West Bank or East Bank: how to split a Luxor day

Split it by the river. The West Bank holds the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple and Medinet Habu; the East Bank, the city side, holds Karnak and Luxor Temple. With one day, take our both-banks tour, which does the West Bank first and ends at Luxor Temple. With two days, take the full West Bank tour and the shorter East Bank tour separately. With mornings only, Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut covers the main West Bank stops in about 5 hours, and Karnak Temple with a guide takes about 3 hours.

What is on each bank

The East Bank is the city side of the Nile: Luxor Temple stands in the city center, 3.2 km by road from Karnak. The West Bank, across the river, holds the Valley of the Kings, where Tutankhamun's tomb is, and the mortuary temples (temples built for a king's cult after death) of Queen Hatshepsut and of Ramses III, the second one at Medinet Habu.

The table lists the sites on each bank with their last-entry times from the antiquities ministry's ticketing portal, checked in August 2026, and which of our tours stop there.

Every West Bank site with checked hours opens at 6 AM. One mismatch to know: the ministry's monuments website lists the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut Temple as open 6 AM to 5 PM daily, which does not square with a 5 PM last entry in summer, so check the summer time before you plan around it. The ministry also advises arriving at least one hour before a site's closing time.

Our Luxor bank tours compared

One day: both banks

The both-banks tour is private, with an English-speaking Egyptologist (a specialist in ancient Egypt) as your guide. It starts on the West Bank: the Colossi of Memnon, two statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, are 14.9 km from the hotel, about 18 min without traffic; Hatshepsut Temple is 4.3 km on, and the Valley of the Kings 6.3 km after that. An alabaster workshop and lunch follow, then Karnak, 13.4 km from the valley (about 22 min without traffic), where the visit includes the Hypostyle Hall (a hall whose roof rests on rows of columns) and Hatshepsut's obelisk. Luxor Temple, 3.2 km further, is the last stop before the hotel.

The trade-off is Medinet Habu and Deir el-Medina, which only the West Bank tour visits. This tour's Valley of the Kings stop mentions Tutankhamun's tomb; that tomb's ticket is an optional extra, not included, so ask through our contact page if you want it.

Two days: one bank each

The full West Bank tour stays on that side all day. After the Colossi and Hatshepsut Temple, set against the limestone cliffs at Deir el-Bahari, comes lunch, then the Valley of the Kings, Medinet Habu 8.3 km away (about 18 min without traffic) and Deir el-Medina, the village where the craftsmen who built and decorated the royal tombs lived, 1.9 km further. Special tomb tickets and camera tickets inside the tombs are extra.

The East Bank tour is the short day, listed as a morning, back after lunch. Pickup can be at your hotel or Nile cruise; Karnak, dedicated to Amun-Ra, Mut and Khonsu, is 3 km away (about 4 min without traffic), then comes Luxor Temple, built by Amenhotep III and later expanded by Ramses II, and lunch. Bottled water and soft drinks are included.

Two mornings instead

Both morning tours pick you up at your hotel or Nile cruise and list no lunch. Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut drives 16.2 km to the valley (about 26 min without traffic), where the standard ticket covers three tombs, then 6.3 km to Hatshepsut Temple and 4.3 km to a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon; Tutankhamun's tomb ticket is optional, not included. Karnak with a guide is 3 km from the hotel (about 4 min) and covers the avenue of rams, the Great Hypostyle Hall and the sacred lake. Luxor Temple is on neither.

Which split fits your trip

• One day in Luxor: the both-banks tour covers Karnak, Luxor Temple and three West Bank stops.
• Two days: the West Bank tour adds Medinet Habu and Deir el-Medina, and the East Bank tour leaves the rest of its day free.
• Mornings only: Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut, about 5 hours, and Karnak with a guide, about 3 hours, are both morning tours, so book them on different days.
• Hot months: Luxor's average daily high is 39.0°C or more from May to September, so the shorter East Bank day is the lighter one.
• Other West Bank sites: the Ramesseum, Valley of the Queens, Tombs of the Nobles and Howard Carter House are not stops on these tours; a guide-only booking in Luxor covers the sites you choose, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French or Italian.

More Luxor day tours are on the Luxor page.