Luxor itineraries for one to three days

7 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Luxor’s sights fall into two groups on either side of the Nile. The royal tombs and mortuary temples lie on the West Bank, where the sites open at 6:00 and are busiest from about 10:00 to 14:00. Karnak and Luxor Temple stand on the East Bank, and according to the official ticket portal, egymonuments.com, last entry is 16:00 at Karnak and 19:00 at Luxor Temple. The plans below use that rhythm: the West Bank early, the East Bank later in the day.

One day on both banks

Start at the Valley of the Kings at opening time. Use the main ticket for three tombs first and leave any extra tomb, such as Tutankhamun’s, for the end; the extra tickets are sold only at the visitor centre, so buy them on the way in. Next comes Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahari, a short drive away, and from there it is about 4.5 km, or 11 minutes, to the Colossi of Memnon by the roadside.

After lunch, cross to the East Bank. Karnak is the largest temple complex of ancient Thebes. Finish at Luxor Temple in the town centre as the light drops. It is a long day with a brisk pace at each place, and it is the order the private full-day tours from Luxor follow.

Two days without rushing

On the first day, stay on the West Bank. After the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple, add Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, whose walls carry more than 7,000 m² of reliefs, and the Colossi of Memnon. Back on the East Bank, a felucca at sunset rounds off the day without any more walking.

On the second day, a balloon flight at sunrise comes first. Pickup is usually between about 3:15 and 4:45 depending on the season and the operator, and the whole outing takes about three hours. Wind can cancel a flight at short notice, so book it for your first morning and keep the second as a buffer. Spend the rest of the morning at Karnak and the late afternoon at Luxor Temple. If you would rather see Karnak after dark, one operator lists the sound and light show there at 19:00 in English, with later shows in Arabic and other languages, for about an hour. The Avenue of Sphinxes, which links the two over 2.7 km, was opened to the public in November 2021.

A third day

With a third day you can go further on the West Bank or leave Luxor. One private tour covers Medinet Habu, Deir el-Medina and the Valley of the Queens in three hours, and the Ramesseum lies on the same bank. Deir el-Medina was the village of the craftsmen who built the royal tombs, and the Ramesseum holds the fallen colossus of Ramesses II. The tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens has been reported closed since March 2024; check before you go.

The alternative is a day north to the temples of Hathor at Dendera and Seti I at Abydos. A private day takes about 10 hours, starts between 6:00 and 7:00, and needs a copy of your passport two days ahead. Abydos holds the king list in the Gallery of Ancestors, and the ceiling at Dendera still carries a copy of the zodiac, whose original is in the Louvre.

From the Red Sea coast

From Hurghada, Makadi Bay or Marsa Alam, the classic visit is a day trip. The road to Luxor is about 295 km from Hurghada, pickups are usually between 3:00 and 5:00, and you reach the valley in the morning and the hotel again in the evening. The day covers the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s temple, Karnak and the Colossi of Memnon with little time at each. A two-day trip with a night in Luxor and a balloon flight spreads the same sites over a calmer schedule. The day trips from Hurghada page compares the options.

As part of a Nile cruise

Most Nile cruises sail between Aswan and Luxor, and some include the West Bank. One four-day cruise from Aswan stops at Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu and Abu Simbel and ends in Luxor with a balloon flight and the West Bank. Reviews mention days that start around 4:00. See Nile cruises and felucca trips for the routes, and getting around for moving between the sites on your own.