Temple Of Luxor

At the entrance to Luxor Temple, there is a single obelisk. The second obelisk from the matched original pair stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, where it has been since 1836 when the Egyptian government presented it to France under a treaty with Muhammad Ali. What you see in Luxor is the one that stayed.

The Temple

Luxor Temple was built and added to by multiple pharaohs from around 1400 BCE onward. Amenhotep III built the core colonnade; the 14 pairs of papyrus-cluster columns running 260 metres is the most architecturally striking section. Ramesses II extended the entrance pylon, added his seated colossi, and left the second obelisk that is now in Paris. Inside the complex, a medieval mosque (Abu Haggag) was built in the first court centuries before European archaeologists arrived; the minaret now sits level with the column tops, a specific Luxor juxtaposition that photographs consistently misrepresent.

Visit after 6pm if you can. The temple is lit after dark, the crowds thin significantly, and the combination of floodlit columns and the cooler evening air makes a different experience from the midday version. Egypt’s heat between 10am and 4pm in most seasons makes afternoon visits unpleasant in a way the evening isn’t.

The West Bank

The bulk of Luxor’s archaeology is across the river.

Valley of the Kings: rock-cut pharaonic tombs from the New Kingdom period. Standard entry covers three from a rotating selection; Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62) is a separate additional ticket. Photography is not permitted inside most tombs.

Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple (Deir el-Bahari): a three-tiered structure cut into the Theban cliffs, one of the best-preserved major temples in Egypt.

Colossi of Memnon: two 18-metre seated statues of Amenhotep III visible from the road, entry free.

A Luxor Pass covers most east and west bank monuments for one or five days and is better value than individual tickets if you plan to visit several sites.

Where to Eat and Stay

Sofra Restaurant on Mohammed Farid Street serves Egyptian home cooking (kushari, ful, Egyptian mezze) at local rather than tourist prices. Sofitel Winter Palace is the historic hotel of Luxor, a colonial-era property where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile; it faces the Nile opposite the west bank. Mid-range hotels on the east bank corniche are reasonably priced.