Luxor Things to Do Tips by geordiebutcher

Although the Luxor museum is rather expensive, ( about £5 uk) it houses some really fabulous artifacts. It includes one of the three chariots from Tutankhamen's tomb, plus bows and arrows, a model boat and other items from his tomb. In an ajoining building there is a collection of twenty six statues that were discovered as recently as 1989 in the temple of Luxor, we thought these were some of the finest statues we had ever seen, in particular the statue of the goddess Lunit, and one of the goddess Hathor. In the main building, there are many more statues including a large and very beautifull calcite statue of the crocodile god Sobec with the pharaoh Amenhotep 111 sitting side by side. So, expensive? perhaps, but worth every penny.

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Address: The Cornish Luxor

Anyone interested in wildlife, and birds in particular will be well satified with the amount and variety of birds to be seen in and around Luxor. From the common sparrow to the majestic Kite, pigeons (common and uncommon) bulbuls, kingfishers, the pure white egrets and the delightfull hoopoe are all easy to spot

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Address: Around Luxor

The Luxor mumification museum is another must while visiting Luxor. As well as the fabulously painted mummy boards there are mummyfied Ibis cats a ram and a crocodile. There is allso a mummy who is so well preserved, he would be recognized by any of his neighbours should one happen to visit the museum! The museum is quite small but is certainly worth a visit. Cost about £3 UK (35le)

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Address: The Cornish, beside the local ferry

There is so much to see and so much to do in Luxor you soon get weary, so take time out and go for a sail. You can hire a felluca for an hour or two and just lie back and admire the scenery from your boat while the countryside rolls by. It can cost as little as 30 - 40 Le's for an hours sail or if you are in a romantic sort of mood, take your trip to coincide with the sunset. Luxor's sunsets can be really spectacular.

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Address: The Corniche

On the way to the Valley of the Kings, the first ancient site you will see is the colossis of Memnon. These two massive statues stand twenty metres high and were carved out of two single pieces of stone weighing over 100 tons each, and stood at the entrance of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. The southernmost statue, that is the one furthest from the road has had graffiti carved on its two metre long foot. Some of this was written in Greek in antiquity although a Mr Bogle added his name in 1820. Both statues have been badly defaced, but remain a very impressive sight

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Address: The West Bank
Directions: On the way to the Valley of the Kings

The tomb of Sennedjem in the valley of the Artisans is one tomb you should make an effort to see. When we visited this tomb we were allowed to take photographs as long as we didn't use the flash, this is not a problem with modern digital cameras. The decoration is to my mind far better than the royal tombs and although these tombs are a lot smaller, the fact that you will most probably alone, (we were the only people there at 10 o'cock in the morning) you get a very different feel for the place "Ambience" I think you call it but what ever it was this is the only time in my 61 years that I have had such a feeling. I came out of that tomb a different person.

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Address: The Valley of the Artisans

The Temple of Hatshepsut was built as a funerary monument by Hatshepsut to her father and herself , She is believed to be, or at lest, to have claimed to be, a pharaoh in her own right. Her father was Thotmose I, and her mother was Queen Ahmose. Her tomb is in the Valley of the Kings. It was intended to drive the shaft of the tomb under the hill so Hatshepsut could lie under her temple, but faults in the rock made this impossible. The temple is well decorated, The lowest level on the far left shows a series of paintings depicting the tranportations of obelisks up the Nile by boat. For some reason, tour operators take their crowds of people straight up the ramp and ignore this lower level. At the bottom of the ramp you will see several small mounds of cement in a distinct pattern, these cover cover the roots of ancient palm trees planted when the temple was bult. The temple was later used as a Christian Convent, called the Convent of the North. To the right, and in front of the temple you can see steps running down to a well where water was drawn, you can still see water but I doubt it would be safe to drink,

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Address: Deil el-Bahari

We planned this day out with the help of an Egyptian guide, and it was the best day of our holiday. We took the local ferry across to the west bank, and hired a taxi to take us to the Collossis of Memnon . We took our photographs and I bought entrance tickets for the tombs here. We then carried on to the Valley of the Artisans. We visited the tomb of Sennedjem and the tomb of Inherkha. these are two of the most exquisitely painted tombs in the Valley. we then strolled south to the Temple of Deir el-Medina, a small temple dedicated to the the goddess Hather and the goddess Ma'at. this temple was built by Ptolemy IV and finished by Euergetes II. there are some excellent relief carvings on the walls, you will see crosses which were carved on the wall at a later date by Christian monks who occupied the temple. You can also see little niches in the wall where little clay lamp have stood, and you can still see soot from the wicks on the stone! Still heading south you will come upon a large hole in the ground there are steps down to the bottom, this was a well used in ancient times. Scattered all around this area you can see thousands of shards of pottery, some have really nice patterns on them, inscribed lines ECT. I was lucky enough to find a small piece with a thumb print on. Do not be tempted to take a piece! Moving a little further on you will find yourself in the Valley of the Nobles, Here we visited two more tombs, The tomb of Menna, and the tomb of Senefer both of these tombs should be on your list, as they are outstanding, both the colour and the art work are truly wonderfull. It was here that we sat and ate our lunch, just some fruit we had brought with us washed down with our now tepid water. At the appointed time, our taxi came for us and took us back to the ferry, We had crossed to the West Bank at 9 am, the taxi dropped us off at 3.30 pm by 4am we were sitting outside the El Kababgy drinking our Stella's and we both agreed, It had been the best day out ever.

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Address: Valley of the Artisans to the Valley of the Nobles

This tomb is in the valley of the nobles. It is a typical tomb of the 18th dynasty, with a vestbule and chapel. the paintings are very interesting with painting of different animals brought from the land of Punt. There are paintings of monkeys, bears, horses ,elephants and giraffe. There is also scenes of men working on a huge statue of a pharaoh. This is another tomb to include in your list

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Address: Valley of the Nobles

The only word to discribe this tomb is FANTASTIC. Brilliant colours, you would never believe they were painted during the reign of Thotmose IV!!! This tomb is reckoned to be one of the best in the Valley of the Nobles, I agree 100%. It should be very close to the top of your list of must see,s

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Address: The Valley of the Nobles