Luxor

Luxor is one of the world's great concentrations of ancient power. Temples, tombs, ceremonial avenues and the Nile landscape preserve the scale and mystery of pharaonic Egypt with unmatched intensity.

Luxor stands on the site of Thebes, capital of Egypt in the Middle and New Kingdoms. On the east bank, where the modern town lies, Luxor Temple and the vast complex of Karnak are joined by the restored Avenue of Sphinxes. Across the river, at the edge of the desert, lie the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon.

The west bank keeps a village character, with sugar cane, alabaster workshops and tracks running between the monuments. Excavation continues each season, and tombs open and close in rotation to protect their paintings; the tomb of Tutankhamun and the tombs of the nobles remain highlights. Luxor is also the departure point for Nile cruises upstream to Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan.

The best time is from October to April, when days are warm and dry and nights cool, ideal for early visits to the tombs and long hours at Karnak. December and January are the busiest months, around Christmas and New Year. Hot-air balloons rise over the west bank at dawn on most mornings of the year, weather permitting.

From May to September the heat is intense, regularly above 40°C, and sightseeing is best confined to early morning and late afternoon. Around the winter solstice the rising sun aligns with the main axis of Karnak, an event watched each December. Ramadan, whose dates shift each year, changes the rhythm of the town, with quiet days and lively evenings.

Luxor has few hotels of genuine luxury, and its most memorable is historic. The Winter Palace, opened in 1907 on the Corniche and since May 2026 Mandarin Oriental Winter Palace, Luxor, faces the west bank across the Nile; its gardens and high-ceilinged rooms received travellers through the years of the great excavations, including the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. On the west bank itself, a few small, characterful houses stand among the fields near the Theban necropolis.

Many travellers also sail between Luxor and Aswan aboard one of the smaller luxury vessels, such as the Oberoi Zahra, with Edfu and Kom Ombo on the way. LVXVRY books the Winter Palace through Mandarin Oriental Fan Club — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges the programme attaches to the stay — and arranges the cruise and the private Egyptologists the temples of Karnak and Luxor and the tombs of the west bank deserve.