Luxor can actually be divided into three main areas which comprise the city of Luxor on the Nile's east side, the ancient city of Thebes on the west side of the Nile and the town of Karnak which lies north of Luxor city.

Known as the world's greatest open air museum, the city of Luxor has an approximate total area of 416 square kilometers and a population of 230,000. It is located in Upper Egypt, 721 Km south of Cairo, and houses a great number of hotels that range from two star to five - star extravagant hotels and Nile cruise hotels that travel between Luxor and Aswan. Luxor International Airport is located 5 Km east of the city center, with direct flights to and from major European cities, as well as daily domestic flights. There are also daily frequent train services between Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan.

Al Karnak Temple:

The largest temple in the world, representing the accrue efforts of several generations over a period that spanned 1,300 years. Al Karnak Temple cannot be missed by those visiting Luxor. The temple's complex consists of three main temples and several smaller temples and chapels scattered in and around the main ones. Along with 6 pylons, the temple also embraces a number of large columns and a sanctuary. In the evenings, a Sound and Light show at Al Karnak Temple expounds the history of this place, the birth accomplishments of many Pharaos.

Luxor Temple:

The Luxor temple is one of the most spectacular temples in Upper Egypt. Originally built by Amenhotep III, many notable figures in Ancient Egyptian history have added their touch to the beauty of this temple, including Ramses II, Merenpeteh, Seti I, and Alexander the Great. The temple has a large forecourt that is facing a pylon, across of which two obelisks once existed. Along the obelisks there were also 6 statues. Other features of the temple include two seated colossi of King Ramses II and a shrine on one side of the court.

Valley of the Kings:

One of the greatest tombs in ancient Egyptian history is the Valley of the Kings. Being a royal necropolis for more than 62 kings, the valley's whereabouts were once a secret. Some of the greatest Pharaohs and nobles of the New Kingdom have their tombs in the valley, including Tutankhamun and Ramses the Great. Besides being the burial sites of these kings, the valley contains great treasures and artifacts that have been only discovered recently.

Valley of the Queens:

Similar to the Valley of the Kings but smaller in size and isolated, the valley of the Queens is home to tombs of almost 60 queens, princesses, and aristocrats of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties of ancient Egypt. Among those tombs are those of the infamous Queen Nefertari, Queen Titi, and Amenhikhopeshef.

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut:

Although there are many temples in Luxor, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, better known as Deir El Bahari, is considered very special because while most other temples are made of sandstone, this particular temple is built of limestone. Like most temples, Deir El Bahari served both purposes of a temple and sanctuary.

Queen Hatshepsut was the only woman to become a Pharaoh. The temple, built to commemorate her achievements and serve as her funerary temple, provides a lot of insights into the enmity between the Queen and her nephew and son - in - law, Tuthmosis III. Many of her statues were destroyed and most of the queen's cartouches were damaged by followers of Tuthmosis III upon her mysterious death.

The temple consists of 3 terraces, only one of which is accessible today. The journey to Punt (nowadays Somalia) is engraved on the southern side of the temple's colonnade. This was the first ever pictorial documentation of a trade expedition, and the scenes depict the maritime expedition sent by Queen Hatshepsut to Punt through the Red Sea.

The Colossi of Memnon:

The twin statues depict Amenhotep III in a seated position, his hands resting on his knees and his gaze facing eastwards (actually SSE in modern bearings) towards the river. Two shorter figures are carved into the front throne alongside his legs: these are his wife Tiy and mother Mutemwiya. The side panels depict the Nile god Hapy.

The statues are made from blocks of quartzite sandstone which was quarried at el-Gabal el-Ahmar (near modern-day Cairo) and transported 675 km overland to Thebes. The blocks used by later Roman engineers to reconstruct the eastern colossus may have come from Edfu (north of Aswan). Including the stone platforms on which they stand – themselves about 4 meters – the colossi reach a towering 18 meters in height and weigh an estimated 720 tons each.

Both statues are quite damaged, with the features above the waist virtually unrecognizable. The western (or southern) statue is a single piece of stone, but the eastern (or northern) figure has a large extinctive crack in the lower half and above the waist consists of 5 tiers of stone. These upper levels consist of a different type of sandstone, and are the result of a later (Roman Empire) reconstruction attempt. It is believed that originally the two statues were identical to each other, although inscriptions and minor art may have varied.

The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple (or mortuary temple): a massive cult centre built during the pharaoh's lifetime, where he was worshipped as a god-on-earth both before and after his departure from this world.

The Museum of Mummification:

Located north of the Luxor temple, the Museum of Mummification demonstrates the detailed process of mummification in ancient Egypt, exhibiting a wide range of tools used and tablets that illustrate the funeral journey from death to burial.

The word mummification derives from the Persian word for bitumen or pitch, and this museum holds the Pharaohs' greatest secrets of preserving humans and sacred animals. The Pharaohs cherished their afterlife and sought to ensure their immortality in the afterlife through mummification.

The Sound & Light Show at Al Karnak Temple:

The Karnak Sound and Light Show highlights the dramatic history of ancient Thebes. The show narrates the achievements of some great Pharaohs, with poetic descriptions of the ancient treasures. As visitors walk through the complex of temples, pharaohs arise to tell the story of their interesting lives, as haunting music mysteriously flows through this ancient city. Ancient and poetic voices tell the visitors about the birth of Karnak temple and the heroic achievements of pharaohs and god Amun. It is an enchanting and supernatural experience to listen to sound effects and gaze at the magnificent ruins illuminated during the well-presented show.

It is one of the most important temples of the city of Luxor, its construction started in the reign of King Seti I, and was completed during the reign of King Ramses II. It is located three kilometers to the north of Luxor temple. it eas built for the worship of the sacred trinity of Tehbes, Amoun-Re, his Wife, Moot, and son.

It is considered the largest temples of the ancient world. Its construction began in the reign of the central state, about 2000 BC. At that time, it was not built at that level of magnitude, however, in the modern state, to which King Tut Ankh Amun and King Ramsis are affiliated, a magnificent temple was built on the ruins of this temple that embodied the magnitude of the Egyptian vast empire. During the following dynasties, each king added more to the temple as in adulation to gods and out of desire of getting popularity among the members of the people.

Show schedule:

The Temple of Esna:

The Temple of Esna, which lies on the west bank of the Nile, 55 Km south of Luxor, was remarkable for the beauty of its site and the magnificence of its architecture. It was built of red sandstone, and its portico consisted of six rows of four columns each, with lotus-leaf capitals, all of which however differ from each other.

Another temple of the same period has been identified at Kom Mer, about 12 km to the south, but cannot be excavated because a modern village is built over it.

There was a smaller temple, dedicated to the triad of Latopolis, about two miles and a half north of the city, at a village now called el-Dayr. Here, too, is a small Zodiac of the age of Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-221 BC). This latter building has been destroyed in the 19th century, as it stood in the way of a new canal. The temple of Esna has been cleared of the soil and rubbish which filled its area when Denon visited it, and served as a cotton warehouse in the mid-19th century.

The Temple of Esna conveys a sense of the importance which the Ancient Egyptians placed upon their places of worship. All Egyptians who entered the confines of an Egyptian temple were required "to comply with the strict rules regarding ritual purity. According to inscriptions carved on the walls of the Temple of Esna, those who entered this temple were expected to fastidiously cut their fingernails and toenails, remove other body hair, wash their hands with natron (a natural occurring salt), "be dressed in linen (they were forbidden from wearing wool.

The Temple of Edfu:

Located 60 Km north of Aswan, Edfu was a flourishing city in ancient times and the center of the cult of a triad of Gods, including the infamous Horus and Hathor. The temple of Edfu dates back to the Ptolemaic period and the temple and its inscriptions were completed over a period of 180 years. The temple includes a Nilometer and a chapel dedicated to the Goddess Nut. Various walls depict scenes of war, the ritual of the foundation of the temple, and the divine marriage of Hathor and Horus of Behdet.

The Sound & Light Show at the Edfu Temple:

The spectacular narrates the historical story of the temple, the legend of Horus (God of Edfu), and his annual journey with Hather (goddess of Dandara). Also it tells us the struggle of Horus and his mother Isis against evil.

This is one of the most magnificent sound & light projects ever to be seen.  The spectaculars are presented by using the latest Sound and Light technology. For the first time we use video Projectors units with animated headers, which present (LED) lighting and high quality effects by using the best global technology.

Show schedule throughout the year:

The Temple of Kom Ombo

The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic dynasty in the Egyptian town of Kom Ombo. Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period. The building is unique because its 'double' design meant that there were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. Meanwhile, the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder, along with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor) and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands). The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.

The temple was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145 BC) at the beginning of his reign and added to by other Ptolemys, most notably Ptolemy XIII (51-47 BC), who built the inner and outer hypostyle halls. The scene on the inner face of the rear wall of the temple is of particular interest, and "probably represents a set of surgical instruments. Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes, and later builders who used its stones for other projects. Some of the reliefs inside were defaced by Copts who once used the temple as a church. All the temples buildings in the southern part of the plateau were cleared of debris and restored by Jacques de Morgan in 1893. A few of the three-hundred crocodile mummies discovered in the vicinity are displayed inside the temple.