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Karnak or Luxor Temple: which one first?

Karnak stops admitting visitors first, so it comes first. How the two temples compare.

Written by Mahmoud Barakat · Reviewed by Abdelrahman El Baz · Checked October 13, 2026 · 4 min read

Karnak Temple lit at night
In short
  • Karnak's last entry is 4 PM and Luxor Temple's is 7 PM, in summer, winter and Ramadan alike.
  • The two temples are 3.2 km apart by road, about 4 minutes without traffic.
  • All five of our tours that visit both temples see Karnak first.
  • The foreign Karnak ticket also covers the Open Air Museum in Karnak; the Mut Temple there has its own ticket.
  • Both belong to the UNESCO listing Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis, inscribed in 1979.

See Karnak first. Its last entry is 4 PM, while Luxor Temple takes visitors until 7 PM, so starting at Karnak leaves the later-closing temple for the end of the day. The two stand 3.2 km apart by road on Luxor's East Bank, about 4 minutes without traffic, and all five of our tours that visit both go in that order.

Karnak and Luxor Temple side by side

Hours come from the antiquities ministry's monuments website and ticketing portal, checked in August 2026. Ticket prices are in Egyptian pounds (EGP), as of August 2026.

Karnak TempleLuxor Temple
Dedicated to / built byAmun-Ra, Mut and Khonsu; added to by generations of pharaohsBuilt by Amenhotep III and later expanded by Ramses II; dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship and linked to the Opet Festival
What our tours point outThe Hypostyle Hall (a hall of columns that once carried a roof) and Hatshepsut's obeliskIts place in the center of modern Luxor, once linked to Karnak by the Avenue of Sphinxes
Opening hours6 AM to 5 PM daily6 AM to 8 PM daily
Last entry (summer, winter, Ramadan)4 PM7 PM
Foreign adult ticket, as of August 2026EGP 600, also covers the Open Air Museum in KarnakEGP 500
Foreign student ticket, as of August 2026EGP 300EGP 250
Separate ticket insideMut Temple: EGP 200 adult, EGP 100 studentNone listed

Why Karnak comes first

Closing times decide it. Karnak's last entry comes three hours before Luxor Temple's, and the ministry advises arriving at least one hour before a site's closing time. After 4 PM only Luxor Temple is still admitting visitors, so a day that starts late or runs long can still end there. The Open Air Museum inside Karnak, covered by the foreign Karnak ticket, keeps shorter hours: 9 AM to 5 PM daily.

Tours in this guide

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The pylon and obelisk of Luxor Temple
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Karnak Temple lit at night
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The order on our tours

Five of our tours visit both temples, and each reaches Karnak before Luxor Temple. Where the East Bank falls in the day depends on where the tour starts.

TourStarts fromOrder of the day
Luxor East BankYour hotel or Nile cruise in Luxor; Karnak is 3 km away, about 4 min without trafficKarnak, Luxor Temple, lunch, back to the hotel or boat
Luxor East and West Banks in one dayYour hotel in LuxorColossi of Memnon, Hatshepsut Temple, Valley of the Kings, alabaster workshop, lunch, Karnak, Luxor Temple
Luxor in a day from AswanYour hotel in AswanValley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon, lunch, crossing to the East Bank in the afternoon, Karnak, Luxor Temple, free time
Luxor in a day from Marsa AlamYour hotel in Marsa Alam; Karnak is 355 km away, about 4 h 11 min without trafficKarnak, Luxor Temple, lunch, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon
Luxor in a day from Sharm El Sheikh, by planeYour hotel in Sharm El Sheikh; the flights are not included in the tour priceKarnak, Luxor Temple, lunch, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon

On the days based in Luxor or Aswan the two temples come after the West Bank, or make up a short tour of their own; on the days from Marsa Alam and Sharm El Sheikh they come first, on arrival in Luxor.

If you can see only one

Several of our tours see Karnak without Luxor Temple. Karnak Temple with a guide is a morning at Karnak alone from your hotel or Nile cruise in Luxor: the avenue of rams, the Great Hypostyle Hall and the sacred lake. The Luxor days from Hurghada by road (Luxor in a day from Hurghada) and from Cairo by plane (Luxor in a day from Cairo, flights not included in the tour price) take in Karnak and the West Bank but not Luxor Temple, and the evening Karnak sound and light show is at Karnak alone. These newer tours follow how the day usually runs, and the program is confirmed with your quote. No tour visits Luxor Temple without Karnak, but a guide-only booking in Luxor covers the sites and the hours you choose. If you are choosing for yourself, Luxor Temple's 7 PM last entry makes it the easier one to fit around other plans. Karnak is the one with an evening show: a walk past the lit columns of the hypostyle hall to the sacred lake, then a seated show of about 75 minutes on the story of ancient Thebes and Karnak. More in Luxor in the evening.

Tickets, students and children

Entrance fees are included on our East Bank and both-banks tours, so the prices above are for reference. Student tickets need a valid student ID and an age of 24 or under, and children under 6 enter free. Karnak, Luxor Temple and the Valley of the Kings belong to one UNESCO World Heritage listing, Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis, inscribed in 1979. For the other half of a Luxor day, see West Bank or East Bank; every Luxor tour is on the Luxor page.

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