Discover in this full-day tour the major sights of Luxor’s west and east banks (Ancient Thebes). Explore the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, and the Colossi of Memnon. Enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant.
At your hotel reception.
Meet you at your hotel reception to commence your tour to the Valley of the Kings.
The Valley of the Kings is one of Egypt’s main sights, not only in Luxor, and must be viewed for a better understanding of the nature of religion and the construction of the tomb in Ancient Egypt.
Egyptian tombs in Ancient Egypt suffered a lot from grave robbery. New Kingdom pharaohs tried to conceal their graves from the grave robbers, deciding to avoid constructing the pyramids and to cut their graves deep within the mountain instead.
The Valley of the Kings up until August 2020 contains 65 tombs. The first pharaoh who cut his tomb in the site was Tuthmosis I (1506-1493 BC) of the 18th Dynasty, while Ramses XI (1107-1078 BC) of the 20th Dynasty was the last pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings.
You are permitted to visit 3 out of 10 tombs that are opened to the public. I will recommend visiting the best 3 tombs of the opened ones. You’ll be impressed by the nature of the colors, inscriptions, and reliefs of every tomb you visit. Some of the reliefs depict the underworld and the fate of the pharaoh.
Then proceed to the unique Temple of the Female Pharaoh Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut was one of the few females in ancient history who ruled Egypt. She ruled for about 20 years, following her brother and husband Tuthmosis II. Her name is immortal because of her temple that we are visiting at Deir El-Bahari in Luxor today.
Her temple is also unique amongst the Egyptian temples in its architecture. The temple was built on three terraces and this temple’s main purpose is to honor Hatshepsut as a male pharaoh or king.
The temple’s first terrace isn’t open to the public because of its damaged state. On the second terrace, you will find some fascinating stories such as her divine birth from the god Amun and her commercial trip to the land of Punt (modern Somalia). Some of Hatshepsut's statues represent Osiris in mummy form. On the third terrace but the female feature of Hatshepsut’s face is easy to recognize.
Next, you will stop at the Colossi of Memnon for a photo opportunity.
The Colossi of Memnon are two colossal statues of pharaoh Amenhotep III, they stood originally in front of his temple’s main entrance, “The millions of years of pharaoh Amenhotep III”. A massive 27 BC earthquake hit the colossi which caused some cracks on the statues. At dawn, dew goes down into the cracks and used to make noises when the wind blows down. The Greeks heard these noises and thought these noises to be the voice of Agamemnon’s mother who mourns him. From that time, the colossi were wrongly called Memnon.
Enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant serving Egyptian cuisine.
After lunch, you will visit the largest temple in the world at Karnak.
Karnak Temple is the world’s largest religious complex. It encompasses over 300 acres. Many generations of pharaohs shared the temple construction. The construction began in the time of Senwosret I in around 2000 BC and stopped in 343 BC after Nectanebo II’s death.
The complex’s main temple is dedicated to Amun, and two small temples are dedicated to his consort Mut, and to his son Khonsu. There is a huge sphinx avenue that connects Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple, used in the Opet festival, to take Amun’s golden statue to Luxor Temple to confirm the pharaoh’s kingship.
You will end your lovely day at the majestic Luxor Temple.
Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1390-1353 BC) of the 18th dynasty, and Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) of the 19th dynasty, built Luxor Temple. Other pharaohs like Horemheb and Tutankhamen left their traces in the temple.
As well as Alexander the Great who had his own chapel inside Luxor Temple. The Romans added a small Roman chapel, known as a church today.
The Muslims later built a mosque on top of the temple known as the Abu El-Hagag Mosque when the temple was buried in sand and dust.
Transfer back to your hotel at the end of your full-day trip.
At your hotel.
Hotel pick up and drop off.
Transportation.
Entrance fees of all sites of the tour.
Licensed Egyptologist tour guide.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
All service charges and taxes.
Gasoline.
Parking charges.
Local taxes.
Gratuities.
Drinks and personal expenses.
Tombs of Seti I and Tutankhamen at the Kings Valley.
Please feel free to contact me for any arrangement. I am happy to make a customized plan for you!
Flat shoes, hats, sunglasses, water, cell phones and sun creams are recommended for this tour.
Here is the price of the extra tombs if you want to visit an extra tomb:
Tomb of Ramses V & VI is for 100 EGP.
Tomb of Tutankhamen is for 300 EGP.
Tomb of Seti I is for 1000 EGP.
Birgit N.
Everything worked smoothly, great experience
Glad to hear and thank you very much. Looking forward to seeing you again.
Nathan J.
Essam showed us around luxor for a day. He arranged everything, and picked us up at the airport. Halfway through the day it was hot, everyone wanted to go for a swim so he arranged a boat to take us up the river where we all went swimming. He also did all of this on very short notice, as we arranged it only 24hrs prior to arriving. It was an awesome day. Nate
Thank you for taking time to submit this lovely review. Much appreciated ????
Kevin D.
Amazing tour!
Thank you ????
Laura A.
We were worried about finding a last minute ride from Luxor to Aswan. I performed a Google search and found Go With Guide. Essam accepted my request right away. This relieved all the worries I had. He was in constant contact in order to obtain the necessary information that was needed for the permits. We were picked up on time and the ride to Aswan was very comfortable!
Thank you, Laura, for taking time to submit your nice review. I’m glad your enjoyed my services. Thank you very much and hope to see you/your friends very soon.