Tour Overview
This private Luxor tour covers both banks of the Nile in a single day. You start on the West Bank at the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, take a boat across the river to lunch on an island, then finish on the East Bank at Karnak and Luxor Temple. A private Egyptologist, an air-conditioned car, lunch and the entrance fees are included. It is the tour for travelers who have one day in Luxor and want the essentials.
Tour Highlights
- Cover Luxor's five headline monuments in one day, from the royal tombs of the West Bank to the great temples of the East Bank.
- Cross the Nile by boat at midday and have lunch on an island, a real break between the two halves of a long day.
- Go down into painted tombs in the Valley of the Kings, where New Kingdom pharaohs such as Ramses II and Seti I were buried.
- Walk through Karnak, the temple complex of Amun, Mut and Khonsu that Egyptian rulers kept enlarging for around two thousand years.
- End at Luxor Temple, home of the Opet festival and part of the Ancient Thebes World Heritage Site listed by UNESCO in 1979.
Tour Route
Can you see Luxor in one day?
You can see its five most important monuments in one well-planned day, and this tour is built for exactly that. What you give up is time: you visit each site at a steady pace rather than lingering, and you will not reach the quieter West Bank temples or tombs.
If you are passing through Luxor on a tight schedule, arriving by train, or have a free day before or after a Nile cruise, one full day is far better than skipping a bank altogether.
Is one long day better than two shorter tours?
It depends on how many days you have. With one day, this combined tour is the clear choice. With two or more days, splitting the banks gives you more time in the tombs and at Karnak, and an easier pace in the heat.
To split it, book the Luxor West Bank tour for the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the Colossi on one day, and the Luxor East Bank tour for Karnak and Luxor Temple on another. With a third day, add the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu and Ramesseum tour.
How hard is a full day on both banks?
It is a long day with a lot of standing and walking, mostly on flat ground but with ramps at Hatshepsut's temple and steps down into the tombs. Most reasonably fit travelers manage it well, especially in the cooler months from October to April.
- Wear: comfortable closed shoes, light clothing, a hat and sunglasses.
- Bring: sunscreen and some Egyptian pounds for tips and small purchases.
- Pace: tell your guide if you need a slower day; the tour is private, so the timing at each site can bend.
Why does the tour visit the West Bank first?
The West Bank sites stand in open desert with almost no shade, so they are best seen in the morning. Karnak and Luxor Temple are in town, have more shade between their walls and columns, and are pleasant in the late afternoon light.
Tour Itinerary
A full and honest day: the West Bank in the morning, a boat to lunch, the East Bank in the afternoon, with a fair amount of walking in between.
Your private Egyptologist guide and driver collect you from your Luxor hotel or cruise boat. The day begins on the West Bank because its sites are open, shadeless and best seen before the heat builds, while the East Bank temples can wait for the afternoon.
The royal burial ground of the New Kingdom, with more than 60 known tombs cut into the rock, including those of Ramses II, Seti I and Tutankhamun. You enter several open tombs with your guide, who explains the painted scenes of the king's journey through the night.
Hatshepsut ruled as pharaoh in the 15th century BC, and her mortuary temple rises in three terraces beneath the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari. In ancient times it was a stop on the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, when the statue of Amun crossed the river from Karnak.
A short photo stop at two giant seated statues of Amenhotep III, made around 1350 BC for the entrance of his mortuary temple. The temple behind them has almost vanished, but the statues were already famous with Greek and Roman visitors.
From the West Bank you cross the river by boat and have lunch on an island in the Nile. The boat trip and the meal are both included, and it is the calmest hour of the day, a chance to sit down with the West Bank hills behind you.
Karnak was built and rebuilt from the Middle Kingdom into Roman times, and its temples, pylons and obelisks spread over a huge area. Your guide leads you through the Great Hypostyle Hall, with its 134 columns, and explains how the complex grew pharaoh by pharaoh.
Built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramses II and dedicated to the same three gods as Karnak, Luxor Temple hosted the Opet festival, when the kingship was ritually renewed. An avenue of sphinxes once linked the two temples, and parts of it are visible again today.
Your driver takes you back to your hotel or boat after Luxor Temple. The guide, car, boat, lunch, bottled water and entrance fees are already covered, so tips and any extra tickets you choose to buy are the only costs left to plan for.
What's Included
What the tour price covers, and what to plan for separately.
Paid
★
Your
Own
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about this tour. For anything else, message us on WhatsApp — we reply fast.
Your private guide and driver pick you up from your hotel or Nile cruise boat in Luxor and bring you back there at the end of the day. Send us the name of your hotel or boat when you book, and tell us if your cruise is moored somewhere unusual.
A private Egyptologist guide, a private air-conditioned car, entrance fees to all the sites in the program, the boat trip across the Nile, lunch on an island, bottled water and service charges. Tips and extra tickets, such as Tutankhamun's tomb, are not included. The tour starts in Luxor, so no flights are needed.
Yes, the guide, car and boat are for your group only. The per-person price is lower for larger groups, because the cost of the car, boat and guide is shared among more people, and it varies a little between seasons. Prices start from {price} per person.
Yes, if your cruise program does not already include these sites or you have a spare day in Luxor before or after sailing. Many cruises cover some Luxor sightseeing, so check your cruise itinerary first and send it to us; we will tell you honestly whether this day adds anything.
Yes. Avicon Travel is a Class "A" travel agency licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism under License No. 1962 and registered since 2010. Our office and team are in Karnak, Luxor, so the guides, drivers and cars on this tour are our own local team, not a booking desk abroad.
