Private Luxor Day Trip From Marsa Alam

Start your private tour in the early morning with a pickup from your centrally located Marsa Alam hotel. Then, sit back in your private air-conditioned car and enjoy the desert scenery as you travel inland to Luxor. After a roughly 3.5-hour journey, arrive in this bustling city and set out on your tour. As you travel, learn from your qualified Egyptologist guide how Luxor occupies the former site of Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt’s New Kingdom. Discover, too, how the modern city lines the east bank of the Nile River, facing the Valley of the Kings on the west bank.

Start your explorations at this age-old necropolis, where 63 New Kingdom royal tombs from the 2nd century BC riddle the mountains. Listen to your guide as they explain how and why the tombs were built, and then visit three on your own — guides are not permitted to accompany you — to delve into the richly decorated corridors and anterooms. If time allows and you wish to visit the tomb of Tutankhamen, you will need to purchase a separate ticket. Afterwards, meet back up with your guide and head for the Temple of Hatshepsut. After a photo stop at the two statues of the Colossi of Memnon, continue to an island on the Nile and enjoy a typically Egyptian lunch.

Duly refreshed, make tracks to Karnak Temple, a vast religious complex built between 2055 BC and 100 BC. Rising imperiously from the east bank, this awe-inspiring temple contains three inner temples dedicated to the gods Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Follow the Avenue of the Sphinxes inside and marvel at the Great Hypostyle Hall, with its forest of 134 huge columns. See the chambers, kiosks and man-made Sacred Lake and hear from your guide how the different temples and structures were used. During your time in Luxor, enjoy a roughly 30-minute cruise on a felucca, gliding along the Nile River past peaceful palm groves, fields and mountains.

With your visit over, head back to Marsa Alam in your private car, and end your tour with a drop-off at your hotel in the evening.