Luxor Day Trip from Marsa Alam: Itinerary, Timings and Tips

Is a Luxor day trip from Marsa Alam worth it?

Marsa Alam is a sea-and-desert destination, but it has a secret advantage: the Nile Valley is close enough to visit in a day. Luxor stands on the site of ancient Thebes, capital of Egypt at the height of the New Kingdom, and it holds more famous monuments in one place than almost anywhere else on Earth. The royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the terraced temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the vast temple complex of Karnak are all on the same day’s itinerary.

The honest trade-off is time. It is a full day of about 13 to 14 hours, with a very early start and around four hours on the road in each direction. Most of our guests tell us it was the most memorable day of their holiday all the same — and that the early alarm was quickly forgotten. If you are still deciding how to fill your week, our list of the best things to do in Marsa Alam shows where Luxor fits alongside the reefs and the desert.

How the day works: a typical itinerary

This is how our Luxor day trip from Marsa Alam usually runs. Timings shift a little with your hotel’s location and the season, and your exact pickup time is confirmed the day before.

1. Around 4:00 AM — pickup from your hotel in an air-conditioned vehicle. Most guests sleep for the first part of the drive across the Eastern Desert.
2. Around 8:30 AM — the Valley of the Kings, where you go down into the painted royal tombs with your Egyptologist guide.
3. Around 10:30 AM — the Temple of Hatshepsut and a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon.
4. Around 1:00 PM — lunch at a local restaurant with views of the Nile.
5. Around 2:30 PM — Karnak Temple and its great hypostyle hall.
6. Around 4:00 PM — the drive back to Marsa Alam, arriving at your hotel in the evening.

Hotel transfers are included from Marsa Alam town, Port Ghalib, Coraya Bay and El Quseir (see our guide to excursions from El Quseir for the other trips that pick up there). The trip runs several times a week, and guided tours are available in English, German, Italian and French.

The sites you will see

The Valley of the Kings

On the west bank of the Nile, hidden in a dry valley beneath a pyramid-shaped peak, the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried in tombs cut deep into the rock. Their walls are covered in painted scenes and texts meant to guide the king through the underworld, and many of the colours are still astonishingly bright. Your guide explains what you are looking at before you go in, because talking is kept to a minimum inside the tombs.

Entry to the listed sites is included in the trip. Some special tombs, such as Tutankhamun’s and Nefertari’s, carry an extra fee and are optional — your guide will tell you on the day which tombs are open and whether the extras are worth it for you.

The Temple of Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut was one of the few women to rule Egypt as pharaoh, and her mortuary temple is one of the most striking buildings of the ancient world: three broad terraces rising against a wall of golden cliffs. It is exposed to the sun, so this is where a hat and water matter most.

The Colossi of Memnon

Two giant seated statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III stand in the fields of the west bank, all that remains above ground of his once-enormous temple. It is a short stop, but a favourite for photographs.

Karnak Temple

Across the river on the east bank, Karnak is less a single temple than a sacred city, built and expanded by generation after generation of pharaohs. The highlight is the great hypostyle hall, a forest of colossal carved columns that makes everyone who walks into it fall silent for a moment. Leave a little time at the end to wander on your own.

Luxor or Aswan: which day trip should you choose?

We run day trips to both cities from Marsa Alam, and guests often ask which is better. They are different days rather than better or worse ones:

• Choose Luxor for tombs and colossal temples. It is closer — about four hours each way — and holds the greatest concentration of New Kingdom monuments in Egypt.
• Choose the Aswan day trip for Nile scenery and a gentler pace: the island temple of Philae, the Aswan High Dam and a felucca sail on the river. It is farther, at around five hours each way.
• If you have the time and the energy, do both on separate days of your holiday, with a lazy beach day in between.

Our side-by-side guide to Luxor or Aswan from Marsa Alam compares the drive, the walking and the sights in more detail, and you can see all our excursions to the Nile Valley in one place in our day trips from Marsa Alam.

What to wear and bring

• Your passport or ID — there are police checkpoints on the desert road between the coast and the Nile Valley.
• Light, modest clothing that covers your shoulders and knees for the temples.
• Comfortable walking shoes: there is a fair amount of walking over uneven ground and tomb steps.
• A hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Luxor is hot, especially around midday.
• Cash for optional tombs, drinks with lunch and tips.
• A light layer for the air-conditioned vehicle and the early-morning start.

Bottled water and lunch are included. For everything else you need on the coast, see our complete Marsa Alam packing list.

Is the Luxor day trip suitable for children?

Children aged five and over can join, but the long drive and the heat mean the trip suits older children best. Kids who have learned about the pharaohs at school are usually spellbound by the tombs. With younger children, the sunset camel ride or an afternoon desert safari gives them a taste of Egypt beyond the beach without the early start.

When to go

The Luxor trip runs year-round. The winter months, with their mild and sunny days, are the most comfortable time for sightseeing in the Nile Valley. In summer, Upper Egypt is very hot, which is one more reason the itinerary starts early and visits the tombs and the open temples in the morning. See the best time to visit Marsa Alam for a month-by-month guide to the weather on the coast.

Can you stay overnight instead?

If you would like more time in Luxor — for example to see more of the west bank, or to take a sunrise hot-air balloon flight over the temples — you will need to stay overnight, because the balloons launch at dawn. Message us and we can plan a two-day option around your dates. If you are still planning how to reach the coast in the first place, our guide on how to get to Marsa Alam covers flights, airports and transfers.