A different kind of lux in Luxor

Luxor. Or Thebes, as it was known to the Pharaohs when it was the capital of the Egyptian world. It is hard to imagine a more concentrated cluster of globally recognised historical sites. This compactness makes the main sites of Luxor easy to navigate, and also means that it can be ferociously busy with tourists. Many fly into Luxor, while others take river cruises on large ships that look like giant, gleaming floating lego blocks. These cruise ships have one advantage in that they typically then cruise upriver from Luxor to Aswan, taking in otherwise hard to reach temples between the two cities. Aside from that, they appear to have little attraction (to us at least).

Exclusive access to the Valley of the Kings

‘Luxury’ means different things to different people. Be under no illusions, we are not averse to some 5* pampering. But equally, time, space, peace and quiet can all contribute to a luxurious experience. Amazingly, we had the Valley of the Kings, one of the world’s great sites, almost entirely to ourselves. We saw one other visitor until just as we were leaving. There was also a small team of Egyptian workers digging away at one of the archaeological sites which reminded us of the classic images of Howard Carter and his crew uncovering the tomb of Tutankhamun. We didn’t plan it with this in mind. But it seems the majority of big cruise ships leave Luxor for Aswan on Tuesday, our visit being on Wednesday. This combined with the fact we had dragged the kids out early to avoid the heat of the day (arrived just gone 6am), and it being the quieter summer season, meant the gods smiled on us. It was a real treat to be walking the historic ornate tombs with time to really appreciate them, especially as it is this term’s topic at school back home in year five.

There are around 63 different tombs so far discovered in the Valley of the Kings, and quite a number have more that one burial chamber in them. They were located there because the Pharaohs believed that the peak of al-Qurn looked like a natural pyramid in an echo to the resting place of their ancestors. At any given moment, some of the tombs are closed for a long while, and others are on rotation open to visitors. The base entry ticket comes with your choice of three tombs, and you can then pay more to add on more tombs if you wish. Beyond that, you can pay extra to see some additional tombs: Ramesses V & VI, Tutankhamun, and the spectacular Seti I tomb is an extra $50/head on top – and we were not paying that! We just went with the base entry ticket for two reasons a) we knew that of the open tombs only a few are the most ornate, and b) it wouldn’t be long before the kids would be getting bored of ‘not more tombs’.

After doing a little research, we ended up visiting the tombs of Ramesses III (KV11), Ramesses IX (KV6) and Tausert-Setnakht (KV14). The decoration really was stunning, and that’s before you consider that it is around 3500 years old and has survived the pillaging in antiquity that has taken many of the artefacts away.

A lot of hot air balloon

The rise of Instagram has unwittingly meant Luxor’s hot air balloon industry has taken off in a big way. As we woke on Tuesday to go to the Valley of the Kings, the sky was filled with balloons. This perhaps accounted for some of our solitude later that morning. We didn’t book a balloon ride as we would have had to get up even earlier and it is not cheap, but that won’t stop us putting a nice photo of them on this post. In the days after, the gossip amongst the Nile boatmen was that on that morning the fleet of balloons had been blown directly over Luxor airport causing aviation chaos. As a result, ballooning had been temporarily banned for the rest of the week.

The Temple of Luxor

The massive Temple of Luxor was historically the place where new Pharaohs were crowned. It was therefore a particularly appropriate place to hear the news that Queen Elizabeth II had died and King Charles III acceded to the throne.

Today the Temple of Luxor sits slap bang in the middle of the modern town, with the bustle of the Nile on one side and the bustle of the souk on the other. We chose to visit in the evening having heard it was great when lit at night. And they weren’t wrong – it was almost comically stunning at every turn. The relatively recently (1950-present day) excavated avenue of Sphinxes stretches 2.7 kilometres between the temple of Karnak downriver to here at Luxor, with new kings processed along it in a man-carried palanquin. With the mini Sphinxes lit up at night it was amazing to see with the Temple in the background.

The Temple itself grew over time as each Pharaoh extended it beyond the initial core laid down in approximately 1400BC in the reign of Amenhotep III and added to by subsequent pharaohs and completed by Ramesses II. In 640AD the Abu Haggag mosque was built up against the ancient temple walls which remains in operation to this day. The temple entrance pylon is flanked on one side by a massive 22 metre obelisk covered in hieroglyphics. Apparently there used to be a second matching obelisk on the other side of the entrance. The base of it can still be seen however the actual obelisk is now on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Not that we British have a leg to stand on when it comes to purloined artefacts.

The museums (Luxor and Mummification)

Very much worth the visit is Luxor Museum. We found it very easy to visit as the public ferry from the west bank docks right outside. As you would imagine, it is chock full of mummies, statues and artefacts from the tombs, but much smaller, better labelled and with aircon, unlike the Cairo museum in Tahrir square. Dessa was particularly taken with the ancient jewellery and subsequently set about making her own bangle out of a toilet roll.

For us the Mummification Museum (which is on the corniche by Luxor Temple) was unmissable as mummification is a key element of the Ancient Egypt theme being taught to Rafe’s year at school this term. The museum itself is fairly small, but it neatly takes you through the process of mummification and illuminates it with real artefacts. These include the various tools, jars and chemicals used. For its size the museum wasn’t cheap, but at the same time it was fascinating.

How we did it

We chose to base ourselves at an AirB&B on the west bank. A steal at 25GBP per night while we were there, as it had a small pool which is always a hit with the kids, a large balcony, a huge roof terrace with views to the Nile one way and Valley of the Kings to the other, and a communal washing machine (which is always a hit with Helen!) This put us on the right side of the river for the early morning trip to the Valley of the Kings, and meant we were on the quieter side away from the main city. We traded being kept awake at night by traffic for being woken by cockerels and the bray of a donkey – something that is always much louder than you remember it being.

To get to the Valley of the Kings we took a taxi from near the ferry / motorboat dock. You can pay for the simple ride up for ~40egp and then get some other ride back. Or do what we did which was pay 200egp for the round trip, with the same driver waiting for you after you’re done with the tombs, and the chance to go and visit the other temples and sights nearby. As it turned out we were glad we had taken this option, as the place was deserted and waiting vacant taxis weren’t immediately apparently (though doubtless would have quickly appeared).

We took a range of local motorboats across the river, all for 20 to 30EGP depending how much we felt like haggling. This being the quiet season they were all even more keen for the business. We also took the public ferry which is 5EGP per head, so at this time of the year the small motorboats are the same price for a family of four. It is worth noting that the route of the public ferry has moved and at time of writing is incorrectly shown on Google Maps. The dock on the west bank remains the same, but the Luxor city-side dock has moved north up to near the Luxor Museum from its previous location at Luxor Temple. The private motorboats still dock at Luxor Temple if that’s where you want to go.

Our B&B had a small kitchen so sustenance was a mix of home cooking and eating out. There are several small minimarts selling staple goods on the main street. There is also a particularly good bakery and patisserie called La Voche which got good trade from us. For snacks and water Hamada Market right on the riverside was fine. The best breakfast we had was also at the most non-touristy place we went to – it has a black background to its sign, is on the corner by the juice place, on the right as you walk up the main street away from the river just past Yarra Market and opposite Casablanca restaurant. The juice stall right next to it was also very good at 15egp per juice. We also ate at two more touristy restaurants. Africa Restaurant was good, big portions and while still good value was the most expensive. The Blue Nile restaurant down by the riverbank was also good for breakfast. We also had a delicious takeaway of koshary and chicken shawarma one evening from one of the small stores just up from the Africa restaurant.

We flew out of Luxor airport to Cairo and then onward from there. Luxor airport sits about a 15min ride to the east of the town. If, like us, you are staying on the west bank you have two choices. You can get a motorboat across the river and then a taxi. Or you can take a cab all the way, but that means a longer ride as the only road bridge over the Nile is 7km south of town. Overall both options are similar in time and cost.