Last Updated: July 10, 2023
Whilst Cairo/Giza has Egypt’s main attraction with the Great Pyramids, Luxor would certainly win for the vastness of Ancient Egyptian Sites to explore. It’s a great city to visit and a place that we recommend including on any Egyptian Family Itinerary.
This beautiful city is absolutely crammed with Temples and Tombs. And you will need a decent amount of time to see them properly.
We spent 3 months in Luxor and still didn’t see everything, but gave it a good go!
Aside from the attractions Luxor is a great city to visit generally with delicious food and easy navigation, just some of the appeals. You can read more on our general guide to Luxor in our separate post.
Although historical sightseeing might not sound too appealing to kids, Ancient Egypt usually tends to be an exception and often fills them with fascination.
And when you do get bored of the Ancient Egyptian sites, there are also a few other activities you can try out whilst in Luxor. Which will excite kids and adults alike.
We’ve come up with our list of what we think are the best things to do whilst in Luxor. With a mix of the main attractions as well as some more lesser known ones. We’ve tried to give some notes on opening times and entry costs, but they can change pretty suddenly, so just use these as a guideline!
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Valley of the Kings
If there is just one thing you do when visiting Luxor then it should be to head to The Valley of the Kings. It’s one of the most popular attractions in Luxor and for good reason.
With dozens of burial tombs of the pharaohs, and more still being discovered, it wets the lips of even the lesser history buffs.
The tickets and entry is a little bit complicated, but easy enough once you get how it works.
You get a basic entry ticket for around 240EGP per person, with discounts for kids. You can then enter the valley and visit any 3 of the ‘standard’ tombs on view to the public. Everyone has their particular favourites so do a bit of research before you go to see which three take your fancy.
Then there are ‘ad-on’ tickets for the more sought after tombs. With Ramesess V and VI at an extra 100 EGP per person, Tutankhamun for 300 EGP per person and Seti I at a whopping 1,000 EGP per person!
These are optional and you can choose to do none, some or all of the ‘special’ tombs. But you must first buy the entry ticket for the standard tombs. You can’t just buy tickets for the three extras without a basic ticket first.
Then you just wonder around and pick your three tombs you want to see, as well as the paid for tombs that you have selected. They really are magnificent sites and each tomb has it’s own character and interesting features.
It’s worth noting The Valley of the Kings is split into two valleys, East and West. Almost all of the tombs that are open to the public are in the East Valley and in easy walking distance to one another, so where most tourists head too.
There is only one tomb in the West Valley that is open to the public, the Tomb of Ay. Very few people bother with this as it is a fair distance from the others and requires either a separate drive or walk to the tomb.
However, we recommend it. Although the tomb isn’t any more special than the others (still amazing though, as they all are) it’s the walk to the tomb we really enjoyed. It’s a rare opportunity to walk through the valley as the majority is usually off limits. And, due to how secluded it was, it made us feel like we were off on an Indiana Jones adventure!
But word of warning, we did the walk in the winter and were still pretty hot, in the summer it may be unbearable. So keep this in mind. But you can take a vehicle if you wish.
You will also need a separate ticket for the Tomb of Ay, which can be bought at the same ticket office in the main East Valley and is around 60EGP.
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
Another of the favourite temples to visit is Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut sometimes referred to as simply Hatshepsut Temple, which is not that far from Valley of the Kings.
Built to commemorate one of the first and most famous female pharaohs, the temple is pebbled with artwork and carvings in recognition of the queens reign.
Although the temple inside may not be as striking as some others you may come across, it is the three tiered entrance that really makes this temple standout. It’s what you will have likely seen in various photos and Instagram posts with it being the key feature of this temple.
With the backdrop of the mountains behind it is a staggering site. We were fortunate to see it lit up every night as well with our apartment having a great (all be it distant) view of the temple!
Hatshepsut Temple has it’s own ticketing outlet at the front of the entrance, so you can just turn up and pay to enter on the days. It’s open form around 6am to 5pm so get there early to beat the crowds. The costs fluctuate a bit but generally it should be around 150EGP with discounts for kids.
Colossi of Memnon
The Colossi of Memnon are actually two statues originally built depicting Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty Egypt that were built as guardians of the huge temple that once stood there. The temple has since been lost over time with the statues the only remaining elements.
The name Memnon came later and is of Greek heritage. With Greeks associating the statues with the Greek Hero Memnon, who fell at the of Troy, ironically on Trojans side and killed by Achilles, but Memnon was still idolised as a hero to the Greeks.
The statues were also believed to have been able to sing at one point and many references to this phenomenon have been established. With one of the statues singing or whistling each morning before dawn which started happening shortly after a huge earthquake. Until a Roman Emperor, Septimus Severus, repaired the statues and unknowingly stopped the singing forever.
With all the history and such a staggering site it’s amazing that it’s free to see! You might even just drive past them on trips to other places. So you can just pull in and take a gander whenever suits you.
Madinat Habu Temple
One of the lesser visited temples, but one of our personal favourites is the Habu Temple. The colours and inscriptions here are some of the most detailed we saw and it’s a beautiful temple to walk around.
It’s generally quieter than the other temples, although it can still get busy at times.
The ticket are around 100 EGP per person with discounts for kids. To purchase tickets for this one you need to head to the ‘general ticket office’ as it does not have it’s own ticket office at the entrance.
The general ticket office sells tickets for some of the smaller temples and tombs. Some of these attractions are close to the office others a little distant. So always check if the site you are visiting has it’s own ticket office or if you need to head here first to get your tickets.
The general ticket office is a little further west from the Colossi of Memnon. You’ll see it on Google Maps as ‘Antiquities Inspectorate Ticket Office’.
Hot Air Balloon Ride
Another awesome thing to do in Luxor with kids is take a balloon ride and get a birds eye view of some of the sights.
The sunrise balloon ride take place on the West Bank and you will rise high into the sky with the Valley of the Kings, the River Nile and the city of Luxor with all it’s other attractions in view.
It’s an incredible experience and a really good place to a do a hot air balloon ride if you haven’t before, with it being a reasonable price compared to other places. And with the weather usually being pretty fair most of the year there’s less chance of any cancellation.
You can book easily online or just ask your accomodation if they have a contact as most usually do. Most trips will include being picked up (very early) and then depending where ou are you may need to take a bus and a boat across the river if coming from the east bak.
You’ll then get ushered to your balloon at some point which hold a couple of dozen people so you will likely be with others unless you have a large group.
Multiple balloons go up in one day and it’s such a fun experience for kids. There is an age limit usually and kids below 6 are not allowed, however we managed to get away with our 5 year old!
Karnak Temple Complex
Over on the East Bank there is the humongous temple complex of Karnak. The second biggest temple complex in the world after Angor Wat in Cambodia.
You’ll need a good amount of time (and energy) to explore this huge area, with numerous temples and areas to explore it’s easy to get lost here, but that’s part of the fun. If you want a guide to help you navigate though, you can easily find them outside and agree a price of what you feel is reasonable.
There are numerous areas to explore such as The Great Hypostyle Hall, The Sacred Lake, The Entrance Pylon and many more.
Due to it’s wide open spaces its a good one for kids. Our kids particularly liked the Great Hypostye Hall with dozens of huge columns. They loved playing hide and seek in amongst them.
Tickets can be bought at the entrance for around 200 EGP per person with discounts for kids.
Avenue of Sphinx
The avenue of the Sphinx joins Karnak to Luxor Temple. It’s a long 2km stretch that is flanked each side by (you guessed it) numerous Sphinx status.
It was only recently re-opened to the public in 2021. So, if you gat a combo ticket for both Luxor Temple and Karnak temple, then you can walk the entire length of the avenue.
The walk is 2.7km long and there is little to no shade. On a hot day this can be quite demanding, so make sure you have enough water and suncream to ensure you don’t frazzle into a mummy on the way!
If you only want to see a bit of it you can walk down a section from Karnak or Luxor to just get a taste and turn back once done.
Luxor Temple
Luxor temple at the other end of the Avenue of the Sphinx is also an incredible temple. You can get some great views of this on from the outside without actually setting foot in it. So if you wanted to save some pennies and don’t want to hit another temple you can just admire it from afar.
But if you do want to get in there and explore deeper it can be reached either from the Avenue of the Sphinx from Karnak, if you have the combo ticket, or just on it’s own as a stand alone attraction.
Some can find it a little underwhelming if they come straight from Karnak. Not that that is a reflection on the temple itself, but more due to the magnitude of Karnak that it makes Luxor temple seem like a baby in comparison.
So if you are doing the combo we would say hit Luxor temple first and build up to Karnak.
If you are doing Luxor Temple as a stand alone attraction, tickets can be bought at the entrance and are around 160EGP per person.
Saraya Café
Update: Unfortunately Saraya Café has now been demolished and is no more :(. Feel free to read on if you want to here about what it was once like or just skip to the next item.
We struggled to find public playgrounds in Luxor and in Egypt generally. So if you are looking for somewhere for the kids to blow off some steam you can head to Saraya Café on the West Bank.
Down by the ferry terminal, it has a number of various paygrounds, rides and sometimes a blow up slide for the kids to enjoy. It has a nice mix of both locals and tourist children.
The payment method seems to be a bit sporadic. Sometimes people would ask for 5EGP per kid for them to play on certain things, other times no one seemed to care. So typical Egyptian set up really!
As it’s a café you can also get something to eat and drink down there whilst you watch the kids play.
Felucca Ride
Drifting along the Nile in a Felucca is something you must do whilst in Egypt. And Luxor is a great spot for doing it.
A Felucca is a traditional style Egyptian boat with a large sail that will sweep you along the river seeing all the sights from the water.
Depending on the wind, the boat may need to do zig-zags in order to catch the wind in it’s sails and the captains are all experts at these manoeuvres. So it’s really interesting to see how they manage the variable winds.
It’s a great activity for families to sit back and enjoy the sights of Luxor.
You’ll be able to simply head down to the river and find a captain (they will come to you!). Then agree a price and a length of trip and away you go!