Tour Overview
This private Luxor East Bank tour visits the two great temples on the city side of the Nile: Karnak, the vast temple complex of Amun, and Luxor Temple, the setting for the Opet festival. A private Egyptologist guide and an air-conditioned car collect you from your hotel in the morning, lunch at a Luxor restaurant falls between the two temples, and the entrance fees are included. It is the easiest of our Luxor day tours, with no tombs, no desert and short drives.
Tour Highlights
- Spend real time at Karnak, the largest temple complex of ancient Egypt, built and enlarged from the Middle Kingdom into Roman times.
- Stand inside the Great Hypostyle Hall, a forest of 134 carved stone columns that still carry traces of their original paint.
- Visit Luxor Temple, built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramses II for the Opet festival, right in the center of modern Luxor.
- Learn how Karnak and Luxor Temple worked as a pair, once joined by a long avenue of sphinxes used in festival processions.
- Keep the day simple: short drives between the temples, a sit-down lunch in Luxor and a private guide who sets the pace with you.
Tour Route
What is the difference between Karnak and Luxor Temple?
Karnak is a huge complex of temples, chapels and halls that grew over some two thousand years, the main home of the god Amun. Luxor Temple is a single, more unified temple, about three kilometers to the south, built mainly by two kings for one great annual festival.
Seeing them on the same day helps you understand both. During the Opet festival, the sacred boats of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were carried from Karnak to Luxor Temple, and your guide explains how the ceremony tied the pharaoh to the gods.
Is the Luxor East Bank tour good for your first or last day?
Yes. Both temples are in town, close to most hotels, and there are no long drives, desert valleys or steep tomb corridors. That makes this tour a comfortable choice for the day you arrive, the day before you leave, or a day when you want a lighter schedule.
It also suits travelers with limited mobility better than the West Bank tours, since the paths at both temples are mostly flat. Tell us in advance if anyone in your group needs extra time or a slower pace.
What should you not miss at Karnak?
Karnak covers a huge area, and on your own it is easy to walk past the most important parts or lose track of which pharaoh built what. With a private guide you can see the essentials properly and still have time to wander. These are the places most worth your attention:
- Great Hypostyle Hall: 134 giant columns, begun under Seti I and completed under Ramses II.
- Obelisk of Hatshepsut: one of the tallest ancient obelisks still standing in Egypt.
- Sacred Lake: where priests purified themselves before rituals.
- Avenue of Sphinxes: the processional road that once ran all the way to Luxor Temple.
How is this different from the other Luxor day tours?
This tour stays on the East Bank and covers only Karnak and Luxor Temple, giving both the time they deserve. It does not cross the river to the Valley of the Kings or Hatshepsut's temple, which are on the West Bank and covered by separate tours.
Pair it with the Luxor West Bank tour on another day to see the royal tombs. If you have only one day, the Luxor East and West Bank tour fits both temples and the main West Bank sites into one longer day. To see Karnak again after dark, add the Karnak sound and light show on an evening of your stay.
Tour Itinerary
A relaxed, town-based day: Karnak in the morning, lunch, then Luxor Temple, all within a short drive of your hotel.
Your private Egyptologist guide meets you at your hotel in the morning, and an air-conditioned car takes you the short distance to Karnak, on the northern side of town. Starting in the morning gives you the cooler hours for the largest and most open of the two temples.
Karnak was the great religious center of Thebes, dedicated to Amun, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu. Your guide takes you through its pylons, courts and obelisks, the sacred lake and the Great Hypostyle Hall, explaining which pharaoh added what across roughly two thousand years of building.
Lunch at a restaurant in Luxor is included. It is a welcome pause between the two temples, out of the midday sun, and a chance to sit down, drink something cold and ask your guide about everything you saw at Karnak before moving on.
Luxor Temple was the stage for the Opet festival, when the statues of the Theban gods were carried here from Karnak and the king's divine role was renewed. You see the colossal statues of Ramses II at the entrance, the single obelisk still standing there and the elegant colonnade of Amenhotep III.
After Luxor Temple, your driver takes you back to your hotel or cruise boat. Your guide, car, lunch, bottled water and entrance fees are already paid, so you can head straight back to rest or explore the town on your own.
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 collect you from your hotel in Luxor in the morning and bring you back at the end of the tour. If you are staying on a Nile cruise boat moored in Luxor, send us the boat's name when you book so we can confirm the pickup.
The private Egyptologist guide, a private air-conditioned car with driver, entrance fees to Karnak and Luxor Temple, lunch at a restaurant in Luxor, bottled water in the car and all service charges. Tips and personal purchases are not included. There are no flights or long drives, as both temples are in Luxor.
Yes, the guide and car are for your group only. Since their cost is the same for two people or eight, the per-person price drops as your group gets bigger, and it changes slightly between the summer season and the busier winter months. Prices start from {price} per person.
You can, but much of their meaning is carved on the walls in scenes and hieroglyphs that are hard to read without help. Karnak in particular is a maze of courts and halls from different eras. A private Egyptologist turns it into a clear story and saves you time finding the important parts.
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.
