Editor’s note: the final chapter of writer Sam Spector’s Egypt chronicles might be the best. Coincidentally, I recently decided on an amazing Egypt itinerary for myself, so while that isn’t until 2027, I am even more excited after reading this piece. For more of Sam’s adventures, click here to visit his index page.

One of the most incredible solo backpacking trips I ever took was to Egypt. As I have written about, Cairo was one of the most fascinating cities that I have ever been to with its jaw dropping pyramids, Coptic Quarter, and historic mosques. It was also easily one of the most chaotic and polluted places that I have ever been to as well. At the same time, on the Sinai Peninsula, I went to the down of Dahab, which was one of the most relaxing and lowkey places that I have ever been. In Goldilocks terms, wouldn’t it be nice if there was something just right and in the middle? Enter Luxor.

Luxor is a city of a quarter million people, offering far more than Dahab’s mere 3000 residents, but 10 million fewer inhabitants than Cairo. It is approximately 400 miles south of Cairo on the Nile River, and only 150 miles north of Aswan, another ancient important city to the Egyptians. Luxor is one of the oldest cities in the world, and reached its peak when it was the capital of the 11th Egyptian Dynasty in approximately 2000 BCE, when it was known as Thebes. While many tourists will fly or take a Nile cruise from Cairo to Luxor, I opted for the overnight Watania sleeper train. For $130 for a single or $90 for a double cabin, the train provided surprisingly comfortable beds, attendants with great hospitality, and a pretty decent dinner and breakfast. After having had a full day of sightseeing in Cairo, I was exhausted when I got onto the train, and completely passed out in my cabin to awake 10 hours later in Luxor, the city known as the world’s largest and best open-air museum.

Luxor is situated on the Nile River with the city divided between an East and West Bank. The Nile itself is a worthwhile attraction, as throughout the Nile River you will see traditional felucca sailboats. Take one of these boats, especially in the afternoon or early evening to be able to admire both banks of the river. Your felucca captain will likely take you up to a place called Banana Island, which despite the name is not actually an island. Banana Island is a banana plantation and botanical garden. After all the sightseeing and hustle and bustle of Cairo, it was nice to stroll through the plantation and get a fresh banana milkshake. On the return back, you will be treated to a beautiful sunset on the world’s longest river. Make sure to also eat perch that was caught straight from the Nile River while in Luxor.

On the East Bank of the river are numerous museums, but also it is on this side that two of Luxor’s primary attractions exist: the Luxor Temple and Karnak. These two buildings are interconnected and I actually did not realize when visiting them that they were two separate structures. You will first enter through the Luxor Temple in one of the grandest entrances that existed in ancient Egypt. There is a street lined on both sides with sphinxes; it was believed that there were approximately 1350 of them at one time stretching a mile and a half. Most of these sphinxes had the traditional head of a pharaoh on the body of a lion, but hundreds also had the head of a ram on a lion’s body. Today, there are still hundreds, making even a commoner like me feel like royalty upon entering. At the entrance of the temple is a red granite 82 foot obelisk and colossal statues of various pharaohs.

Just beyond the Temple of Luxor is the most important place of worship for ancient Egyptian society: the Temple of Karnak. The Temple of Karnak dates back to approximately 2000 BCE, a full 600 years older than the Temple of Luxor. It is a sprawling complex of temples that was dedicated to the main divine family: Amon, Mut, and Khonsu. In the middle of the complex is the Great Court, which was used once a year for the annual festival feast of fertility. The highlight of Karnak is the Great Hypostyle Hall with over 100 columns, each elaborately carved and made to look like a forest of papyrus plants. They once held an impressive ceiling, which no longer exists. The columns are thick and have stood for over 3000 years in place. Despite the vast size of the complex, the most important place in Karnak is a tiny chamber room with a stone table that once held a statue to Amon-Ra, the main god of Egypt. It is great to take two visits to the Temple of Luxor and Karnak: once in the morning so you can beat the heat and the crowds, as well as the pesky and persistent locals trying to sell you things, and again in the evening when the complex and statues are lit up and there is an impressive light show.

On the West Bank of the river is where the tombs are located. A popular activity is to take a hot air balloon ride over all of them and the valleys below. While most tourists stay on the more developed East Bank, I am glad that I found a great hostel on the West Bank, as the majority of the sites in Luxor are over there. There are multiple valleys with tombs: the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and Valley of the Nobles. While photographing inside the tombs is not allowed, the guards would shamelessly ask for bribes where for a couple of bucks they would take your pictures and allow you to photograph inside (do not use flash as to not harm the 3000-year-old paintings). It was in the Valley of the Kings that the infamous tomb of Tutankhamen was found. The outside of the tombs all appear to be largely unassuming, perhaps to deter grave robbers. However, once you go inside, you will be blown away by the perfectly preserved paintings that depict achievements by the rulers, conquests, and Egyptian mythology.

Typically, when you purchase a ticket for one of the valleys, you will be allowed entry into about three tombs of your choosing. People often descend on the Tomb of the Kings and Queens, especially of legendary rulers like Tutankhamun and Nefertiti; however, the tombs of the nobles and the less visited tombs of the artisans are even more impressive. With the nobles, they were more involved in the oversight of their own tombs and able to have commissioned designs of their choosing, and the artisans were the ones who made the tombs, so they spent incredible love, care, and personal detail in making their own. These tombs have brighter colors, more intricate designs, and are even more beautiful. My personal favorite was the tomb of Sennefer in the Valley of the Nobles, with a ceiling that is covered in a design of grape vines.

The West Bank of the Nile is also home to numerous mortuary temples of pharaohs. While Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple no longer stands, it is worthwhile to visit the Colossi of Memnon, two massive statues 60 feet tall each, that still stand from 1350 BCE. These statues were the guardians of his temple and were visible from 10 miles away. A simple yet beautiful mortuary temple that still stands is that of Seti I. This temple was built in the 13th century by his son, Ramses II (Ramses the Great), for his father. It has columns and a structure that still stands and numerous hieroglyphs and carvings on/in its walls. Something I always find peculiar when I stumble across it is historical graffiti, which must have been a trend by European travelers in the early 19th century, as I recall seeing some on the Egyptian temple inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Likewise, someone carved their name and the year “1820” prominently onto the temple wall next to a carving. Similarly, in the Luxor Temple, there is a beautiful Roman fresco that dates back to the 2nd century BCE.

Ramses II also built a sprawling mortuary temple for himself called the Ramesseum, which was 600 feet by 220 feet in dimensions. A couple notable features in the Ramesseum are a carved relief depicting the Battle of Qadesh, a fight between the Egyptians and a Western Semitic group. While this relief of course depicted the Egyptians as the victor, there is common speculation that the battle might have been the one described in the Bible as the liberation of the Israelites. At the time it was built, the Ramesseum had a colossal statue of Ramses, which stood 69 feet tall and weighed 1000 tons. It was brought over land from 170 miles south and at the time was the largest statue in the entire world. Today, only the foot remains which still leaves an impression of the statue’s enormity.

My favorite temple in Luxor was the 12th century BCE Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramses III. Medinet Habu is full of entire walls of hieroglyphs chronicling Ramses III’s reign, as well as numerous carvings depicting important events and Egyptian mythology. This temple seemed to have the best preservation of carvings and hieroglyphs as well as overall structure.

While I spent a few days in Luxor, it was definitely not enough. I would have loved to have visited more tombs and especially the famous mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. People think that to see the best that ancient Egypt has to offer you have to go to the pyramids. However, if you want to escape the chaos of Cairo and truly see ancient Egypt in all its glory, head down to Luxor and allow yourself at least 4 days to take in all that this city has to offer.

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