Luxor Full Day: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon, Karnak and Luxor Temples

Luxor holds a third of the world's ancient monuments on the two banks of one river. This is the day that covers the essential ones, in the right order, with the tombs before the heat and Karnak in the softer afternoon light.

From Luxor the day starts at 07:00 (cruise boats and hotels on either bank). The West Bank first: the Valley of the Kings, where 63 tombs were cut into the limestone for the pharaohs of the New Kingdom. The general ticket gives three tombs from the day's open list, usually among Ramses IV, Ramses IX, Merenptah and Ramses III, with painted corridors and the Book of the Dead on the walls. Tutankhamun's tomb and Seti I can be added on the spot.

Next the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, the three terraces built into the cliff by the woman who ruled as king for twenty years, with the Punt reliefs and the Hathor chapel. On the road back, the Colossi of Memnon, the two 18 m statues of Amenhotep III that stood before his vanished temple. Lunch at a restaurant on the West Bank or the Corniche.

The East Bank in the afternoon: Karnak, the largest temple complex ever built, 100 hectares added to over 2,000 years, with the Great Hypostyle Hall of 134 columns, the obelisks of Hatshepsut and the sacred lake. Then Luxor Temple, built by Amenhotep III and Ramses II and best seen as the lights come on, with the Avenue of Sphinxes running from its gate towards Karnak. Back at 16:00 from Luxor; Hurghada guests leave Luxor around 16:30 and reach their hotel between 20:00 and 21:00.