If you’ve not heard of the West Bank of Luxor, you are truly missing out! It is home to one of the largest collections of archaeological treasures in the World, and the best place in Egypt to get a real glimpse into Ancient Egypt.
In this guide you will find the best sites to visit on the West Bank of Luxor, with updated pricing for 2024, tips on how to get around, where to stay, and advice on how to plan your day.
WHAT IS THE WEST BANK OF LUXOR?
Located on the west side of the Nile River, Luxor’s West Bank is home to a number of the most impressive ancient sites in Egypt and in the World! This includes the famous Valley of the Kings where you will find the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Valley of the Queens, and much more as detailed below.
HOW TO GET TO THE WEST BANK OF LUXOR?
Getting to the West Bank of Luxor itself is easy, where you can get a public ferry across from the East Bank. The public ferry is very cheap (around 5EGP per person) and runs every 15 minutes, taking only 5-10 minutes to cross over.
GETTING AROUND WEST BANK OF LUXOR
Whilst getting to the West Bank of Luxor is easy, the more difficult part is getting to the actual historical sites. Unfortunately, they aren’t within walking distance and there is no public transport to take you from one to the other, so you will need to choose one of the three options below:
- Taxi: You will need to negotiate with a local taxi driver on the West Bank once you arrive but average cost is around 500EGP. This is a bit of a pain to organise and negotiate and you may end up paying more as you have no other option, so I wouldn’t recommend this.
- Group Tour: There are plenty of options for booking a group tour, where most hotels will organise it, or you can use popular websites such as Get your Guide or Viator to find a tour. Whilst these are very cheap, the downside is you’ll be in a large group and tied to a specific schedule with no flexibility. I personally hate doing group tours.
- Private Tour: Booking a private guided tour of the West Bank is by far the best option in my opinion. We chose this option with Emo Tours as it was a very reasonable price and gave us the most flexibility.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SITES TO VISIT IN WEST BANK OF LUXOR?
Valley of the Kings
History
The Valley of the Kings is home to Egypt’s most iconic tombs and monuments, with over 60 tombs located here including the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Ramses II and Seti I. It was part of the ancient city of Thebes and the principal burial grounds for the New Kingdom’s major royal figures as well as a number of privileged nobles.
The history behind this burial site is fascinating. The kings of the New Kingdom were fearful of the safety of the treasures that would be buried alongside their tomb, so they adopted a plan of concealing their tombs in deep, sunken burial sites in a deserted valley in the Western hills. The walls of the burial site were painted to depict the dead king in the presence of deities, and also contained texts similar to those found in funerary papyri, designed to help the dead king on his journey through the nether regions. Despite their great efforts to conceal the tombs, nearly all of the valley’s royal tombs were robbed before the end of the 20th dynasty. However one tomb which escaped this fate was the Tomb of Tutankhamun – it was discovered in 1992 with all the treasures intact! There are still to this day more tombs being discovered, with history being unravelled over time.
Visiting the Tombs
The entrance fee of 600EGP to the Valley of Kings includes visiting 3 of the 8 tombs open to the public on that day. They rotate which tombs are open in order to preserve the tombs as best as they can from environmental damage and damage from tourism. You can visit more than the included 3 tombs by purchasing an additional ticket. Separate to these included tombs, there are other more notable tombs you can visit by purchasing an individual ticket. This includes the following:
- KV9 – Ramesses V & VI 180EGP per person
- KV17 – Seti I 1800EGP per person
- KV62 – Tutankhamun 500EGP per person
I honestly recommend visiting the Tomb of Tutankhamun as Tutankhamun’s mummy and sarcophagus are still on display in the tomb, which is a sight to see! Note that the coffin and burial goods are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo on display.
Access Conditions
Before visiting, you need to be aware of the conditions of the tomb so you are completely prepared! As the tombs are deeply sunken, there is a descent into each tomb, some more than others. This also means when exiting it is a steep ascent which may be difficult for some, with a lack of disabled access to most tombs.
Another notable point is that the tombs are HOT. I don’t mean slightly uncomfortable heat, I mean a raging furnace type of heat. This is again because they are deeply sunken with no ventilation, making it very stuffy and humid inside. You will be dripping with sweat when you exit, especially if you go during the summer months! Be prepared for this, wear comfortable clothing and carry a lot of water.
Valley of the Queens
Whilst the Valley of the Queens is less impressive than the Valley of the Kings, it is still worth the visit and you’ll find less tourists here, making it more enjoyable. In fact I would visit this before the Valley of the Kings as a little taster of the more impressive tombs you’ll see at the Valley of the Kings.
The Valley of the Queens is where the queens, alongside the princes and princesses were buried as well as some other high ranking officials. There are over 90 tombs here, with more still being discovered, but not all are open to the public. In your ticket price of 180EGP you will get to see the tombs of Queen Titi, Prince Khaemwaset, and Prince Amenherkhepshef. However, the real showstopper is the tomb of Queen Nefertari which costs an additional 2000EGP.
Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu was arguably one of my favourite sites to visit on the West Bank, after the Valley of the Kings. It is a small village which was one of the first places in Thebes closely associated with the local god Amun.
Back in time in contained temples, storage rooms, workshops, administrative buildings, a royal palace and accommodation for priests and officials. It was also the centre of the economic life of Thebes for centuries. Now, you’ll find some of the remaining impressive structures including the burial temple of Ramses III. Entrance price is 200EGP from the ticket office on site or the Antiquities Inspectorate Ticket Office.
Tip: I would visit this first at around 7am as you will have the entire place to yourself before the large tour groups arrive!
Temple of Hatshepsut
The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut is dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut who ruled for around 20 years. She was a popular ruler as her time in reign came with successful trade, a booming economy, and her many public works projects which provided numerous job opportunities.
She had her temple designed to tell the story of her life and reign. It’s very different to the other temples in Egypt and this uniqueness is what makes it worth visiting. The temple was built on a grand scale, with three terraces, each connected by a long ramp, and two large courtyards surrounded by towering limestone walls, painted with images of Hatshepsut and her family. Entrance fee is 360EGP from the ticket office on site.
Deir Al-Medina
Deir Al-Medina is the ancient Egyptian’s workmen village, and home to the artisans and craftsmen who worked on the tombs located in the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. Whilst it is not on the same scale of importance as the other sites, its archaeological significance comes from the wealth of information it provides on the daily life of the people who lived there. Due to its location, the village is not thought to have provided a pleasant environment. Also the people who lived there were artists, not farmers, so it wasn’t a self-sufficient village and lacked an immediate water supply given its desert location.
In my honest opinion, this site can be skipped if you don’t have enough time. Whilst it is of historical importance, there is very little to see here. Entrance fee is 200EGP from the Antiquities Inspectorate Ticket Office.
ONE DAY ITINERARY FOR WEST BANK OF LUXOR
The key to visiting the West Bank of Luxor is to start early if you want to arrive before the large tour groups! Whilst the first two sites you visit will be practically empty, as the day goes on the other sites will become more crowded. The order in which you decide to do the sites is entirely up to you unless you’re on a group tour – our guide recommended doing Medinet Habu first as it would be empty and if I were to do it again I would opt for the same order! It did mean the Valley of the Kings was busy by the time we got there but we didn’t mind, and also they limit the number of people allowed into a tomb at any one time, so it’s not overly crowded once you’re in the tombs.
- 7:00 am: Medinet Habu
- 8:00 am: Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
- 9:00 am: Valley of the Queens
- 10:30 am: Valley of the Kings
- 12:30 pm: Lunch
- 1:30 pm: Ramesseum
- 2:30 pm: Colossi of Memnon
We didn’t do Ramesseum and Colossi of Memnon as we were very tired and overheated (we went in summer) so we headed back to the East Bank for lunch. Also these two sites do not look as impressive as the others in West Bank so we opted to miss them, but if you have time to kill then it’s worth adding onto your itinerary.
WHERE TO STAY AND EAT IN LUXOR
The East Bank of Luxor is the best place to stay and eat as there are more options available compared to West Bank, especially in terms of accommodation!
Saying that, the food in Egypt isn’t the best, it is quite bland! We actually ate a lot at the hotel as it was the better food option and we found this to be the case in most of the cities we visited in Egypt.
We stayed at the Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa in East Bank which I highly recommend. You can find a full hotel review here.
MORE INFORMATION ON EGYPT
Aswan: Guide coming soon, keep your eyes peeled!
Cairo: Check out the best hotel to stay in Cairo here.
Luxor: For more on Luxor, check out my guide on Luxor East Bank and also my review of the Hilton Luxor for where to stay in Luxor. This is also a good guide if you’re looking into the Luxor and Cairo pass.
If you have any questions about how to visit the West Bank of Luxor, or to share your personal experience, drop a comment in the comment section below.
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