Welcome to part II of the Egypt series. From Cairo, we flew down to Luxor – where we had several adventures as well as misadventures.

If you have played Civilization (or studied history…) you will know Luxor was once the ancient city of Thebes. It was the capital of Egypt at the height of the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE, give or take a few years). It is particularly famous for its sprawling Karnak Temple complex, with towering columns and a sacred lake – which we, spoiler alert, did not actually manage to visit on this trip. On the West Bank of the Nile, the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens reveal stunning royal tombs carved deep into the hills. Luxor itself is made up of vibrant shops and friendly locals – with a pretty relaxed atmosphere. It has a scenic promenade (corniche) and ferries that can take you across the river. With that said, the town very much thrives on tourism, so it also features plenty of hotels, busses, and souvenirs.

Luxor tips

We had some very specific accommodation needs on this trip, namely space for 3 adults and 1 baby, ideally across 2 separate rooms. This pretty much leads you to AirBnB in most parts of the world, because who wants to pay for two hotel rooms? We found an absolutely stunning place on the other side of the river in Luxor that met these requirements, for very little money at that. However, I won’t recommend it, as the hosts constantly tried to sell us on extras (e.g. expensive dinner and breakfast) (although the breakfast was excellent!) and were very, very difficult to communicate with. This is annoying, when you are not in the city centre and thus rely on them! They were (very) late picking us up for the ferry one evening, which meant we missed last entry to Karnak – pretty much the whole reason we came to Luxor. (I had been before, but B had not!) Anyway, moving on. There were plenty of highlights to our say in Luxor as well.

Before arriving, I had negotiated a driver – to pick us up from the airport, and then to take us around the temples and tombs the next day. (They say 20, you say 10, settle on 15, etc.) I always prefer to design my own tours, so we can say exactly where to stop, what to skip, when to leave, and so forth. For an airport pickup followed by a visit to the Luxor temple and Luxor Museum, plus a whole day out the next day, we paid 75 USD total. Based on travel in Türkiye and Algeria I had budgeted around 80 USD per day for a driver, so I found this a very good deal for 1.5 days! We rarely travel with the baby car seat when we are abroad by the way, as it is heavy, and hot, and you never know if it will actually safely fit in any car. So, whenever a driver cannot provide a car seat I use my stretchy sling as a criss-cross baby seatbelt attached to myself. I wear an actual seatbelt of course, so that I stay put at least (not the baby; never put your baby in the adult seatbelt too). This is absolutely not safe travel advice, but it has worked for us in some pretty dodgy traffic and along some pretty bad roads, so I wanted to share in case that is helpful. Always make your own risk assessment!

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple is located right in the heart of the modern town. It has remained connected to the city throughout its history, with a later mosque built into part of it. Its construction originally began under Amenhotep III (c. 1350 BCE or thereabout), and it was later expanded by Ramses II – making for a great blend of architectural styles. At the entrance, of course you are greeted by massive statues of Ramses II to start with. Beyond this, tall columns guide you through a series of grand courtyards and halls. You will see things like detailed scenes from the Opet Festival (a yearly celebration where the statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu were carried from Karnak to Luxor). However, there is also a Roman-era shrine dedicated to the imperial cult! Not to mention, a scene depicting the coronation of Alexander the Great (like many foreign rulers, he sought legitimacy by associating himself with Egyptian deities).

We arrived at the end of the day, during golden hour. Surprisingly, this was a fairly quiet time – even though tourists would have surely enjoyed the insanely good photography opportunities. We were able to find some empty corners, and enjoy the beautiful hieroglyphs and paintings in peace.

Luxor Museum

As the sun set, we continued on to the local archaeological museum. Last time I visited it had just re-opened after a period of renovation, and it was beautiful. Happily, it remains so. The museum is very dark, with a carefully curated selection of well-lit artefacts. Unlike the museum in Cairo, it is not overwhelming at all, and nearly everything comes with a bit of information about what you’re looking at. The museum is big enough to spend 1-2 hours there, but small enough to… actually do so without feeling you missed anything. This is a really excellent stop, please do not skip it!

Temple of Hatshepsut

The Temple of Hatshepsut is nestled dramatically against the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari on Luxor’s West Bank (sorry, no photo as it is almost always covered in a huge crowd of tourists!). This was built in honour of, you guessed it, Hatshepsut: arguably one of Egypt’s most powerful female rulers. Hatshepsut reigned Egypt during the 18th Dynasty (around 1480-1460 BCE) and she is known for expanding trade networks and commissioning grand building projects… like this temple.

When you arrive, you first walk through a little market – which is surprisingly fun with a blonde toddler. We collected three or four gifts that we were absolutely not allowed to pay for – people are so friendly! The temple structure itself consists of three massive terraces, and beware, there is barely any shade anywhere. This was the only time during our trip that we all overheated despite water and umbrellas. You can take a little golf cart taxi from the entrance up to the Temple (for a cost, of course) which ehm I highly recommend with an excited toddler haha.

Anyway, one of the coolest details is the series of vivid carvings that tell the story of Hatshepsut’s divine birth, where she is depicted as the chosen daughter of the god Amun. Another set of inscriptions documents her famous expedition to the land of Punt, a trade mission that brought back exotic goods like incense, ebony, and gold – i.e. a rare glimpse into ancient Egypt’s interactions with the wider world. The temple is also lined with impressive statues of Hatshepsut in the guise of a male pharaoh (much like Queen Zenobia aha!), showcasing how she carefully navigated the traditional male-dominated role of kingship.

Medinet Habu

This is my personal favourite temple in the Luxor area. Originally, a temple dedicated to Amun was built here by Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III. However, Ramses III then constructed a massive mortuary temple at the site. It has incredibly well-preserved colourful reliefs and inscriptions. Scenes depict Ramses’ military victories, including detailed carvings of his battles against the ‘Sea Peoples‘. The temple’s outer walls also feature one of the earliest known depictions of a chariot battle.

There is more though! The site also has the remains of the Pharaoh’s Palace, as well as an early Christian basilica. There’s also ancient Greek graffiti, as well as, of course, colonial British (John Gordon stuck his name on lots of monuments around Egypt).  This is one of the most quiet temples to visit in the area, and its is possible to explore lots of it away from the crowds.

Valley of the Queens

Having visited the Valley of the Kings before, we persuaded B to have a look at the much, much more quiet Valley of the Queens instead. As you may have gathered, this was the final resting place for many of ancient Egypt’s queens and royal family members. You get separate tickets to see a couple of tombs in the Valley, and to see the tomb of Nefertari. I will come back to that in a second, but note that the latter is astronomically expensive. We opted to only get two tickets, and mum stayed outside with the toddler. However, we got super lucky: as the guard saw her waiting for us, he just waved her in as well!

Amongst the non-expensive tombs of interest are the Tomb of Queen Titi (QV52) and Tomb of Queen Tyti (QV80). Beautiful carvings depict them making offerings to the gods; traditional funerary scenes; their journey through the afterlife; the queen being presented to various deities; and gods offering protection and guidance.

Particularly noteworthy though is the tomb of Queen Nefertari (QV66) – another one of Egypt’s most important and powerful queens. Her tomb is an absolute masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art, with vibrant and colourful wall paintings that have been remarkably well-preserved. In fact, when we were there, an American team was actually working on the documentation and preservation! Very cool to see them in action (and very kind that they let me ask them some questions, mid-work!). The scenes inside her tomb show Nefertari playing board games, making offerings, and being greeted by gods like Osiris and Hathor. The ceiling is painted with stars, and inscriptions Ramses II left in her honour call her “the one for whom the sun shines.”

I should note that on our tour of Luxor we did not visit the famous Colossi of Memnon or the Ramesseum this time. We had to make a selection because we only had two days! However you could easily spend an entire month around Luxor, seeing something new and exciting every day.