Luxor East Bank — Karnak and Luxor Temple
Private tourSmall groupsNo forced shopping stops
from €48 per person
Overview
Karnak isn't a single temple — it's a religious city built up and expanded over more than two thousand years by some thirty pharaohs. It's easy to get lost in if you're going it alone with a guidebook; we'd rather help you read the walls than count the columns. Each hall tells you about a reign, a war, or a religious reform, and your guide lingers on the ones that actually say something, not the ones that happen to be in every guidebook.
We finish at Luxor Temple, once linked to Karnak by an avenue of sphinxes nearly three kilometres long. Smaller and easier to take in, it takes about an hour to visit and still carries traces of every era that left its mark here: the court of Ramesses II, the colonnade of Amenhotep III, and a Roman-era chapel later converted into a mosque that is still active today.
This is the classic East Bank excursion, built as a first introduction to Luxor: an easy pace, explanations that go deep without turning into a lecture, and no detour forced by a jewellery or papyrus shop.
This price covers the guide and private transport
This price covers the guide's fee and private transport during the excursion (hotel pickup, travel between the sites, drop-off). It does not include entrance tickets or meals. You buy your own tickets at the official price: we take no cut on them, and we never take you into a shop.
Highlights
- The Hypostyle Hall at Karnak and its 134 giant columns
- Queen Hatshepsut's obelisk, the tallest still standing in Egypt
- The line of the ancient avenue of sphinxes linking Karnak to Luxor Temple
- The court of Ramesses II and the colonnade of Amenhotep III at Luxor Temple
- A Roman chapel turned mosque, a small monument to the site's layered history
Schedule for the day
- 08:00
Meeting
Pick-up at your Luxor hotel reception, or any other point agreed in advance.
- 08:30
Karnak — avenue of ram-headed sphinxes and the first pylon
Entry through the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, then through the first pylon, the largest ever built in Egypt.
- 09:15
The Great Hypostyle Hall
134 giant columns, some 23 metres tall: the heart of the temple of Amun-Re, and one of the most striking spaces in ancient Egypt.
- 10:15
Sacred lake and obelisks
The sacred lake once used by priests for purification rites, Hatshepsut's obelisk, and the open-air museum of re-erected blocks.
- 11:30
Luxor Temple
The court of Ramesses II, the colonnade of Amenhotep III, and a Roman sanctuary: a smaller, more human-scaled temple after the vastness of Karnak.
- 13:00
End of the excursion
Drop-off back at your hotel, or anywhere else in Luxor you choose.
What's included / What's not included
What's included
- Guide fee for the French-speaking Egyptologist for the 5-hour excursion
- Private transport throughout the excursion: hotel pickup, travel between the sites, drop-off
- In-depth historical explanations, paced to your interest and questions
- Help getting good photos, from the best angles and light
- A flexible route, with no forced shopping stop
- Private or small-group guiding — never mixed into a group of strangers
What's not included
- Entrance tickets to Karnak and Luxor Temple, paid on site separately
- Meals and drinks
- Tips
The stops on the map
Meeting point
Meeting point
Your hotel reception in Luxor, or any meeting point agreed in advance in the city.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 48 hours before the tour begins. No deposit is required at booking: you settle on site, on the day of the tour.
