1 DAY
Daily Tour
Unlimited
English
A Luxor day trip from Hurghada by bus is the most affordable way to stand inside a pharaoh’s tomb and walk through Karnak’s forest of columns in a single day, then sleep back at your Red Sea hotel the same night. The coach leaves Hurghada around 4:00 am, reaches Luxor after about four hours, and spends the day on both banks of the Nile with an Egyptologist guide.
On the West Bank you visit three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the cliff temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon. After lunch you cross to the East Bank for Karnak Temple, the largest religious complex of ancient Egypt. Entrance tickets, lunch and hotel transfers are in the price, and you pay nothing until the day of the trip.
| Duration | 15 to 17 hours |
| Pickup | Around 4:00 am from your hotel in Hurghada |
| Return | Around 9:00 pm |
| Price | $60 per adult |
| Group | Shared coach with other travellers |
| Guide | English-speaking Egyptologist |
| Payment | Cash on the day of the trip |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours before |
| Book by | 8 pm the day before |
The drive covers roughly 290 km. From Hurghada the coach follows the coast south to Safaga, then turns west across the Eastern Desert, a landscape of dark, jagged mountains with almost no towns. The road reaches the Nile at Qena, and the last hour runs between sugarcane fields, canals and mud-brick villages into Luxor.
Expect about four hours each way, with a stop at a roadside café for toilets, coffee and a breakfast break. Most travellers sleep for the first part of the journey and wake up to the Nile valley.
A direct flight takes about an hour, but there are only a few a week, and you still need transfers and a guide on arrival. A private car is faster on the road and stops whenever you like, but costs more. For most visitors on a budget, the shared coach is the practical choice for a single day.
Your driver or guide meets you at hotel reception. Have your breakfast box ready (order it from your hotel the evening before) and a warm layer if you travel between November and February.
About halfway there, the coach stops at a café. Use the toilets here: the next proper stop is in Luxor.
The day starts at the royal cemetery of the New Kingdom, cut into the hills of the West Bank. Your ticket includes three tombs, chosen from those open on the day. Long sloping corridors lead down to burial chambers covered in painted texts and gods, many still bright after more than three thousand years. Your guide explains each tomb outside the entrance, then you go in at your own pace.
If you want to see Tutankhamun, his tomb needs an extra ticket. It is compact, but it is the only tomb in the valley where a pharaoh still lies in place.
Next is the temple of Hatshepsut, a woman who ruled Egypt as pharaoh for about twenty years. Three broad terraces climb toward the cliffs, linked by long ramps. Look for the carved scenes of trading ships returning from the land of Punt with incense trees and exotic animals.
A quick stop at two huge stone statues of Amenhotep III sitting by the road. They are all that is left above ground of what was once the biggest temple on the West Bank. Have your camera ready: the stop is short.
Lunch is served at a restaurant in Luxor, usually a set Egyptian meal. Drinks are paid separately.
The afternoon belongs to Karnak, the temple city of the god Amun. Kings added to it for around two thousand years, and the result is overwhelming: towering gateways, obelisks, a sacred lake and the Great Hypostyle Hall, where 134 columns stand so close together you feel small among them. After the guided tour you have some free time to explore and take photos.
The coach leaves Luxor in the late afternoon. You reach your hotel around 9:00 pm, ready for an early night.
Times are approximate and can change with traffic and the order of visits.
About four hours each way, with a breakfast stop on the way.
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