild (up to 26 °C)
  • Warm (27–32 °C)
  • Hot: sightsee early (33–37 °C)
  • Very hot: dawn and late afternoon (above 37 °C)

Average daily high and low, °C, 1991–2020, at Luxor: WMO climate normals published by NOAA. The shading is our judgement of what that heat means for a day of sightseeing, read from the average high; the best time to visit Egypt compares every place, month by month.

Make the time count

How many nights in Luxor?

Our planning view: stay in Luxor and give each bank its own part of the journey. A same-day resort excursion compresses the story as well as the sites.

  1. If you have one day

    Choose one bank well

    Do not turn Luxor into a race between both banks. Choose the royal landscape of the west or the temple procession of the east.

  2. The minimum that works

    Stay two nights

    Give the West Bank one morning, then place Karnak and Luxor Temple in a separate part of the stay.

  3. For a slower reading

    Stay three nights

    Add room for a return, a researched local experience, or simply a day that is not filled edge to edge.

Before you decide

The questions people ask first.

Answered from the same record as the rest of this page. Routing, timings and everything included are confirmed in your written quote.

How many nights are worth spending in Luxor?
Two nights is the minimum that works: one morning for the West Bank, with Karnak and Luxor Temple placed in a separate part of the stay. Three nights leaves room for a second look, a researched local experience, or a day that is not filled edge to edge. With only one day, choose a single bank rather than racing between both.
What should I not try to combine in one day?
Both banks. The royal landscape of the west and the temple procession of the east each need their own part of the journey. A same-day excursion from a Red Sea resort compresses the story as well as the sites.
Where should I base myself?
In Luxor itself. Staying in the city is what allows each bank to have its own part of the journey, rather than being reached and left again on the same day.
What deserves priority on each bank?
On the East Bank, begin with Karnak, the temple city of Amun; Luxor Temple completes the procession and has recorded opening hours later than the daytime sites. On the West Bank, start early: the royal tombs were cut into the valley while the memorial temples stood in the open, and the contrast does the explaining.
How do people usually reach Luxor, and what does that mean for the plan?
Most journeys reach Luxor either by air from Cairo or along the river between Luxor and Aswan, and which of those suits your trip changes how many nights you need on the ground. Routing, timings and everything included are confirmed in your written quote rather than promised on this page.

Tours

Tours in Luxor.

15 tours visit Luxor, those based here first. Each states the time on the road and at the sites before you ask.
All tours

Experiences

At Luxor

A few hours of something different, arranged around the route rather than bolted on afterwards. Each says what it asks of you and what we confirm first.
All experiences

Photo: Zezinho68, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display.

Trip ideas

Trips through Luxor

Routes that include Luxor: who each one suits, and how the days run.
All trip ideas

Good to know

The practical part, in one place.

Getting here and on

Cairo & Giza
About 1 hour by airThe road takes 8–9 hours and the sleeper train 9–10
Nile & Aswan
3–4 nights by cruise or dahabiya, with the temples on the wayOr about 3–3½ hours by road
The Red Sea
Just under 4 hours by road to Hurghada

Typical door-to-door ranges, checked : advice rather than timetables. Your written quote confirms the actual flights, trains and transfers.

Opening hours, as recorded

Karnak
06:00-17:00Listed on
Luxor Temple
06:00-20:00Listed on
Medinet Habu
06:00-17:00Listed on
Temple of Hatshepsut
06:00-17:00Listed on
The Ramesseum
06:00-17:00Listed on
Valley of the Kings
06:00-17:00Listed on

As listed on the dates shown. We check them again for your dates before anything is booked.

Before you plan Luxor

Hot air balloons rising over Luxor's West Bank in the early morning, one close by in deep red.

Special journey · 2 August 2027

The day Luxor goes dark.

On 2 August 2027 the Moon covers the Sun over Luxor for about 6 minutes 22 seconds. See the times, the towns inside the path, and how the journey is quoted.

Explore the eclipse journey

You might also love

Where the route goes next.

Plan it

Put Luxor into your trip.

The planner gives it the nights it needs and suggests the days; we confirm everything in a written quote.

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Photography credits (19)

Hamerani, CC BY-SA 4.0; Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0; Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0; Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), CC BY 3.0; Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0; Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0; Zezinho68, CC BY-SA 4.0; Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ovedc, CC BY-SA 4.0; Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0; Hamerani, CC BY-SA 4.0; Marc Ryckaert, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0; Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0; Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), CC BY 3.0; KennyOMG, CC BY-SA 4.0; Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0; I, Rémih, CC BY-SA 3.0; Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), CC BY 3.0. Resized and cropped for display.