Sonesta St. George Hotel

Impressions of the Desert

Off-the-beaten-track Adventure + 1 more + 2 more

Visit one of the Western Desert’s most fascinating oases on a circular itinerary.

10 days

from £4,560 pp

including flights

Egypt's Modern History

Off-the-beaten-track Cruise + 2 more + 3 more

A delightful introduction to the fascinating events that have shaped Egypt since Biblical times

10 days

from £3,915 pp

including flights

Ultimate Egypt

Ultimate Cruise + 1 more + 2 more

A route packed with adventure & luxury for those looking to splash out on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

16 days

from £4,960 pp

including flights

Luxor and the Red Sea

Family Beach + 1 more + 2 more

An enticing itinerary that allows for plenty of seaside relaxation in addition to the Nile sightseeing.

8 days

from £2,640 pp

including flights

Classic Egypt

Classic Express + 3 more + 3 more

Big-name ancient highlights and a classic Nile cruise

8 days

from £2,810 pp

including flights

Simply Egypt

Express Beach + 2 more + 3 more

Cairo's iconic sights paired with pure Red Sea relaxation.

11 days

from £3,520 pp

including flights

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in Egypt

Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor

A hot air balloon ride is one of the most memorable ways to experience Luxor. Taking off just after sunrise, you’ll drift quietly above the Nile and the patchwork of fields, villages and ancient monuments below, with the early morning light casting a special kind of majesty over the landscapes. From the air, you’ll see famous sites such as the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple and the surrounding desert cliffs, all from a completely different perspective. The flight will be smooth and unhurried, offering plenty of time to take in the views before returning to the ground for the rest of your day’s sightseeing. It’s an early start, but a rewarding one and more than worth it, you’d struggle to find a better start to your day in Luxor.

Luxor Museum

Centrally located on the Corniche, Luxor Museum is highly recommended for those looking to contextualise all they’ve seen during time exploring Luxor. Smaller, more modern and far less chaotic than its Cairo equivalent, the museum is a pleasant space in itself, particularly as much of the sightseeing in Luxor is conducted outdoors in searing heat. Many of the treasures that were removed in excavations, both of the West Bank tombs and the great East Bank temples, are on display here, including some artefacts from the Tomb of Tutankhamen. Although deliberately limited in volume to make exploration of the museum a manageable, hassle free experience, there is great variety on show. Over the two floors of exhibits, visitors can see colourful wall reliefs, enigmatic statues, ancient sandstone blocks and rather grizzly royal mummies. Sympathetically lit, labelled and spaced out, the museum is an essential stop during free time on Luxor’s East Bank.

Valley of the Kings

Very few places on the planet carry the same mystique and grandeur as the Valley of the Kings. One of Egypt’s undisputed must-see sights, a visit here inspires childlike excitement in even the most hardened of travellers. Immortalised in literature and film since the accidental discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter in 1922, the very name conjures unmistakable images of adventure and derring-do. Evocatively located in a secluded wadi on Luxor’s West Bank, this is the site where pharaohs of the New Kingdom (roughly 1,500BC) were transported after death for burial in rock-cut tombs and a supposed journey into the afterlife. New tombs are still being uncovered to this day, and there are currently 63 in total, not all of which are possible to visit. With an eye on preservation and restoration, a limited number of tombs are open at one time and photography inside is not permitted. They are regularly rotated so that none become overused, and repeat visitors will usually get to see something new. The most famous of all is the Tomb of Tutankhamen, which is subject to an additional entrance fee. Features contained in the tombs on their discovery might have included sarcophaguses, bejewelled everyday objects and the mummified remains of the pharaoh himself, but most of these objects have now been moved to museums or plundered by opportunists. Inside, the carvings, reliefs and chambers can vary significantly, but an exploration of the Valley of the Kings is always an incredibly atmospheric, visceral experience. Perhaps most fascinating are the colourful reliefs, usually depicting the pharaoh's journey to the afterlife, fraught with potential pitfalls and illustrated by some truly vivid, recognisable iconography.

Temple of Dendera

Situated on the West Bank of the Nile, roughly 60km north of Luxor, Dendera receives far fewer visitors than the fabled pharaonic highlights further south. It is included on some of the longer Nile cruise itineraries or can be visited by land from Luxor; those who make the effort are usually glad they did. The temple complex here is beautifully preserved, its sprawling layout surrounded by a huge mud-brick wall and an attractive ribbon of verdant green countryside, spilling out from the Nile towards the Western Desert.The dominant structure within the walls is the impressive Temple of Hathor, containing an array of treasures including a hypostyle hall, numerous shrines and staircases and some vivid reliefs, including some that portray Cleopatra. Her depictions highlight that this complex was influenced by Rome, and some of the temples and reliefs display clear Roman iconography rather than Ancient Egyptian. With a user-friendly visitors’ centre and a café for much-needed refreshments, this is an extremely pleasant place to spend a few hours, often in conjunction with a trip to Abydos, further north.

Tour of Luxor's East Bank

Half-day tours incorporating the majestic temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor are barely sufficient to do them justice, but the combination certainly makes for a fascinating and instructive excursion. While your tour may be conducted in the morning, most Nile cruise programmes visit in the afternoon to take in the Temple of Luxor, beautifully floodlit as dusk begins to fall. Karnak usually comes first, its obelisks, kiosks, hypostyles, hieroglyphs and pylons representing ambition and achievement on a grand scale. There are numerous temples incorporated within the site, and from your very first sight, approaching the first pylon past the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, it’s clear that Karnak is a must-see. The centrepiece is the Amun Temple Enclosure, dominated by the great Temple of Amun-Ra, including the imposing Great Hypostyle Hall. Other highlights include the Temples of Khonsu and Ramesses III, and the Sacred Lake. Located in the modern town centre, the smaller Temple of Luxor is relatively easy to explore and understand, largely because it was mainly the work of one pharaoh, Amenhotep III. Particularly fascinating are the layers of history, vividly represented by Islamic and Roman influences, which over time have become integral parts of the overall complex. Approaching the imposing first pylon¸ the seated and standing statues of Ramesses II beckon visitors inside to a great courtyard of pillars. Here is one of the temple’s most fascinating features, the Mosque of Abu-al-Haggag. By the 14th century the original complex had gradually been buried, and the mosque that was built over the site now appears to blend seamlessly into the excavated court below. In one of the central chambers, colourfully painted stuccoes depict Roman officials, tacked onto the ancient remains in the 3rd century. While these varied attractions can easily keep you busy for a couple of hours, the full expanse of the site is perhaps most impressive when viewed floodlit at night.