West Bank tours from Luxor

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Luxor town and its hotels sit on the east bank of the Nile. The burial grounds of ancient Thebes are on the other side, spread along the foot of the Theban hills: the Valley of the Kings in a dry wadi, Hatshepsut’s terraced temple under the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari, and the mortuary temples and colossi out on the edge of the fields. By road the Valley of the Kings is about 17 kilometres from the town centre, roughly 22 minutes without traffic, and the sites are too far apart to walk between them in the heat. That is why most visitors book a tour with hotel pickup and a guide.

Group, small group or private

The shared tours are the simplest way in. The full day on the West and East Banks runs about eight hours and takes in the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s temple and Karnak with an Egyptologist. The five-hour version stays on the West Bank, and reviewers describe stops at the Colossi of Memnon and lunch. On that tour, extra tomb tickets are offered on the bus, so you can decide on the way.

The small-group tour of the Kings’ and Queens’ valleys also lasts five hours. It adds the Colossi of Memnon and an Egyptian lunch, with an English-speaking guide included and a German, French or Spanish guide at extra cost. A related five-hour tour swaps the Valley of the Queens for Medinet Habu, the temple of Ramses III.

A private tour sets its own pace. The eight-hour private day by Nice Tours covers three tombs including Tutankhamun’s, the Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut, the colossi, lunch, then Karnak and finally Luxor Temple; entry fees are only included if you pick that option. Reviews praise the guides and the way the day avoids the crowds, and they criticise the lunch and the odd guide who hurries or steers you into a jewellery shop. Another private highlights day includes entry fees to every site on the route and picks up from hotels, Nile cruise ships or Luxor Airport, which helps if you land in the morning.

What you see in a day

In the Valley of the Kings the main ticket covers three tombs from the list that is open that day. In July 2026 that list held ten royal tombs, among them Ramses IV (KV2), Ramses IX (KV6), Merenptah (KV8) and Ramses III (KV11), but tombs close for restoration and the list changes. According to the official ticket portal, egymonuments.com, the main ticket costs 750 Egyptian pounds for foreign visitors as of November 2026. Tutankhamun (KV62), Seti I (KV17), Ramses V and VI (KV9) and Ay (KV23, West Valley) cost extra and are sold at the visitor centre, so decide before you ride the small tram up to the tombs. Our page on tombs and extra tickets goes through them one by one.

Guides are not allowed to lecture inside the tombs. They explain the scenes outside, and inside you move in single file through corridors that guidebooks describe as hot even in December.

Hatshepsut’s temple is the other fixed point. Long ramps connect three terraces, and the colonnades carry the reliefs of her expedition to the land of Punt. Most tours finish the morning at the Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues of Amenhotep III that are free to see at any hour. From Hatshepsut they are about 4.5 kilometres by road. Further detail is on the pages for the Temple of Hatshepsut and Medinet Habu and the Colossi of Memnon.

Beyond the three famous sites

The quieter West Bank has more to offer than the standard route. A three-hour private tour by Sun Pyramids Tours goes to Medinet Habu, the workers’ village of Deir el-Medina and the Valley of the Queens, with entrance fees included. Deir el-Medina housed the craftsmen who cut and painted the royal tombs. The private day by Wendy Holidays joins all of these with the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the colossi, and also includes the entrance fees. The tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens is reported closed since March 2024; check before you go, and do not count on it being part of any tour.

The NASCO tour is the one in this selection that visits the Tombs of the Nobles, with 90 minutes in the Valley of the Kings, Medinet Habu and Hatshepsut on the same day. Its listing names the optional tombs that need an extra ticket: Ramses V and VI, Seti I and Tutankhamun.

Adding the East Bank

Karnak is about 12 kilometres by road from the Valley of the Kings, around 17 minutes without stops, so a full day can cover both sides of the river. The combined tours usually start on the West Bank while it is cooler and cross back for Karnak and Luxor Temple in the afternoon. If one side of the river is enough, a guided tour with lunch lets you pick a single bank for five or seven hours. The private day by Jakada Tours visits Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut, but its tour page contradicts itself on entry fees, so read the inclusions before booking. For the temples themselves see Karnak and Luxor Temple.

Tickets, cash and cards

Since 2023 the monument ticket offices have been moving to card payment, and the first self-service ticket machines opened in the Valley of the Kings in January 2024. Reports from 2026 still differ on whether cash is accepted at every window. Take a card that is enabled for international payments and a little cash in reserve for the tram, toilets and tips. When a tour includes entry fees, the guide handles the tickets; when it does not, you pay at each site. More on this is on our page about tickets and opening hours.

Timing, heat and shop stops

The sites open at 6 am. In the Valley of the Kings the busiest hours are roughly 10 am to 2 pm, and it is quieter in the hour or two before last entry, which the official portal gives as 5 pm in summer and 4 pm in winter. From May to September the Luxor weather station records average highs around 40 °C, so in summer an early pickup is worth the short night.

Reviews of both group and private tours mention shop stops at alabaster, perfume or papyrus workshops. You can stay in the car or say you are not buying. A few reviews of group tours also describe requests for cash on the day, for example for a return transfer or for pickup in certain districts. Ask what your booking covers before the car leaves the hotel.

Since 2011 most of the objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb have moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. Our sister site visitgreatpyramids.com covers the museum and the pyramids.