Private Touring
to the
Most Intriguing Place
on Earth

Visit Luxor.

One of the soundest pieces of travel advice we’ve ever given we will repeat here:  take some time to learn about Luxor before seeing it.  Yes, you will have a skilled guide who will regale you with tales of temples, tombs and treasure.  Yes, you will walk the same stone passageways once traveled only by royal entourages and worshipping priests (comfortable, sturdy shoes are essential here).  And yes, you’ll wish for panoramic vision to better absorb the massive majesty of the monuments.  Fully expect to be overwhelmed by the effects of Karnak, Luxor and the entire West Bank of the Nile.  But true appreciation goes hand in hand with understanding and for that, you’ll need to invest some quality time with a good guide book.  All of our set tour itineraries allow two days in Luxor (of course if you’re customizing your itinerary and ancient Egypt is a passion, plan on at least another day here) and a very full, energetic two days it is.

Back in the 19th Century when archeologists began to uncover the secrets of the ancient Egyptians, “wintering” in Upper (southern) Egypt was the fashionable destination for Europe’s well-to-do.  As you stroll along Luxor’s Corniche, the riverside thoroughfare, pass the stately hotels, listen to the clip clop of the colorful caleshe horse taxis, you can feel a kinship with these early travelers.  The mysteries that drew them are just as potent today, although Luxor has grown from a sleepy backwater to Egypt’s #2 destination with its own international airport.  It’s a graceful, welcoming city, comfortably accommodating tourists and scholars, adventurers and vacationers.  All with an easy, self-assured charm honed by four thousand of years of “hosting.”

Today’s Luxor (from the Arabic al-Uqsor “the Palaces”) stands on the site of Thebes, capital city throughout the dynasties of the New Kingdom and, without doubt, one of the most impressive imperial cities ever conceived.  On the river’s east bank are the two tremendous temple complexes, Karnak and Luxor, built to honor the Theban Triad of Gods:  supreme Amun-Re, his consort, Mut and their son Khonsu.  Both were built over centuries, with succeeding pharaohs adding layer upon outer layer of courtyards, pylons, shrines and hypostyle halls, lavish sculpture and decorations.  Karnak covers 60 acres and is the largest dedicated religious site ever constructed.  Ramses the Great added Luxor’s phenomenal peristyle court and established his grandiose building concepts.  Ramses’ influence is everywhere…lying collapsed at the foot of his West Bank mortuary temple, the Ramasseum, is the largest granite colossus on record, the statue which inspired Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1818 to write … “Ozymandias King of Kings.  Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair.”

Ramses the Great was certainly the best known of the luminous New Kingdom pharaohs.  But all were dedicated builders of spectacular monuments for this world and the hereafter.  Their tombs and those of their queens and nobles were carved into the salmon pink rock within the West Bank’s Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens and Valley of the Nobles.  We believe the best time to start the journey to the tombs (fewest tourists and eerily clear dawn-streaked light) is early morning.  Best mode of transport:  donkeys!  Guaranteed to be an experience you will never forget.  When visiting the tombs remember that the delicate inscriptions, fanciful artwork and intricate carvings were never intended for viewing by living beings, rather as an aid to the deceased king as he journeyed towards his final judgment in the underworld.  Besides the tombs the West Bank holds other treasures like the mortuary temple of the only queen to rule as Pharaoh, Hatshepsut.  This remarkable edifice is a forerunner of clean, classical design and is decorated with the most amazing frieze paintings, some with original colors still vibrant, of her exploits in far-off lands.  And as long as there were tombs there were tomb robbers; their descendents live today on the outskirts of the West Bank, working, mining and carving in alabaster factories those intricate, traditional designs known worldwide.

Is it obvious that Luxor is a special favorite with us?  We hope so.  Luxor is a living, breathing museum, a collection of the phenomenal, a place of sheer wonder.  A place you’ll never forget.