Luxor 7 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Seven days is our 6-day plan plus a genuinely relaxed final day: no rush, one last revisit, and departure logistics for Luxor’s small airport. A full week across both banks is more Luxor than most trips need; if you’d rather spend day seven on Dendera or a Nile cruise instead, that’s our Luxor, Egypt itinerary , not this one.
Book these before you go:
- Your East Bank hotel : a week-long stay is worth the extra cost of a hotel with a real pool and reliable air conditioning
- A guided West Bank tour : book once for the Valley of the Kings, reuse the same operator for the Tombs of the Nobles later in the week
- A sunset felucca sail : fix the total price and duration before boarding
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | East Bank: Karnak at opening, the Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor Temple at night |
| 2 | West Bank: the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple, the Colossi of Memnon |
| 3 | West Bank: the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu, sunset felucca |
| 4 | East Bank: the Luxor Museum, the Mummification Museum, the souk |
| 5 | West Bank: Deir el-Medina, the Ramesseum, a licensed guide |
| 6 | West Bank: the Tombs of the Nobles, a Karnak revisit |
| 7 | East Bank: a relaxed morning and departure |
Day 1: East Bank temples
Karnak at opening, EGP 600 ($12), card only, per the official Karnak visitor page
, then the Avenue of Sphinxes to Luxor Temple. Rest through the heat and return to Luxor Temple after dark, EGP 500 ($10).
Day 2: the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut
The Valley of the Kings general ticket is EGP 750 ($15) for three tombs from a rotating pool, confirmed on the official entrance fee page
; Tutankhamun and Seti I are separate per the official ticket breakdown
. Add Hatshepsut’s Temple, EGP 440 ($9), and the free Colossi of Memnon.
Day 3: the Valley of the Queens and a slower West Bank
The Valley of the Queens general ticket runs roughly EGP 180-220 ($4); Nefertari’s tomb (QV66) is separate, roughly EGP 1,500-2,500 ($30-50), capped to a few hundred visitors a day. Add Medinet Habu, EGP 200 (~$4), and a fixed-price felucca sail at sunset.
Day 4: the East Bank’s museums and the souk
The Luxor Museum, EGP 400 ($8), and the Mummification Museum, EGP 220 ($4), pair well as a heat-break day, followed by the souk. Add Karnak’s Sound and Light Show in the evening if you skipped it on day one.
Day 5: Deir el-Medina, the Ramesseum, and a proper guide
Deir el-Medina and the Ramesseum reward someone who can explain the layered history, and a licensed guide at roughly EGP 400-600 (~$8-12) for a half day earns its keep here more than at the well-signed headline sites.
Day 6: the Tombs of the Nobles and a quieter Karnak
The Tombs of the Nobles hold some of the most vivid daily-life scenes in Luxor, scribes, banquets, and farming, and reward the same guide from day five. Return to Karnak in the late afternoon, when the light is better and the morning crowds have thinned.
Day 7: a relaxed morning and departure
No new tickets today. Spend the morning on whatever you didn’t get to twice, a last coffee on the corniche, a final pass through the souk for spices or cotton rather than the mass-produced trinkets sold near the temple gates, or one more quiet look at Luxor Temple from outside.
How far is Luxor’s airport from the East Bank hotels?
Roughly 9km, about 20 minutes by road, with no train or shuttle-bus link, unlike cities with an airport rail line. A taxi or a pre-booked transfer is the only practical option, and drivers inside the terminal routinely quote four or five times the going rate to travelers straight off a flight.
What’s the safest way to book an airport transfer?
Agree the fare, in EGP, out loud, before you load your bags, roughly 150-250 EGP (~$3-5) to most East Bank hotels. If you’d rather not haggle at all, ride-hailing apps like inDrive operate in Luxor and let you set your own price before a driver accepts the ride.
Check out with the same care as your arrival, and add extra buffer time if you’re flying during peak hours, when the airport road can back up without warning. For everything across both banks in one place, our Luxor guide has the full worth-doing list, and our places page breaks down the Valley of the Kings ticket math one more time before you fly home.